The Philadelphia 76ers re getting set to resume the 2019-20 season inside the Disney bubble in Orlando and their first opponent will be the Indiana Pacers. This is a team that has given the Sixers some trouble in the past as Indiana has taken two of the first three games of the season series.
Of course, that was way back in January as the team was still working through a lot of issues. As the league gets set to resume, coach Brett Brown considers Saturday’s game very important on their way to starting off on the right foot. On top of that, the two teams are tied for the 5 seed in the East with the Pacers holding the tiebreaker.
“I think it is important,” said Brown. “I think the importance of just starting well is mostly on my mind. I think the continuation of confidence to feel like we really have a chance to be good. The point about tiebreakers, that is true, but it’s a little big bigger than that for me. I feel like to accrue momentum and accumulate confidence and belief, I think that all has a chance to grow spirit. I see tomorrow night’s game in that light more than anything.”
Now, what about the keys to the game? Indiana is a team that is much smaller than Philadelphia especially without Domantas Sabonis. They will be looking to speed the game up as much as they can and that is on Brown’s mind.
“I think offensively, two things, dealing with them possibly double-teaming Ben (Simmons) and Joel (Embiid) and Al Horford,” the coach continued. “Them really denying catches. Are you drilled enough to be prepared for double teams or them messing with our bigger players? They are small and so offensively that could be a challenge for us. Might they sit in a zone? That could be a challenge for us.”
The Sixers have been preparing Embiid for double teams all throughout this midseason training camp so it will be up to him to make sure he is ready for those moments. The Pacers will be wanting to push the pace as much as they can to make sure that they are in a position to win this game. Embiid and Simmons are known to have some games with a high number of turnovers and they will need to keep that in mind heading into this game.
[protected-iframe id=”ef13d3c8e3022df1693bd1661ccc5349-146352668-86424022″ info=”https://app.playpickup.com/widgets/props/239?utm_name=nba&utm_term=ben-simmons&utm_content=76ers” style=”width: 22rem; height: 505px; border: 0″]
“Defensively because of the same criteria, they’re small, they fly, and they get up and down the court,” Brown finished with. “So anything that equals turnovers that lead to transition and having to take our bigger time and having to deal with 4 or 5 buzzsaws, kind of waterbug type of point guards coming at you, that is a challenge. The Indiana game simplified, offense-defense, those are the premortem concerns that I have.”
#Sixers coach Brett Brown on importance of Saturday’s ga@w game in regards to the tiebreaker and controlling their destiny as much as possible: pic.twitter.com/rHeYTGHhqV
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) July 31, 2020
The Sixers and the Pacers tipoff at 7:00 p.m. EST on Saturday from inside the bubble in Orlando. [lawrence-related id=35865,35849,35838]