When one looks at the totality of the four-game road trip for the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s tough to ask for anything more.
The Sixers went 2-2 on the trip, capped by a 105-92 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. It was the second night of a back-to-back following an impressive win over the Houston Rockets on Friday. It was also the third game in four nights for a short-handed Philadelphia squad playing without Joel Embiid.
A 2-2 road trip is very solid, and the Sixers were right there in the losses.
“It was a good road trip for us,” Tobias Harris told reporters. “2-2. To figure out kind of a mini identity to this group without playing without big fella and to do that on the fly, we’re adjusting defenses out there as we continue to get guys back in rotation as well.”
Embiid suffered a right ankle sprain in the Dec. 22 win over the Toronto Raptors. He was unable to play on the road trip, but the Sixers had some good moments on both ends of the floor.
“So different variables, but at the day, like, overall road trip, I thought we made a lot of progress,” Harris said. “We grew and developed as a team through those games as well. So we just got to stay at it and be ready to go home and get victories.”
After the loss to the Bulls, coach Nick Nurse had a message for his team.
“I said listen, that was a difficult road trip and without Joel the whole way,” Nurse said of the message he told the Sixers. “I kind of said looking forward to it. We needed it and I’m glad that we got out of it 2-2, right? I think any of the wins on that road trip were all going to be hard and we were able to pick off two of them.”
Even in the two losses, the Sixers were right there. They trailed the Miami Heat by 21 on the road before rallying to take the lead, and they had a chance against the Bulls. They just ran out of gas.
“I thought, again, I thought we fought really hard in the other two and that we gave ourselves a chance in Miami after not playing that well and we still had a close game down the stretch,” Nurse finished. “This one wasn’t as close down the stretch, but I think we were doing everything we could to fight and stay in it.”
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