Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
West Coast trip offers bevy of challenges for Sixers
Ever devious that way, the NBA this week will hit the first-place team in the Eastern Conference with a test. How the 76ers handle it, and it won’t be easy, should say plenty about where they are headed.
The Sixers have won five of their last six, including a 124-108 victory Saturday over visiting Brooklyn, which was without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. That has left them at 17-7, with Joel Embiid playing like an MVP and with Doc Rivers leading in any Coach of the Year race. They even have begun to win in tough road spots, a challenge they so often were unable to meet last season that it cost Brett Brown a job.
But at 10 Tuesday night in Sacramento, the Sixers will begin a four-game Western Conference swing that has Rivers bracing against the possibility of a standings correction. Consecutive victories over New Orleans, Boston, Denver and the Clippers have lifted the Kings to 12-11, enough to demand fresh attention.
“It feels like we have caught a lot of those teams that are hot and are playing well,” Rivers said Monday, after a practice from California. “We went into Charlotte, and they had won three in a row against quality opponents. Sacramento is on a roll right now. Their last two victories have been over Denver and the Clippers. That tells you they are playing well.”
They are … and they could be the least of the Sixers’ problems on the journey. Come Thursday, the Sixers will visit Portland, which ran over them 121105 last week in the Wells Fargo Center. From there, they will confront the 13-9 Suns Sunday.
The trip will not end before a Monday night visit to Denver. The 19-5 Nuggets won recently in Philadelphia, though on a day the Sixers were severely diminished by injuries and health-protocol obligations.
First problems first. The Kings were 31-41 last season, but are considered among the NBA’s most improved teams. One reason is De’Aaron Fox, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2017 draft. The point guard is the sitting Western Conference Player of the Week, Sacramento’s first since 2017, after recently averaging 31 points and 8.1 assists.
“They are back to playing to the pace they had under Dave Joerger,” said Rivers, of his assistant, who was let go as the Kings’ head coach in 2019. “(Head coach) Luke (Walton) and (assistant) Alvin (Gentry) have done a terrific job. They have put them in a position where they can score.
“So it’s going to be a terrific game.”
• • • The Sixers started their trip Sunday, and enjoyed a rare, full practice on the road Monday. On Sunday, they got together to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the Super Bowl.
“As a European kid from Turkey, I grew up watching soccer,” Furkan Korkmaz said. “Football was not my priority. But when the Eagles won the Super Bowl (three) years ago, I started to get into it a little bit. I started to learn the rules and things.”
Such gatherings, even at the major-league level, cannot hurt team bonding.
“Watching Tom Brady and all the things they did offensively was amazing,” Dwight Howard said. “But we also saw how the Bucs played really, really, really good defense against a good Kansas City offensive team. They were very physical, very energetic. They didn’t let the other team breathe. We want to be that way. We want to get to the point where the other team is like, ‘Man, every option that we try to run, these guys are moving, they’re talking, they are playing with energy.’
“When you do that, it leaves you no choice but to win.”
• • • There were no official updates on Seth Curry, who has been dragging since his coronavirus recovery. The shooting guard did provide 11 points in 27 minutes against the Nets, a sign of improvement.
“I think Seth is still trying to get back in shape,” Korkmaz reported after practice. “Even if it is three days or five days, it takes time in the NBA to get back to 100 percent. I know that very well, too. But he is experienced. He doesn’t worry about it. He knows he is going to make shots. He knows he is going to find his rhythm, but it’s definitely going to take time.”
• • • Matisse Thybulle continues to gain attention as a defensive stopper, with the latest analytic revealing that he leads the NBA in deflections per 36 minutes.
He is of particular value to the Sixers for his ability to fill in for Ben Simmons, who has similar defensive instincts.
“It’s like having a great relief pitcher to come into the game,” Rivers said. “Ben gets tired, you can throw Matisse in and have another one. So you always feel like you can have an elite defender on the floor for 48 minutes. That makes your team, defensively, pretty good.”