The Sixers had a nice come-from-behind win last night to beat the Wizards 113-107.
It was great to finally watch the new-look team. There were several positives to take from the game, but one specific downside stood out to me that absolutely cannot continue to happen: Offensive Laziness.
This appeared to be the main reason why Philly went from leading by double digits in the second quarter to trailing by that margin in the third. During that span the offense was standing still. There was almost no movement, no cutting and very few screens. This led to turnovers and unnecessary deep shots.
That style of play made life easy for Washington’s defense. It made them look like the best defensive team in the league. They did not have to exert energy on the defensive end, which led to going off on offense with high-energy plays.
Fortunately, the Sixers picked up the pace in the fourth. It was good to see they had the ability to hang in there, comeback and dominate. Embiid and company played their style of bully ball, while Rivers called up some excellent and timely plays.
The fourth quarter Sixers looked promising. They made me even more excited to see what this squad can do entering 2021. However, if they truly want to show they have improved from last year and can be contenders, that span of lazy play cannot happen again. Philly was able to get the dub last night, but they may not be as fortunate if that happens against the top teams in the league. Hopefully, this should not be hard to fix.
