The Philadelphia 76ers were in a tough situation on Sunday afternoon when they took on the Los Angeles Clippers. They were still missing Joel Embiid, De’Anthony Melton and Robert Covington, and they added Kyle Lowry to that list.
Philadelphia had a great start and led by as many as 17 in the first half. The Sixers played tough defense all afternoon and made the Clippers uncomfortable despite LA’s offensive talent: James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
The Clippers kicked into high gear and rallied to tie the game. Instead of wilting, the Sixers responded and pushed the lead to as many as 21 points. They cruised to a 121-107 win as Tyrese Maxey scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.
“For us, our competitive nature has really stepped up over these past few weeks or so,” Maxey told reporters after the win. “Coach got on us after the Knicks game, feeling like they just pushed us around, and ever since then we haven’t had that. I think in Phoenix we couldn’t make a shot, and it happens like that.”
Philadelphia played tough in Phoenix and even in the loss to the Lakers on Friday. Shots just didn’t fall despite some solid offensive execution.
“Even in the Lakers game, I feel like we were extremely aggressive defensively and we just couldn’t make any shots,” Maxey added. “Tonight (Sunday), our defense was solid as always, but missed some shots. So, that was good for us.”
The Sixers have had a solid trip in terms of their game plan. It has worked well. Now, they look to pick up wins while they await the return of Embiid.
“We brought a similar effort from the other night and the ball went in,” added coach Nick Nurse. “We just kind of talked about that before the game and that we were generating good shots and everybody be ready to pull the trigger and they did. I thought when it hit our hands to start the game we were really confident. Obviously, listen, we made a lot of shots and that continues to boost our energy but we played really hard tonight so I’m proud of that.”
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