Josh Richardson says he saw Sixers’ chemistry get ‘better’ after win

Philadelphia 76ers guard Josh Richardson believes he saw some real chemistry growing in a win over the Miami Heat.

The Philadelphia 76ers projected starting lineup of Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and Joel Embiid entered Saturday’s matchup with the Miami Heat playing only 70 minutes total as a group. There have been a variety of reasons for why that’s the case from a nagging injury to Embiid, one to Simmons, and most recently, to Richardson.

As Richardson came back from his two-game absence from a hip flexor, the game marked only the seventh time the Sixers had had that full lineup all season. Against an 11-3 Heat team, the results were quite impressive.

Philadelphia’s starting lineup scored 94 points as a unit compared to Miami’s starting unit scoring 33 combined points and they scored 86 as a team. It was a dominant performance and Richardson noticed something very important growing: team unity.

Richardson stated:

I think I saw our chemistry get better. For instance, Tobias and I had a little back and forth, but nothing bad. It was one of those things where I was screaming at him for the ball to get it to a mismatch, but he didn’t understand it. We then explained it and it didn’t escalate. We fist bumped it and kept it going. I saw a few other instances like that. I think when you can go at your teammates like that and come out of it positively, that’s a good step forward.

This team is as talented as any in the league. All-Stars Embiid and Simmons can lead the way while players like Richardson fall in and play their roles to a T. Not only was the offense in a great groove, the defense was stifling as Miami could not find many clean shots on the night.

Simmons added on the starter’s defense:

When we’re all locked in defensively, our offense is just easy. Everything flows, we find each other and just play with a good pace.

The Sixers will now look to carry this type of effort and team chemistry to Toronto on Monday when they face the defending champion Raptors. [lawrence-related id=19967,19957,19949]