The Philadelphia 76ers are at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 12-5 start, and they have won three games in a row. Not all have come easy, however. The Sixers have had to dig deep in order to pick up some wins, and they have had to show a resiliency that will help them in the future.
They had to dig deep on Saturday to beat the Detroit Pistons on the road after trailing by 11 in the first half. The Pistons entered the game at an Eastern Conference worst 3-12, but they have lost a lot of close games and they have been battling teams.
They even led the Sixers 63-61 at the half, so Philadelphia had to respond. Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris combined for 49 of their 61 points at the half. Detroit was much more physical and they were playing desperate basketball looking to feel good about something.
“They were just playing harder, honestly,” Rivers said of the Pistons. “I’ve always thought the energy gets the calls and you can see that. When we upped our energy, things went our way so that’s just the way it worked.”
Rivers was demanding more from his team in the locker room because he knows they can do it.
“We know we can,” said Simmons. “It’s just a matter of doing it and locking in. Everybody has their job, their roles. Not every night somebody is going to have a great offensive game or do what they usually do at a high level all the time. But coach makes us know that if you’re able to give us something else that can help us win, to go out and do that.”
In the second half, the Sixers stepped up their defense, and they then got big efforts from guys such as Seth Curry and the bench to close the win. It does not matter how it gets done, as long as they come away with a win.
“It wasn’t a beautiful game by us, but it was a win,” said Rivers. “It was one of those NBA games where you could see our legs. We had so many wide-open shots down the stretch, everything was under the rim. We just needed to survive the game, and I thought our guys did that. So, really happy with the win.”
The Sixers also won on the road, a place that is still a little troubling for them, and they were able to get it done on the second night of a back-to-back. For them, this was an important win. They have to have that resiliency to keep fighting.
“It was a road win, which we need to keep chalking those up,” Rivers added. “It was the first win in one of those back-to-back series, and it so important to win that first game when you have those back-to-back games with the same team, we’ve done that. It was a lot of good things.”
The Sixers will finish their two-game road series with the Pistons on Monday in Detroit.
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