For as physically taxing as the NBA season can be and how uncomfortable Dario Saric's foot injury is, there also is a mental aspect that is impacting the rookie at this point.
Saric is adjusting to a new 24-minute guideline implemented by the Sixers over the last three games to manage plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
It is a drastic change from the 31.7 minutes Saric was averaging in March.
"I think it's a mental fatigue as much as physical because it is so crippling to him to restrict him to 24 minutes," Brett Brown said following the Sixers' 102-90 loss to the Bulls on Thursday (see Instant Replay). "It is so disheartening. He goes in and he plays his heart out."
Saric has made his desire to play in all 82 games abundantly clear. Reaching that milestone is a mark of toughness to him.
In order to do so, he has to accept a limitation each night. He clocked 22 minutes against the Bulls.
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"I'm tired a little bit mentally, physically," Saric said. "But I try to push myself what is possible in this part of the season, in this kind of minute restriction. Of course I have pain on the foot, but I really want to play, I really want to try to help the team.
"I know it's a little bit harder for them and for me when you have 24 minutes. Some players can play like this, some players cannot. That thing is maybe a little bit of pressure, if I can say like that, but it's OK."
Saric had been used to playing without boundaries. He flourished in this freedom, becoming the focal point of the offense and scoring in the 20s with ease. Against the Bulls, Saric scored nine points (3 for 8 from the field) and still managed to pull down 10 rebounds in this restricted role.
Brown noticed a sense of urgency in Saric as his allotted segments of playing time began to wind down. He recognized it from managing Joel Embiid's minutes earlier in the season.
"It's like somebody just gorging at a buffet: 'I'm starving and the restaurant's going to close and I know I'm coming out,'" Brown said. "They're mindful of the clock. 'I've got four six-minute chunks of my basketball world where I used to play 36 and I used to be in games and Coach didn't have to figure out: How do we have to do this to end the game?'
"So there's a canyon between periods of time where you just sit there trying to manage that. That is hard for him especially. When you're judging it, I think there is a disappointment, a frustration that I completely respect and I'm with him on. I understand."
There are challenges for the coaching staff, as well. They have to map out how to substitute Saric in and out so he is on the court when it matters most. The Sixers do not want to take him out of the starting lineup, nor do they want to run the risk of falling into a deep deficit out of halftime if they do not start him in the third quarter.
"It's a reality that sadly we have been used to with so many players on minute restrictions," Brown said.
The Sixers faced another brief injury scare when T.J. McConnell turned his left ankle during the third quarter and left the court. He underwent X-rays, which came back negative, and returned in the fourth. With all of the Sixers' health woes in mind, McConnell wants to fight through this one.
"If I'm good enough to go, I don't care how many games are left," McConnell said as he soaked his ankle in ice. "I'm not going to abandon this team. We all know how many people are hurt so I'm not going to sit out the rest of the year if it's sore. I'm going to play through it."
Both Saric and McConnell will look to battle through their obstacles when they take on the Bucks just two days later on Saturday.