The Philadelphia 76ers were in a tough spot on Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards to begin the season. They are a brand new team with a brand new coach and they still have a lot of kinks to work out.
That was clear in the season opener as they built a 50-37 lead in the second quarter, but they quickly found themselves down 10 in the second half. The Wizards used their speed and quickness and it was something Philadelphia really struggled with.
However, they were able to recover and earn a 113-107 win to open the season on the right foot. Of course, it helps that Joel Embiid went into a zone and helped the team win, but the resilience they showed as a whole is something that should help them moving forward.
“You know what I loved about the game is, we didn’t play well,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We had stretches that we played well. You can see in that little third quarter, body language is struggling, it caught themselves and, and they just find a way to win. The execution down the stretch of the fourth quarter for a team that hasn’t been together with was unbelievable on both ends so we love that part.”
The big turning point for Rivers was late in the second quarter when Philadelphia built the lead. They were up 13 and they could have built on it going into halftime, but instead, Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal helped the Wizards actually take the lead into the locker room.
“The down part of the game for me was five minutes before halftime,” the coach added. “We’re up 10 and we had a chance to be up 20. That’s one of the things I told them at halftime, you got a chance to do that you have to do it. We took quick bad shots in a row, we had a matchup on the post that we didn’t go to. Overall, I love the win.”
Ben Simmons had 16 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in the win and he did not even play a great game. He did not like his performance so much that he came out and put up more shots after the game to continue his work. He acknowledged that things will get better as time goes on.
“I think we’re gonna be a scary team once we start clicking and executing plays,” said Simmons. “We haven’t had too many games together, but obviously, there’s spurts wherever we look great. There’s also spurts where we looked a little unorganized. That just comes with time and playing together.”
The team now moves on to the next one against the New York Knicks on Saturday.
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