NEW YORK–The Philadelphia 76ers are three games into the preseason after Monday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets. One final exhibition game awaits on Friday at home.
Despite missing his main roster pieces, coach Nick Nurse has been able to implement his scheme and style of doing things.
The Sixers have been getting after it on the defensive end, and they have begun to take on the identity of Nurse, which is playing aggressively on the defensive end to get out for easy buckets. They forced 28 turnovers against the Nets, which Nurse was very happy with.
“We created a lot of turnovers which means there’s gotta be something intense going on out there,” he said after the win. “So that’s a good thing.”
The Sixers will open the season on Oct. 26 on the road against the new-look Milwaukee Bucks which will be an early test right out of the gate. Nurse isn’t entirely sure if his team is ready just yet due to the nature of the preseason.
“I’m gonna brutally hope so,” laughed Nurse when asked if the Sixers will be ready for opening night. “I don’t know if you’re going to feel like you’re ready going into the opener. I think you never really know in all my other years.”
The preseason offers up the opportunity for teams to get on the court and get used to one another, but not everybody plays big minutes and others don’t play at all. That’s the nature of the exhibition schedule and that can slow down the process of getting ready for the new season.
“A lot of teams are going through the same thing,” Nurse continued. “Very limited minutes in these preseason games. I will say this, we’re working super hard. We’re getting a lot out of the practices during the week so I feel really good about that.”
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