To get back on track, you’ve got to hit the practice court and figure some things out. For the Philadelphia 76ers, that’s exactly what they did on Thursday as they made a quick pit stop home before heading to Houston on Friday to finish a four-game road trip.
Most of the talk was surrounded by the comments made by Josh Richardson and rightfully so, but getting back to practice was a good step for a Sixers team that has played a lot of games recently.
“I think it’s just honesty,” coach Brett Brown said of Richardson’s comments. “He said what he said and he’s trying to figure out his place in the program. I respect it. I understand it, I think we’ll be better off for it, and I think today’s practice was awesome. It’s one of the first days you’ve been able to sweat and have a legitimate practice in a very, very long time.”
The Sixers had a long practice on Thursday following the debacle on New Year’s Eve against the Indiana Pacers, but it was needed. It was needed to get these guys back in the gym and actually have a practice rather than figuring it out on the fly in games.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s three games,” said Ben Simmons. “Obviously we know we should’ve had better games, a couple of them we should have won. We had a great practice today, everyone was locked in. It was good to be back.”
Al Horford, who had a rough December averaging just 9.9 points on 40.1% shooting, agreed that the practice on Thursday was much needed for this group.
“I think today we took a step forward,” said Horford. “We had a really good practice. I was very encouraged by it.”
Practice can always be a good thing for a team. To get together and be able to work on some things without the pressure of having to win a game. The three-game losing streak is discouraging, but to be able to eradicate that problem, the Sixers can use this practice to get back on track.
Philadelphia faces the Houston Rockets on Friday to conclude the road trip. [lawrence-related id=22566,22557,22549]