The Philadelphia 76ers will continue to work out the kinks as they prepare for the 2020-21 season and that means there will be nights of sloppy play. The team got away on Friday with a 113-107 victory over the Indiana Pacers, but there were many mistakes.
The Sixers had 26 sales, which turned out to be an eyesore because they did so many things well. They shot 53.3% from the floor and they made 11 shots from deep, but the turnover was what kept Coach Doc Rivers most busy after the game.
“I was worried about that,” Rivers said. “We came under pressure, and to be honest, we didn’t get it right. I’m not alone with the 26 sales, I have to tell you that. I thought their pressure was bothering us in the first half, and I thought they were playing in our skies. It was good to see that we handled the second half better and we slowed down. “
The Sixers had a great third quarter outperforming Indiana 33-24 and rallied from 17 points behind to take the lead on their way to fourth. This was due to the fact that they slowed down the game, took their time and played with poise.
“You don’t speed up with pressure, you actually slow down versus pressure. I thought we were trying to beat the pressure by going faster in the first half, but in the second half we let them pressure us, and we took our time, and then we got every shot we wanted, ”added Rivers. to. “I was good that we were able to make the adjustment because that is also a mental adjustment, and I was very happy that we were able to do that.”
The big part that anyone can get out of this game is that the Sixers had the mental toughness to push through their sales troubles and win.
“We won a game today where they had 30 extra shots. We had 26 turnover ”, the coach concluded. So you can look at that in two ways. One, holy God, and then wow, we still won. There is also something good about fighting through the battle. One of the things I told this team when I watched them from a distance is that if things didn’t go well, they lost their minds and we didn’t go well in the first half. I thought their pressure was taking us out of the game, and to come back and play like that in that third quarter is a great sign for our team. “
Philadelphia will turn its attention to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday to open the season.