Nick Nurse Analyzes 76ers' Slow Start vs. Pelicans
On Friday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced off against the New Orleans Pelicans, as they looked to snap their ongoing losing streak, as well as to equalize the season series, following their loss against the Western Conference side in November.
Yet, they would do anything but this as the Sixers fell to the Pelicans, 103-95. Despite the close final score, Philadelphia struggled in the first half, only managing to put up 34 points before the second quarter came to a close.
Sixers' head coach Nick Nurse attributes some of their early struggles to their tactics, opting to shoot from beyond the arch rather than take some inside shots, which tended to be guarded well by New Orleans.
"We came into the game with what I would consider a soft approach because we took like six or seven threes out of our first eight possessions, right?" stated Nurse, "Now, a couple of them were wide open, the one we made went up the court, swung to Kyle, swung to Kelly, wide open in the corner, bang, but there was a bunch of dribble up ones that we were at least moderately to heavy contested."
For context, the Sixers shot with ten percent accuracy from beyond the arch in the first half, only managing to knock in two of their twenty attempts, while struggling in the paint, converting on only nine chances.
The Pelicans' defensive ability was also reflected well, blocking six shots through the opening half, as well as recording 24 defensive boards, in opposition to the Sixers' nine offensive rebounds.
Nurse wasn't too thrilled about this approach insisting that use New Orleans' physicality to their advantage and try to punish them for it through trips to the free throw line.
"That's not good enough, You've got to play tougher than that," insisted Nurse, "You've got to put your nose in there and drive it in the paint and try to get to the foul line or draw some defense and kick it out to somebody that's open, etc..."
To Nurse's point, Philadelphia struggled to punish the Pelicans' physicality, only netting seven fouls against them in the first half, with Jose Alvarado and Herbert Jones both accruing two fouls by halftime.
Given this rough start, the Sixers' head coach insisted that there were two options at half time for his team to take, give up or get fighting.
"You know, you either quit or you tighten up your shoes and you get out there and you start fighting," stated Nurse, "At least they tightened up the shoes and started fighting."
The Sixers did start to pull it together in the second half, pulling the game back into within ten points by the final whistle, thanks in part to huge second halves from Tobias Harris and Kelly Oubre Jr, who combined for 26 points.
This isn't to look past the general improvements Philadelphia had in the second half as a whole, shooting with 51 percent accuracy in the second half, while also proving to be a handful for New Orleans on the offensive end, recording five blocks and four steals in the closing two quarters.
