No Moral Wins, No Excuses: 76ers Focused on Bouncing Back vs. Hawks

For a brief moment, the Philadelphia 76ers forgot what losing was like. After dropping their season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Sixers went several weeks without a loss.

An in-season trade, which shook up the starting lineup and added new players, didn’t knock the Sixers out of their rhythm. Everything kept clicking, leading Philly to put together a league-best eight-game win streak.

At last, it ended at the start of this week. In a Tuesday night matchup against the Indiana Pacers, the Sixers were reminded of what it’s like to be on the wrong side of the scoreboard again. Kicking off the start of a back-to-back set, the Sixers couldn’t make it two in a row over the Indiana Pacers, falling short 132-126.

Less than 24 hours after concluding their matchup against Indiana, the Sixers were back on the floor to host the Boston Celtics, who were coming in hot on a three-game win streak.

Both teams entered Wednesday night’s matchup shorthanded. On Boston’s side, they played without Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown. As for Philly, they missed Kelly Oubre and Nic Batum.

With the two veterans out of the mix for the second-straight game, Robert Covington got the call to start once again. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse rolled out 11 players to keep his key guys fresh in a grueling matchup against one of the top competitors in the Eastern Conference.

For a team that played on Tuesday night against a speedy Pacers squad, the Sixers looked the part on Wednesday, getting off to a slow start. In the opening minute of the second quarter, Philly trailed by 17 points. A shorthanded Celtics team looked to be on pace to put the Sixers away with ease, but a hard-fought second quarter allowed the Sixers to garner the lead before halftime.

Heading into Wednesday night’s matchup, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla made it clear that the third quarter would be everything to the Celtics. They took care of business as planned, outscoring the Sixers 26-17 coming out of the half. From that point on, the Sixers’ fatigue showed en route to a ten-point loss.

Understandable? Sure. Acceptable? Not in the team’s eyes.

“No excuses,” Joel Embiid said, sitting at his locker after the game. “We still have to be better, and I have to be better.”

In the fourth quarter, Embiid accounted for just four of his team’s 32 points. Overall, he produced a season-low 20 points on the night. Granted, he’s been dealing with hip soreness over the last couple of games, but he noted that his showing didn’t reach his personal standards, setback or not.

“It’s what we signed up for,” Tyrese Maxey said, discussing the tough scheduling. “We play 82 games. It’s the NBA — National Basketball Association for a reason — you’re gonna play tough teams back to back like that. Indiana is really good, they’re really good at what they do. Great pace and they make it difficult on you to get back in transition, even on makes or misses. And Boston is Boston. We know what they’re capable of.”

Looking at the situation through a slightly more positive lens, Maxey was pleased to see his team “weather the storm” against Boston, preventing an early deficit from getting too far out of reach and making it a competitive game before ultimately coming up short.

As for Tobias Harris, he wasn’t willing to collect moral victories.

“There are none,” the veteran forward stated.

“Just get on and get ready for Atlanta,” Harris added. “Get ready to get back on track. Any team you play in this amount of time is always tough. At the end of the day, our group, we fight, and we got to keep fighting and figure out ways to come out of these games with victories.”

The Sixers traveled to Atlanta on Thursday and are set to face the Atlanta Hawks for the first time this year on Friday night. While the stakes are slightly higher, being that it’s an In-Season Tournament matchup, the Sixers are simply focused on getting back on track and collecting their ninth win of the year.