The Philadelphia 76ers embark on a 4-game west coast swing beginning on Sunday with a matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers. They will have to do so while their All-Star leaders Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are sidelined with a variety of injuries.
That means it is on other guys to step up–paging Josh Richardson, Al Horford, Tobias Harris–in their place to make sure the team continues to win basketball games. This team is 9-21 on the road, to begin with, so it will be even tougher against elite competition like the teams Philadelphia is going up against without Simmons and Embiid.
On top of that, their defense does not have the same effect on the road as it does at home. They give up 110.7 points per game on the road and 102.4 at home so obviously, there’s an issue there and Richardson tries to figure it out.
“I think for us, it’s just staying vocal,” said Richardson at practice on Saturday. “When you’re missing shots and you’ve got guys encouraging you, saying ‘we’re going to get a stop this time down the court’, it keeps you confident. That’s what I’m going to try to do for us on this road trip and hopefully it carries over to the rest of our team.”
That is where Richardson comes in. He has begun to take on more of a leadership role on this team calling player’s only meetings and continuing to take a step forward for this group who need a vocal leader.
“The more comfortable I’ve gotten, the more I’ve started to try and talk,” he said. “I’ve just been trying to step out of my comfort zone a little bit and be that voice that we need right now.”
The Sixers will need it in a big way. Without the two stars, the responsibility of leadership on this team will fall to himself, Horford, and Harris and they acknowledge that. They need to step up and be what this team expects of them.
“Your two top dogs aren’t out there, it’s next man up,” Richardson added. “Us three will work by committee to be a solid voice for our team and just try to keep the young guys confident. That’s what we’ll need on this road trip.”
The Sixers face Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers on Sunday to begin the road trip before facing LeBron James and the Lakers on Tuesday. This will not be an easy trip and the pressure will be on those three to lead the way. [lawrence-related id=26790,26782,26768]