Sixers look to build off three straight blowout victories on road trip
“We have nine games left,” Ben Simmons said. “So we've got to stay locked-in for nine games. If we do that and win every game, we’ll put ourselves in the best position we can.”
The 76ers are hoping to use a convincing three-game homestand to get back on the right path.
The team came home to face the tanking Oklahoma City Thunder and the Atlanta Hawks twice after being routed twice by the Milwaukee Bucks to cap a season-long four-game losing streak.
The Sixers responded by trouncing the undermanned Thunder on Monday before posting consecutive lopsided victories over the equally undermanned Hawks on Wednesday and Friday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Now they’re focused on building off those victories on a three-game road trip.
The Sixers will face the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night at the AT&T Center before playing the Chicago Bulls on Monday night at the United Center. They’ll conclude the trip against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night at the Toyota Center
“We have nine games left,” Ben Simmons said. “So we’ve got to stay locked-in for nine games. If we do that and win every game, we’ll put ourselves in the best position we can.”
The Sixers (42-21) want to be in position to finish first in the Eastern Conference. They’re a half-game behind the Brooklyn Nets, who face the third-place Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday. It will be the first of two games in three days between the Nets (43-21) and Bucks (39-24) at Fiserv Forum.
Philly would be back in first place as early as Sunday night with a victory over the Spurs (31-31) and a Nets loss to Milwaukee.
By holding the tiebreaker, the Sixers would become the conference champion if they finish the regular season with the same record as the Nets.
“We have to just keep executing, regardless if things are going well or not, if we are making shots or not,” Danny Green said of the road trip. The Sixers “have to keep sharing the ball, because it’s a domino effect, it’s contagious even when thing are not going well and guys are still being selfless.”
But Green knows the Sixers must also get back in transition and be vocal on defense to avoid things going badly. The Sixers want to come out of this trip playing their best basketball. It has to do with playing to their identity while sharing the ball and providing solid defense.
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By continuing to play the right way, Green feels the Sixers will be fine in the postseason, regardless of how they’re currently shooting. “We’ll start to hit some of them,” he said, “and the basketball gods will reward us.”
The Sixers won the three games of their homestand by an average of 32.3 points.
On March 14, they defeated the Spurs, 134-99, at the Wells Fargo Center. It was the second-highest point total allowed by San Antonio in a game this season. The 35-point margin was the Spurs’ largest defeat against the Sixers in franchise history since 1981.
Joel Embiid (left knee bone bruise) and Spurs standout DeMar DeRozan (personal reasons) missed the last meeting.