After early letdown, Sixers intend to reestablish defensive principles as early-season priority

Doc Rivers recently said the 76ers defense was ahead of the offense during training camp, boosted by new players who excel on that end of the floor and allowed the team to play a more aggressive style.

But the coach noticed slippage as the preseason wore on in areas such as ball pressure and rebounding. Then that carried over to Tuesday’s season-opening loss at the Boston Celtics, making recapturing those principles an early-season priority starting with Thursday’s home opener against the Milwaukee Bucks.

“That’s going to be the big thing that we focus on these next couple games is getting back to who we are,” starting guard Tyrese Maxey said, “getting back to playing ‘tight-shell’ defense.”

At media day, All-NBA center Joel Embiid set a goal of being the NBA’s best defensive team. Against the Celtics, though, Rivers lamented the number of times a Boston ballhandler blew past their defender, an issue that also popped up when the Sixers faced the Cleveland Cavaliers’ potent backcourt tandem of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland during the preseason.

» READ MORE: Opening-night loss to Celtics serves as reminder that Sixers are still a work in progress

Boston’s All-Star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored 35 points apiece Tuesday, a disappointment for a Sixers team that now has P.J. Tucker, De’Anthony Melton, and Danuel House Jr. on the roster. Also returning is two-time NBA second-team All-Defensive selection Matisse Thybulle, though he only played 23 seconds in the first half Tuesday.

A few days ago, Rivers compared those four defenders to relief pitchers, because they are all capable of having “shutdown nights” — though there will also be games “when they get hit,” he said.

Maxey added that the Sixers can improve with “anything that’s help-oriented” on that end of the floor. The build-a-wall philosophy that teams often try to deploy against Milwaukee two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo’s explosive athleticism will be another major test.

“We want to be a help-oriented team and a team that helps each other, a team that relies on each other offensively and defensively,” Maxey said.

James Harden began his 2022-23 season with his highest scoring output as a Sixer, dropping 35 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor, 5-of-9 from three-point distance and 12-of-12 from the free-throw stripe.

To outsiders who wondered how Harden would rebound from his least-efficient shooting season since he was a rookie, that performance was an encouraging sign. Yet Maxey was not surprised.

“I know what he can do,” Harden said. “I’ve seen it on TV. I’ve seen it in real life. I’ve seen it all before.”

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One sequence, however, even left Maxey impressed. A couple minutes after missing badly following a shimmy move that sent reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart to the floor, Harden buried a three-pointer through contact from Grant Williams and completed the four-point play.

“When he hit the shot when he was leaning,” said Maxey, mimicking the move while sitting down, “then I was like, ‘All right, now you’re just doing anything out there.’”