Heading into their matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers Monday, the Sixers found themselves incredibly short-handed. Joel Embiid was out due to scheduled rest, Ben Simmons is still not ready to rejoin the team on the court, and Tobias Harris was scratched late because of health and safety protocol.
Despite being without their entire big three, the Sixers still managed to come away with a victory. Behind a collective effort from the rest of the group, they came away with a 113-103 victory.
Doc Rivers has praised the cohesion within this team since training camp, and their performance on Monday night was a testament to that. Not only were they able to pick up the win, but they did so on the back of incredible team basketball. Nobody tried to replace the star talent on their own. Everyone collectively came together and did their part to the end the night in the win column.
Rivers was more than pleased with the way his team played Monday. He had high praise for their togetherness in this shorthanded win during his postgame media availability.
“It was just a good team effort…it was one of them games I thought every single guy did something to help us win the game. They stayed within their roles. They understood what was needed, getting to the paint and creating plays,” said Rivers.
One major factor for their Sixers in the win over Portland was a balanced offensive attack. They did an incredible job filling the void as a group instead of making some players bite off more than they can chew.
Seven different Sixers finished the game in double-figures, and every player that took the floor recorded at least one made basket. Whether the stars are in the lineup or not, any team distributing the wealth like that will be tough to stop. “It's a team win. We weren't going to beat them if it wasn't a team win tonight,” Rivers said in regards to the balanced attack.
The balanced scoring distribution would not have been possible without the Sixers' selflessness sharing the ball. Not only did scoring come from all over, but they constantly were setting others up to be successful. Of the 43 made field goals the Sixers had on Monday, 34 of them came off assists. Extremely impressive considering the team's three best players did not take the floor.
As cliche as it might sound, Monday was a game the Sixers typically don't win in the past. The team used to struggle mightily when one of Embiid or Simmons was out of the lineup, let alone both. Their win over Portland was a testament to just how competitive this roster is from top to bottom.
The Sixers are likely hoping that playing without their stars doesn't become a common thing, but seeing their performance Monday should ease them if they ever have to do it again.
Follow Us
Subscribe