Even without James Harden, plenty of action in the Sixers’ annual Blue-White Scrimmage

WILMINGTON — Competitive juices were on full display while James Harden was not once the 76ers’ annual Blue-White scrimmage began.

The Sixers’ point guard left the court before the annual event, in front of a packed crowd at Chase Fieldhouse, began. Despite Harden’s exit, it was still fun Saturday afternoon.

Kelly Oubre Jr. displayed the three-point shooting the Sixers coveted in free agency. Jaden Springer gave a glimpse of why he’s expected to crack the rotation. Two-way players Ricky Council IV and Terquavion Smith showcased their athleticism. And Patrick Beverley coached the intrasquad scrimmage like it was Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

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“It was good,” new Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “I think it’s always good to do things in the community for the fans, etc.”

Nurse was pleased with the Sixers’ normal practice session and player-development work at the Delaware Blue Coats’ home arena ahead of the scrimmage.

» READ MORE: James Harden to miss Monday’s exhibition game against the Brooklyn Nets

“From my standpoint, we got our work in today,” Nurse said. “That was important.”

Harden participated in the practice and player-development sessions. However, he wasn’t around to partake as a player or coach in the scrimmage or be introduced with teammates. Nurse was asked if that was a mutual decision to have Harden skip the event. The coach didn’t directly answer the question.

Beverley, Danny Green, and Joel Embiid stuck around to coach Team De’Anthony Melton (White team). Meanwhile, P.J. Tucker and Tobias Harris coached Team Tyrese Maxey (Blue team).

“We had the practice,” Nurse said. “I told everybody yesterday that we were going through normal practice, and there’ll be skill work afterwards, right? As you can see, I put all of the veterans out of the game, etc. So I’m cool.”

It’s not surprising that Harden skipped out on the scrimmage. He wasn’t going to play anyway, and his presence probably would have created a distraction.

» READ MORE: James Harden to miss Monday’s exhibition game against the Brooklyn Nets

Watching the coaches was, at times, more entertaining than the game.

During the first timeout, Tucker jokingly slammed his clipboard to the floor before jumping up from his seat in the huddle.

His actions, however, took a backseat to the locked-in Beverley. He stood the entire time, kept yapping to the referees, and was positioned on the court several times during play.

“Pat Bev was on the court too much,” Council said jokingly. “I ran into him one time. We would have been fighting if he wasn’t the coach.”

But Smith thinks Beverley would be a great coach. He called the 35-year-old, who wants to take up the profession, his style of coach.

“He has good energy,” Smith said. “He doesn’t want nothing but the best.”

The teams participated in two 10-minute scrimmages.

The first one ended in a tie. Team Maxey won the second one by two points.

During the festivities, the players interacted with fans, tossed balls into the crowd and signed autographs.