The Philadelphia 76ers are getting ready to resume the season on Saturday that has been suspended since March when they take on the Indiana Pacers. Heading into this restart, the Sixers are sitting at just the 6 seed in the East after such high expectations and they had a ton of chemistry issues.
However, after being forced to spend some time together off the court, the team feels s close as they have ever been during the season.
“I think that for our team having this time off was helpful,” said veteran Al Horford. “Not only for a health point of view, but for us being able to spend this time here together as a group. Having team dinners, hanging out after practices, doing different things as a group, I just think it has strengthened our group. I do believe that it’s going to be beneficial for our team moving forward.”
On top of that time off the floor, the Sixers are a team that has one mindset when it comes to their goals inside the bubble and that is to win. Philadelphia is a team filled with talented players and this new opportunity in Orlando allows them to fulfill their goals of winning a championship. Pandemic or not, this new opportunity is right there for them.
“We know we’re going to be here for a minute so, for us, our goal is to win,” added Ben Simmons. “Everyone’s coming in with that mindset. Nobody’s wanting to leave or with a bad attitude so once everybody has that same mindset, it’s so easy to have that chemistry to build and on the floor, that translates. So guys are coming in ready, mentally prepared, and willing to sacrifice whatever anybody needs to sacrifice in order for us to win. I think this is the best the team’s been since we’ve been together collectively. The chemistry is much better than earlier on in the season and midway.”
On top of that, this is a team that is just excited to play basketball again. On March 11, they knocked off the Detroit Pistons at home, and then the league suspended operations shortly after the buzzer sounded. The excitement is there just to be able to play real competitive games again.
“Personally, I’m excited and as a team, it’s fair to say we’re excited too,” Horford added. “We didn’t know what was going to happen with our season, we didn’t know when we even got to Orlando if we were going to be able to get to the point that we were actually playing. So this is a new opportunity for our group. I feel really excited about it. We’re healthy for the most part and I’m looking forward to getting started tomorrow and really growing as a group with these games coming up.”
Now that the Sixers are there and stuck in the bubble, they might as well do what they were put together for and that’s to win.
“I’m ready. I’m ready to go. There’s not too much else to say about it,” said Simmons with a smile. “We want to win every game while we’re here.” [lawrence-related id=35874,35865,35849]