The Philadelphia 76ers continue to solve problems as they prepare to prepare for the 2020-21 season and that means there will be nights of careless play. The team came out on Friday with a 113-107 victory in the preseason against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, but there were many mistakes.
Sixers committed 26 turnovers, which proved to be an eye-opener because they did so many good things. They shot 53.3% of the floor and made 11 deep shots, but the turnovers are the most important in the mind of coach Doc Rivers after the match.
“I was worried about that,” Rivers said. “We were pressured and we didn’t do well, to be honest. I’m not just at 26 turnovers, I have to tell you this. We thought their pressure bothered us in the first half and we thought they played in our airspace. It was good to see the second half in which we treated her better and we slowed down “.
The Sixers had a great third quarter that overtook Indiana 33-24 and rallied from a 17-point deficit to take the lead in the fourth. This was due to the fact that they slowed down the game, took their time and played with balance.
“Don’t accelerate with the pressure, in fact slow down the pressure. I thought that in the first half, we try to overcome the pressure by going faster, but in the second half we allowed them to press us and we took our time and then we got every shot we wanted “, added Rivers. “It was good that we could make the adjustment, because that too is a mental adjustment and I was very happy that we managed to do that.”
The biggest piece anyone can get out of this game is that Sixers had the mental toughness to solve their turnover problems and win.
“We won a game today in which they had 30 extra shots. We had 26 turnovers “, the coach concluded. “So you can look at these two ways. One, Holy Lord, and then wow, I still won. There is something good in this that I fought through. One of the things I said to this team, looking at them from a distance, is that things didn’t go well, they lost their spirit and things didn’t go well in the first half. We thought their pressure got us out of the game and coming back in that third quarter and playing like that is a great sign for our team. “
Philadelphia will turn its attention to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday to open the season.