The Philadelphia 76ers were able to finish off the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday 118-111 to complete a perfect 3-0 road trip, but it came with some lumps.
They led most of the way and the game ultimately finished in what the team wanted which was a win, but the third quarter was a bit of disappointment and the team also allowed Charlotte to make unnecessarily close late. They led by as many as 24, but the Hornets got back into it and the lead was only seven in the third quarter.
Maybe human nature kicked in and they let their foot off the gas a little bit.
“I think a little bit of both,” said coach Doc Rivers after the win. “I think they came out with far more energy early on. I thought our defense dispirited them early on and then my guess is they got into halftime and said ‘Guys, let’s keep playing’ and they came out and played with great energy, more energy than us, which was clear. Then they start making shots and start getting some confidence.”
When a team goes up big in the NBA, there are plenty of instances where a team will just relax and allow the other team back in it and that is the situation the Sixers found themselves in on the road.
“A combination,” said veteran Tobias Harris. “I thought that we did relax in combination of them making a lot of 3s, getting a lot of the 50/50 basketballs that were over the floor, so overall I look at it is kind of a moment in the game where we’ve kind of pumped the brakes a little bit, and we shouldn’t have.”
The Hornets have a lot of offensive weapons on their roster led by Gordon Hayward, Devonte’ Graham, LaMelo Ball, and others. Philadelphia has to realize that just because they went up big does not mean the game is over. It has to keep going.
“You can definitely say that,” added Shake Milton. “I don’t think we were being in tune with the little things and we stopped paying attention to the details. In this league, they’re not gonna stop so they had a couple of shots, they were able to get back in it, but thankfully, we got great leaders and we held on to a win, but we got to be better and we know that.”
At the end of the day, a win is a win and the team went perfect on the road trip. That is what ultimately matters once everything is said and done.
“It’s a win but at the same time, it’s a game that we also need to understand the bigger picture of where we’re trying to get,” Harris added. “When we’re up big, we have to sustain those leads all throughout the game.”
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