Sixers focused on playing together and staying together after 3-13 start to season
They also expect the leadership of Joel Embiid and Kyle Lowry to play a major role in turning their season around.
For the 76ers, the focus is on playing hard, playing together, and staying together off the court.
The hope is by doing those things, they will climb out of their rut.
The 3-13 Sixers will take the NBA’s second-worst record into Wednesday night’s game against the Houston Rockets at the Wells Fargo Center. They have lost six of their last seven games.
“Everyone knows we are 3-13,” Ricky Council IV said Wednesday after the morning shootaround. “It’s no surprise. So we just have to stay together and have a positive mindset, because once that goes away it’s just going to continue to downfall.
“But I feel like we’ve got good energy right now, which is impressive … So we’ve got to stay with it.”
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Council said the Sixers were more competitive during Tuesday’s practice than they normally are the day before a game.
The squad usually has a walk-through, participates in shooting drills, and goes over defensive schemes. But on Tuesday, the Sixers participated in a competitive five-on-five scrimmage, he said.
That came after what appeared to be a deflating 125-99 loss at home to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. The message in the locker room following that defeat was “stay together.”
“Stay together and play hard,” Council recalled. “We didn’t put our best foot forward, especially trying to come off that Brooklyn win we had [on Friday]. We didn’t play nearly as hard as we had that game. We’ve just got to stay consistent.”
Leadership from Lowry and Embiid
The Sixers are looking to the veteran leadership of Kyle Lowry and Joel Embiid to lift them out of their funk, according to coach Nick Nurse.
“I know Kyle well,” Nurse said. “Joel and I have obviously been together [since last season] now. Those two guys … are making sure that guys understand what they’re doing and making sure they’re getting things ironed out.”
Teammates have approached the duo when they need further explanation or more details on schemes. However, the two veterans will have to do that from the bench on Wednesday.
Lowry (strained right hip), Embiid (left knee injury management) and Paul George (bone bruise, left knee) will remain sidelined for the game. Caleb Martin (lower back soreness) is listed as questionable.
Injuries have obviously hurt the Sixers, but lack of execution has also been an issue for an old, slow, and undersized squad. They’re ranked 29th in the league in scoring (104.1 points per game), rebounding (39.4) and assists (21.5).
“There are a lot of things, some stuff that we’re not doing well enough,” Nurse said, “but a lot comes down to being able to physically do it versus [schemes] that work.”
Even though the Sixers struggled Sunday, the coach said he’s also happy with how they’ve executed schemes. But he realizes that schemes aren’t going to matter much if their physicality doesn’t match the opponents' aggression.
“So it’s kind of talking about a lot of all that stuff,” Nurse said.
In addition to being the franchise player, Embiid is the longest-tenured Sixer. The team selected him third overall in the 2014 NBA draft.
Meanwhile, Lowry is in his 19th season and can help players buy into what Nurse is selling. Lowry initially signed a free-agent deal with the team on Feb. 13 for the remainder of last season. He re-signed with the Sixers on July 12.
Lowry was Nurse’s standout point guard on the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 NBA championship team. Their relationship has grown after Nurse was promoted to Raptors coach on June 13, 2018, following five seasons as an assistant. Nurse was hired as the Sixers coach on July 1, 2023, replacing Doc Rivers.