The early season struggles for the Philadelphia 76ers continued on Wednesday when they fell to the Toronto Raptors to begin the 4-game road trip 119-109. They got off to a slow start defensively as the Raptors shot 7-for-12 from deep in the first quarter to set the tone.
For the game, Toronto shot 16-for-37 from deep and they scored 29 points in transition as the Sixers continue to struggle in that area. That is a clear area where Philadelphia has got to improve in as they move forward with their title plans.
“It’s the first quarter that we got off to such a slow start and their key guys got going,” coach Doc Rivers told reporters. “We just gifted guys shots early, their shots, missed coverages so then I thought also our offense even though we shot 51%, it can be such a better offense if we just played right. If we spaced the floor more, played a little faster, didn’t turn the ball over.”
Philadelphia did turn the ball over 13 times which led to 21 Toronto points.
“After the first quarter, again, if you take away how we played defense, then if you took away the pick sixes that we gave,” Rivers continued. “Our turnovers were take the turnover for a basket. It’s hard to win a game like that, especially when you’re behind to start with so the film is going to say a lot.”
Gary Trent Jr. led Toronto with 27 points and he hit five triples while Pascal Siakam scored 20 points and he knocked down four 3-pointers. That offset anything the Sixers could do on the offensive end.
“I think we shot 51% or something like that,” said Tyrese Maxey to reporters. “You shoot 51%, the defense gotta hold up on the other end. We just gotta keep working on it and keep getting better and better. It’s still early so we gotta keep working on it.”
As far as how to fix it, Maxey kept it pretty simple. Guys need to start talking to each other.
“Communication,” he stated. “We gotta get on the same page. Sometimes it’s extremely hard to get on the same page, but as long as we keep talking to each other—you gotta step in the same direction. Talk to each other, know what we’re doing, know when we’re switching, when we’re not switching. It’s gonna come with trust and trusting each other and just communication as it keeps building throughout the season.”
The Sixers will have a rematch with the Raptors on Friday to continue the road trip.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=69964]
[lawrence-related id=70055,70050,70012]