CAMDEN, N.J. — The 2023-24 season has not been an easy one for the Philadelphia 76ers. They have dealt with a lot of adversity as guys have been in and out of the lineup and they have had to battle without the services of Joel Embiid since Jan. 29.
On top of that, the Sixers have had to play without Tyrese Maxey as of late who has missed Philadelphia’s previous three games due to a concussion and is set to miss another one on Sunday against the New York Knicks. De’Anthony Melton and Robert Covington have missed a ton of time, too.
Buddy Hield, who was acquired at the deadline from the Indiana Pacers, hasn’t yet played with Embiid and has been playing with a different set of teammates on a nightly basis with guys being in and out of the lineup.
“You’ve just got to find a way, man,” said Hield on Saturday. “You’ve got to figure it out and find a way. You’ve got to do a lot of sacrificing, play together, and you’ve got to figure it out. The end goal is to get the W and no matter what — if somebody has 40, somebody has zero — figure out how to get the W. That’s all that matters. That’s the end goal, to try to get a win. Winning makes everything much better around here. We all know that.”
Along with the challenges at the moment, the Sixers have to begin a 3-game road trip on Sunday with two contests against the Knicks on the road before heading to the Midwest to take on the Milwaukee Bucks. Hield and the Sixers must not muster up some consistency and look to get back on track as Philadelphia moves forward.
“Just come in ready to compete,” Hield said of the trip. “We’ve got to be able to compete. We know we’re going to the Garden. They’re going to be loud, they’re going to be ready to compete. They’ve lost some, too. We know what’s at stake. Looking at the standings, we’re all bundled up. Milwaukee lost last night. We’ve got a chance of closing the gap, but we’ll see how the chips fall. Like I said, if we bring the same intensity every day that we had in the third quarter and the fourth quarter (against the Pelicans), I think we’ll be fine.”
[lawrence-related id=91755,91752,91749]