Doc Rivers Believes Sixers Can be Better After Dominant Win Over Magic

Thursday's win over the Orlando Magic was an impressive performance put on by the Philadelphia 76ers. As Philly shot 48-percent from the field, putting up 116 total points, the Sixers knocked off the undefeated Magic with a 24-point win on the road.

Although there were times in the third quarter when the 76ers had to shake some rust off, the Sixers seemed nearly flawless as everything went right for them through four quarters. Despite picking up a blowout win, though, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers made it clear we haven't seen the best of this year's 76ers so far.

"There's no doubt we can play better," Rivers said after the victory. "Defensively, I don't know if we can play much better than we did in the first half. I thought we were swarming; we were physical. We took them out of their stuff, and I thought more impressively that they really got into the game plan. You know, they guarded personnel very well, knowing what each guy did. And that's something we really have been working on for them to study and know that."

The Sixers' defense has been clicking since they started the preseason a few weeks back. Offensively, though, the Sixers have been a work-in-progress. While Philly's offense is moving in a positive direction, Rivers teases that there is more to be desired after the team drained 44 total shots while averaging 45-percent from beyond-the-arc.

"There's still another level [to the offense]," Rivers mentioned. "I told them that at halftime. I said, 'We're good, but we still are not where we want to be yet offensively, which is a good sign'." So, what is Rivers looking to improve?

"It's just an execution thing and a spacing thing," he explained. "We have to work on spacing every second. There are times where guys cut down the middle, and they think it's a good cut because they're open, but they actually bring traffic back into the paint. That's one of the things we're working on every day."

Thanks to a dominant win over the Magic, the Sixers will get the day off on Friday. They're then back to work on Saturday night as they look to continue progressing on offense with a matchup against the Charlotte Hornets.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_