Before the NBA pressed the pause button on the season in mid-March, the Philadelphia 76ers were the most inconsistent team in the league. No other franchise had a greater disparity between how well it played at home and on the road. The Sixers were the league’s best 29-2 within the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center, but they had a lousy 10-24 record in away games.
At home, they had impressive wins over the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Milwaukee Bucks. Along the way, however, the 76ers suffered embarrassing losses to the humble Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards. At 39-26, Philly is currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings, behind the Bucks, Raptors, Celtics, Heat and Pacers, after many expected them to compete for first place before the start of the season.
Many of the Sixers’ problems with inconsistency were due to injuries, as they didn’t have three different starters: Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Josh Richardson, for long periods of time. However, some of the team’s struggles were due to chemistry, or lack thereof, according to forward Tobias Harris. During a recent appearance on ESPN’s “First Take,” Harris admitted that the Sixers struggled cohesively throughout the season, acknowledging that they failed to meet the high expectations that had been placed on them.
“I’ll just say, and keep it real, we haven’t had the best chemistry all year,” said Harris, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “It took us a while to get everyone together, we fought injuries from start to finish. And right now, if we are the ones who sleep, then we are the ones who sleep. To tell the truth, how we are seen, that is the opinion of another person, but I know that when I look my boys in the eye and we have conversations, we have a goal in mind, and to go out and play and win a championship.
“That is the only opinion that matters to me. What people have to say about our team, I understand, because we have not met our expectations so far this year. But we have a new opportunity in Orlando to go out and just play ball, and really scratch a new surface of what we can achieve. ”
Despite his season of ups and downs, Harris remains confident that the Sixers are capable of capturing the title when the season resumes in Orlando in late July.
“I have always been in contact with all my teammates during this process,” said Harris. “Mainly just to make sure the boys are mentally in a good space, asking, ‘Hey, do you want to go to the hoop here? What’s your opinion?’ I really don’t have much judgment on that … I think when we go out there and go to hoop, we have a chance to win a championship. We’re going to be healthy, much healthier than before: having Ben recovered and fully healing is great for us, and we have to go out and play basketball.
“This for us is like an AAU tournament. We just have to go out there and play, do the best we can and do what we do. But I really think we are going to have a clear shot to win a championship, and I stand in that “.
Considering the injury issues they dealt with and the fact that 40 percent of the starting lineup was new, it was to be expected that the Sixers would have some difficulties. However, given the talent on the team, and the payroll, it’s fair to say they underperformed during the first part of the season. In Orlando, however, they will have a fresh start and a new opportunity to prove themselves. Over the course of the season, the Sixers showed their ceiling with some major wins, such as the Bucks on Christmas Day or their 17-point victory over the Lakers in January, and that ceiling is extremely high.
On any given night, the Sixers can compete with, and defeat, any team in the league. Consistency will be key for them in Orlando. If they can consistently tie together solid performances, they could potentially go into a deep career. Thanks to the nature of winning or going home in the postseason, perhaps as a unit, the Sixers will get a unique approach that could have been lost during some road losses in December and January. Head coach Brett Brown and general manager Elton Brand have repeatedly said that the Sixers, as they are currently built, were built for the postseason game. In Orlando, we will find out if that is true.
