The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the elite road teams in the NBA which is confusing to say considering their immense struggles on the road in the past. After a 115-109 win over the San Antonio Spurs on the road on Sunday, the Sixers improved to 17-9 on the road.
On the flip side, Philadelphia is just 10-10 at home. Considering that the Sixers went 31-4 at home–they were 29-2 before the season suspension–in the 2019-20 season while being 12-26 on the road, this is all just a bit confusing to see.
Even star big man Joel Embiid doesn’t know how to explain it.
“It doesn’t make sense, honestly,” he said. “Because in the past, we used to drive off the support from the fans at home and this year has been the opposite…I always try to play extremely well at home on the road and stuff, but it seems I don’t know, on the road, it just seems to be sort of that we are more together on the road because we’re playing on the road, the road fans and it’s all about us. We’re all we have.”
While it is weird to see the Sixers struggle at home and have so much success on the road, they have to be happy with the way things are going away from Wells Fargo Center. This gives them some confidence that they can win tough road games in the playoffs.
“All I do know is, what was it, like two years ago? Our road record was terrible,” laughed Tobias Harris. “That was trash. We was going to like the worst teams and losing on the road so we kind of fixed that up a little bit. I think our approach on the road is really good, locked in.”
Philadelphia now has a 5-game homestand beginning on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans. This gives the Sixers a chance to continue moving up the standings as there will be some struggling teams making a trip to the City of Brotherly Love.
“At home, we obviously want to be on our best on a nightly basis,” Harris added. “So we know that we have to be locked in as well and be comfortable as a team and just go out there and find our flow and our rhythm. We haven’t been our best at home this year, but there’s a chance now to make up some ground.”
As for Embiid, the big fella has been playing well at home and on the road, but he has been especially great on the road. He has scored 30+ now in 12 straight road games which ties him with the likes of Michael Jordan and Tracy McGrady.
Now, he just has to carry this home and help the Sixers take advantage of the homestand.
“At home, obviously, we have a lot of support,” Embiid finished. “For me, I don’t know, I’m just guessing maybe sometimes frustrations. Maybe some other guys might feel frustrated by sometimes support. It doesn’t affect me, but I’m sure it affects other people, other guys, but we got to use this these next couple of games to kind of regain our home advantage.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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