Sixers-Spurs takeaways: Sixers must work on ‘everything,’ but ‘lack of defensive effort’ is the Achilles’ heel.

James Harden talked about what the 76ers need to work on. Tobias Harris mentioned that “lack of defensive effort” is a major problem. And their bench continues to struggle.

Below is my look at three things that stood out during the Sixers’ 114-105 setback to the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Asked what the Sixers need to work on to turn things around, James Harden didn’t sugarcoat his response.

“Everything,” the point guard told The Inquirer. “It’s a process. Everything. But we didn’t expect it to be sweet, though.”

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Harden knows that early in the season is when players feel good about their team and about themselves.

The Sixers no longer have that feeling after dropping to 0-3 Saturday night.

“But I’m happy that we are going through this right now,” he said. “We don’t have fool’s gold. We got to work through it. We gotta figure it out on both ends. Realistically, it’s a good thing for us.”

The biggest thing the Sixers need to figure out is how to play better defense.

They got torched in losses to the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, and Saturday was no different against the tanking Spurs.

To put things bluntly, the Sixers’ defense is horrible. There’s no intensity, and they can’t keep opposing wing players in front of them. Devin Vassell (22), Keldon Johnson (21 points), and reserve Doug McDermott abused the Sixers.

The Spurs shot 48.3% from the field, including 42.1% on three-pointers.

“Today, lack of defensive effort,” Harris said of what doomed the Sixers. “We do have give them credit. They made tough shots. But on our part, that’s not the standard of defense that we hold ourselves to.”

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San Antonio scored 35 points in the second quarter on 58.3% shooting. Then it scored 31 points while making 50% of their shots in the third quarter.

“Our standard is 25 [points in a quarter] and less,” Harris said. “So with that, you know, that’s not how we know we can defend. And you know, that’s the main thing of it.”

Part of the problem is the Sixers don’t have to have the personnel to properly run their defense. Switching requires speed and an ability to defend on the perimeter. The Sixers look slow and have been exposed trying to defend the perimeter.

Matisse Thybulle can do it. However, he’s only played a combined 3 minutes, 44 seconds this season.

The Sixers bench has been a huge disappointment.

On Saturday, they were outscored, 40-10, in bench points. Eight of the Sixers’ bench points came from Georges Niang on 3-for-4 shooting. The other reserves, Montrezl Harris (zero shot attempts), De’Anthony Melton (0-for-3), Danuel House Jr. (1-for-2), and Matisse Thybulle (0-for-1) combined to shoot 1-for-6. But Thybulle played a season-high 3 minutes, 14 seconds, all in the second quarter. This comes after playing 30 seconds combined in the first two games.

For the season, the Sixers have been outscored, 103-34, in bench points.