The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that has dreams of hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy in June. However, an 0-3 start to their four-game road trip including a horrible 115-97 loss to the Indiana Pacers on New Year’s Eve has people highly doubting that.
Philadelphia trailed the Pacers by as many as 36 points and they were outscored by 22 points in a lackluster second quarter that turned the game over in Indiana’s favor. This comes after concerns in Orlando about playing down to their competition and then in Miami where players suggested a lack of consistent effort level.
Josh Richardson, who led Philadelphia with 20 points, told the Inquirer.com’s Keith Pompey:
I don’t think that there’s enough accountability in our locker room right now, honestly. I think that we got some new guys, who don’t want to step on toes, including myself. I feel like we kind of go play, and don’t compete as much…There’s been games that we have and it’s been great. But when it’s not going good, we got to hold each other accountable. I think that’s where a lot of our problems start.
More Richardson: "… There's been games that we have and it's been great. But when it's not going good, we got to hold each other accountable. I think that's where a lot of our problems start." https://t.co/fSkoUT9Ee1
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) December 31, 2019
The Sixers now have to at least salvage a game on this road trip on Friday when they face the Houston Rockets. If they were to go 0-4 on the road trip following the impressive win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day, it would render that win meaningless. They have got to figure it out. [lawrence-related id=22484,22468,22471]