The Philadelphia 76ers were 24 minutes away from going up 3-1 in Game 4 of their series with the Atlanta Hawks. After blowing an 18-point lead in that loss, they then held a 26-point lead in Game 5 and looked like they were going to cruise to a 3-2 lead. They blew that one, too.
After a 109-106 loss in Game 5 at home on Wednesday, the Sixers are facing elimination. Everything they have built since training camp in December, earning the No. 1 seed and playing for a chance to win a championship now comes down to winning Game 6 in Atlanta on Friday.
Tobias Harris, who has had a brilliant season and followed that up with a strong start to the postseason, had four points on 2-for-11 shooting on Wednesday. He went scoreless in the second half on 0-for-4 shooting.
“This one is gonna hurt,” said Harris. “It hurts, but tomorrow (Thursday), we have to put it behind us, find a way to get better, go to Atlanta, and get a win. Our backs are against the wall right now, and we have to play like it.”
The Sixers have shown resilience all season. They have played through injuries to both Embiid and Simmons, and they found a way to get the job done. Now, with their season on the line, they will have to show that resiliency again.
“We’ll get back up,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We will be back here for Game 7; I believe that. The mood was down; it was awful. What would you think it would be? It would have to be, right?”
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The Sixers have a day off on Thursday before boarding the plane to take on the Hawks in Atlanta on Friday. There are many issues they will have to correct before taking the court at State Farm Arena where they will be greeted with a hostile environment.
“This is part of sports,” Rivers added. “You have some awful moments. There’s no guaranteed path to getting to your goal. We have made this hard on ourselves. We have to own up to that, all of us, and then we have to get up and be ready for the next game, and it’s gonna be a crazy atmosphere. Good. We’ll be ready for it.”
A team can’t rush moments like these. At this point, all it can do is watch the film on Thursday, and see what players can do differently.
“Take one day at a time,” said Seth Curry. “Get some rest and watch the film, learn from it, see what we can do better, and try to go get a win in Atlanta.”
The Sixers have done a solid job in the regular season showing their adaptability and a willingness to continue to work through things. At this point, it’s all about staying mentally ready for the big challenge that is about to come.
“We need to,” said Ben Simmons. “This one stings. This one hurts, but we got to do our job and then get the win in Atlanta.”
As Curry mentioned, the message for this team at the moment is to not look ahead as much. At this point, it is all about taking things just a day at a time and play their style of basketball.
“We gotta take it a day at a time,” Simmons added. “Get on the plane, head to Atlanta, watch film. Then, obviously, take care of business. It’s a game at a time at this point.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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