How an in-depth film session in Toronto sparked Sixers’ three-game winning streak: ‘It was bad’

Tyrese Maxey’s jovial demeanor is as much his signature as his bursts to the basket or pull-up three-pointers.

Which is why his matter-of-fact candor in describing the 76ers’ film session in between last week’s two games in Toronto was borderline jarring. The third-year guard said he and his teammates were “embarrassed” and “disgusted” while watching the film of their 119-109 loss to the Raptors last Wednesday, which dropped the Sixers to 1-4 in the young season.

“It was bad,” Maxey said. “Lackadaisical energy.”

Perhaps more telling, however, is how the Sixers collectively responded. They channeled that disappointment into three consecutive road victories over the Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and Washington Wizards in the span of four days, at least temporarily resetting what had been a discouraging start to the season.

“Talking in the film session and really being honest with each other and saying what really is happening,” said veteran forward P.J. Tucker, “that helps get to the next game and try not to make those mistakes again. It’s just building.”

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Minutes after Wednesday’s loss to the Raptors, coach Doc Rivers mentioned that “it’s rare I say I’m looking forward to film, but I’m looking forward to watching that film.” The way the coach then carries his evaluations to group sessions with players has changed over the course of his career. Although technology allows staff to sharply combine plays in editing to illustrate areas to critique and improve, Rivers said he is careful not to harp on mistake after mistake.

“For the players, it’s like, ‘Why are you picking on me?’” Rivers said. “… Let’s say there’s one guy who made 12 mistakes in the same game. You can’t show all 12 plays in a row.”

Yet the Sixers needed blunt assessment — and conversation — as they gathered inside their team hotel in downtown Toronto last Thursday.

The footage showed that they were not locked into their defensive principles such as switching or getting back in transition following a turnover, allowing the Raptors to “shoot layups all night,” Maxey said. Reserve center Montrezl Harrell noticed the possessions when they did not recognize the proper offensive action to run in the flow of the game. Tucker focused on small nuances that his team had executed in practices and shootarounds but were not carrying over to games. And intangibles such as competitive drive and body language were poor against a Raptors team that thrives on a high-energy style.

“We were pouting and doing different things like that, and we just can’t do that,” Maxey said. “We’re so talented [that] I feel like it’s going to be somebody’s night every single night — somebody different, honestly.

“We have to go out there and just do our role and play together and let the game come to us, and everybody will eat and it will help us in the long run.”

Because of the NBA’s relatively new scheduling quirk to limit travel, the Sixers could immediately apply corrections to the same opponent. Without All-NBA center Joel Embiid (knee soreness), Maxey scored a career-high 44 points and made his first 10 shots — including seven three-pointers — during Friday’s win over the Raptors.

Then, the Sixers got off to a terrific start in Chicago the following night, yet needed clutch buckets down the stretch from James Harden and Embiid, who hit the game-winning three-pointer. Monday in Washington, a massive scoring surge that overlapped the third and fourth quarters was enough to push past the Wizards with Embiid out again (non-COVID illness). Harrell mentioned that the Sixers have “milked” their offensive sets better over the last three games, including when they continued to run a variation of the same play during that run to build an 18-point lead against the Wizards.

Rivers and various Sixers caution that their team, which is implementing four new rotation players, still needs a lot of work.

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They entered Tuesday ranked 19th in defensive rating (112.8 points allowed per 100 possessions), 26th in fast-break points allowed (18 per game) and last in rebounding (38.4 per game). They have made a habit of surrendering large leads, turning potential routs into interesting finishes. Though the Sixers entered Tuesday ranked second in the NBA in field-goal percentage (49.1%) and fourth in three-point percentage (39.6%), they are still figuring out how to sustain pace when Embiid is on the floor. They next face those same Wizards, who have a similar opportunity to immediately fix their own mistakes during Wednesday’s rematch in Philly.

Yet while describing his team’s progress following that Toronto film session, Maxey’s trademark positivity had returned.

“We took tremendous strides,” Maxey said. “… Now we’ve just go home and try to take care of home court and try to keep this same energy and pace up.”