Nick Nurse is happy with the Sixers’ 7-1 start, ‘but there’s a long way to go’

The 76ers have confidence and good chemistry. It’s amazing how well teams with those attributes can play. Those intangibles are more important than talent.

The joy of playing together goes a long way toward success. Often, teams that talk about how everybody gets a long are the teams that go a long way.

A coach can also make a big difference. The schemes Nick Nurse has instilled offensively and defensively have helped.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. released from the hospital after getting hit by a car

No disrespect to former coach Doc Rivers — whose 1,096 career victories are the ninth most in NBA history. He’s a future Hall of Fame coach — but sometimes a different voice is good, and Nurse is hitting all the right notes.

So, yeah, the signs on the court are good for the Sixers.

Will it last? Will they listen? Will they avoid another significant injury?

We’ll have to wait and see.

The Sixers must already learn how to play without Kelly Oubre Jr. for a significant amount of time. The small forward was released from the hospital Saturday night after being struck by a car in a hit-and-run situation in City Center earlier that night.

The timing of the injury is not good. The Sixers’ upcoming two-game series against the Indiana Pacers at the Wells Fargo Center will provide better competition than most of the teams they have played.

At 7-1, the Sixers have the Eastern Conference’s best record. They’re also riding an NBA-best seven-game winning streak. The Pacers (6-3) are third in the conference standings and have won three straight games.

The teams will meet at 6 p.m. Sunday in a standard regular-season game. Then the teams will meet Tuesday in a game that will also serve as an NBA In-Season Tournament East Group 1 game.

The Sixers’ defense will get tested against the league’s best offensive team.

The Pacers leadvthe NBA scoring (126.0 points per game) and assists (30.7). They are second in field-goal percentage (.496) and three-pointers made (142). And they are third in three-point percentage (.387).

» READ MORE: Sixers escape Detroit with a victory as Joel Embiid angers Pistons in In-Season Tournament opener

All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton averages 23.6 points and league-best 11.6 assists.

The Sixers know it will be tough to beat the Pacers in consecutive games. Normally, teams split in these series. So the Sixers finding a way to win both games would be a major accomplishment.

Right now, the Sixers are still in the midst of figuring things out.

A lot of that has to do with Nurse trying to identify a rotation and learning the strengths of his new coaching staff.

Bryan Gates will coach the Sixers’ defense. Nurse and Coby Karl, the former Delaware Blue Coats coach, will coach the offense. Bobby Jackson is in charge of special teams, which is basically everything besides half-court offense and defense. Rico Hines is in charge of player development. And Nurse informed Doug West and Matt Brase of their assignments during Friday night’s plane ride from Michigan to Philly.

Meanwhile, Nurse said Wednesday that it will probably take another week to 10 days to finalize a rotation.

A lot of that has to do with the acquisitions of Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris, and KJ Martin from the Los Angeles Clippers in the three-team trade that landed James Harden and P.J. Tucker in L.A.

“I think we’ve played some good basketball, right?” Nurse said. “I think we’re talented. I think we have some depth. And I also think we got a lot of things to improve on.”

» READ MORE: Sixers’ new depth, new coach, and gritty defense was obvious in win over the Celtics

While the Sixers’ record is impressive, the Celtics are the only team with a winning record that they defeated.

The other victories have come against the Detroit Pistons, the Phoenix Suns, the Toronto Raptors twice, the Washington Wizards, and Portland Trail Blazers, teams with a combined record of 15-28.

But beating the team they’re supposed to beat is a good sign.

You can drop games to Boston and the Milwaukee Bucks. The key to a successful season, however, is winning the games you should win. So far, the Sixers are doing that.

And their ability to come back to defeat the Pistons, 114-106, Friday night at Little Caesars Arena was another good sign.

The Sixers came out flat in what was a trap game. But they found a way heading into halftime and at the start of third quarter to erase a 16-point deficit and turn things around in their NBA In-Season opener against Detroit (2-8).

It was a game they could have easily lost. It was a game they would have lost last season.

“So I’m happy with our compete level,” Nurse said “Happy with our work rate day to day. Happy with our focus. But there’s a long way to go with this team in a lot of areas.”