The Philadelphia 76ers have had an up-and-down start to the 2022-23 season. In some stretches, they look like legitimate contenders. In other stretches, they look like nothing has changed despite their offseason additions.
That was certainly the case on Saturday in a 114-109 win over the host Chicago Bulls. The Sixers built an early 19-point lead by playing with pace and playing together. Then they went away from what was working and saw their lead turn into a late deficit.
Luckily for Philadelphia, Joel Embiid stepped up in a big way and drilled a go-ahead triple with 18.1 seconds left to ensure the Sixers came away with a win. Philadelphia shot 53.3% in the first half but shot 44.1% and committed 12 turnovers in the second. The turnovers led to 16 Chicago points.
Afterward, Embiid admitted the team still has a lot of work to do. Per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“It’s the NBA, you got to take them whenever you can,” Embiid said of the victory, which improved the Sixers to 3-4. “But that doesn’t mean that was a great one. We got a lot of work to do. We blew up the lead, mainly, by the playing the right way.
“So we need to be focused and better for 48 minutes.”
The Sixers are going to figure out this consistency problem. They have been up and down, but they have won two consecutive games over playoff teams following the 1-4 start. Embiid will lead this team against the Washington Wizards on Monday and looks to pick up another win before returning home.
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