The Philadelphia 76ers were never built to be an offensive machine, but they expected to be at least a solid offensive team. That was certainly not the case during the brief two-game road swing where they shot a combined 15-for-72 from deep and lost both games to the Dallas Mavericks and the Indiana Pacers, respectively.
The loss to the Pacers on Monday marked a sixth straight loss on the road for the Sixers and they have now dropped to 7-14 on the road on the season. During the six-game road skid, the Sixers are shooting just 25% from deep, but they have gotten good looks. It isn’t like they haven’t been able to find some open shots.
“We just have to make more open looks,” said Tobias Harris who shot 1-for-5 from deep on Monday. “I think all around we haven’t shot it well from three, we’ve got to stick with it. But at the same time, we’ve got to make more looks, more shots that we’re getting.”
With Joel Embiid out after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand, the Sixers have to play at a faster pace. They have to use the strengths of Ben Simmons and play at a more up-tempo style and pace. That worked in the first half where Simmons scored 20 points, but he only scored four points in the second half.
That’s another trend the Sixers continued to use from their previous game against the Dallas Mavericks where Simmons got off to a fast start in that one as well before fizzling in the final 24 minutes.
“We started playing a little different style of play, we slowed it down, which wasn’t working for us. At the start of the game, we were playing with a little more pace, moving the ball a lot more,” Simmons said. “We have to go watch film.”
Philadelphia will return home on Wednesday where they have been a much better team on both ends of the floor. They have shot the ball better in the confines of home and they have played much better defense which will help them immensely.
Their opponent will be the Brooklyn Nets who are beginning to get a little healthier on their end with the return of superstar Kyrie Irving from injury. [lawrence-related id=23419,23411,23388]