Sixers offer spirited response to breaking-point test
PHILADELPHIA » If the end of the Sixers’ season is to happen, whenever and however it is to occur, Brett Brown figures he will know advance.
If his players, while facing elimination, come to practice and just walk around, he will know. If they show up for a game, heads down, he will know. If they look exhausted, or feel disinterested, or no longer have that greedy, competitive essence that drove them to exceed so many goals in an interesting and entertaining season, he will know that it is time to stop asking them for more. He will know that they have had enough.
He doesn’t know that yet. And after a 103-92 victory over the Boston Celtics Monday that extended their season by at least one more game, he is not sure if he will know that for a in while.
Not that it was a dramatic departure from what they’d often done when demanding NBA travel is necessary, but the Sixers arrived for their would-be elimination moment knowing that the club had already chartered the flight to Boston for Game 5, and that it would be departing sometime around midnight. For that, they were asked to pack a bag and an attitude.
A quick pregame evaluation, and then a display of defiance in the fourth game of the Eastern Conference semis, showed that the plan was worthwhile and that their journey could last for a while.
“That spirit that we talked about at the end of last game is such an interesting part going forward,” Brown said before the game. “And I can tell you the Philadelphia 76ers’ spirit is just fine.”
Their defense wasn’t bad, either. Nor was their new playing rotation, which included a starting backcourt of T.J. McConnell and Ben Simmons, with J.J. Redick replacing Robert Covington on a wing. But considering the circumstances, Brown was on point: As long as the Sixers’ spirt wasn’t broken, their season would remain in place too.
Long an assistant in San Antonio before accepting the Sixers’ job during a goofy rebuilding process that disallowed success, Brown knew about lengthy playoff series, and about brief ones, too. And he knew that no team in the history of the NBA had ever won a series after losing the first three games.
“Just think about that number,” Brown said, after an overtime loss in Game 3 that would make them the 130th team to give that a try. “And the number ‘zero’ happens more out of spirit than talent. There is a breaking point we all have, and I believe that if we can maintain our spirit, why couldn’t we be the ‘one’? “And I mean that.” It’s going to happen sometime in the NBA. And these are historic sports times, with Cleveland recently winning a world championship, the Cubs winning a World Series, the Eagles winning a Super Bowl and a 16-seed stunning a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Some time, a team will recover from an 0-3 hole to activate a confetti machine, and with cause. And if it does, it likely will happen in a situation like the Sixers are in this season: One where they are favored every time they play. Overwhelming favorites to win the series, they were roadfavorites in Games 1 and 2 in Boston, and were favored in Game 3 at the Wells Fargo Center. When they were rolled out as favorites again Monday, there was the indication that somewhere, someone with more than a cheering interest in the event continued to believe that a history-altering series remained possible.
“It could easily be 2-1, Philly,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said before the game. “There is such a small margin of error in these games. If you don’t bring it, the game will be honest. If you don’t play better each game, you’ll get beat.”
The Sixers brought it Monday, fighting on defense, playing with the kind of physical desperation that the Miami Heat was required to try in Round 1. The lineup change helped, with McConnell providing all the winning plays that he had been for his three seasons as a Sixer, even while some were shouting that he was not as good as Sergio Rodriguez. And because the Sixers refused to accept otherwise, they are within one victory of “Why couldn’t we be the one?” replacing “Trust the Process,” as the fans’ rallying cry of choice.
If the Sixers win Wednesday in Boston, Game 6 would be back at the Wells Fargo Center, where they have won 26 of their last 29. That would set up a one-game-season in Boston and a latter-day opportunity for a reprise of the historically significant “Beat L.A.” game.
Though the Celtics won the first three of the series, they are playing without their two most valued players, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. And even if they still present the Sixers with a difficult matchup challenge, the pro game is not designed to allow such circumstances to be camouflaged indefinitely. At some point, that injury misfortune will cost Boston heavily. Still leading, 3-1, in the series, that likely will be a bill the Celtics will have to pay later. But has that collection already begun?
“Extend the series,” J.J. Redick said. “Survive. You can’t win all four at once.”
The Sixers went a little smaller Monday and the Celtics didn’t immediately adjust. So, a captivating Sixers season continues.
The Sixers’ spirit was tested. The Celtics’ spirit is about to be tested. One or the other will break. Brown will be the earliest to know which one.