The return of Joel Embiid from his injury hiatus had led to a decent run for the Philadelphia 76ers to end the year, which restored the faith of Philly fans in the 2023-24 season. But the 76ers are in the hot seat once again after two back-to-back losses during their road trip in California. After a loss in Sacramento on Wednesday, Embiid and Co. suffered a blowout loss at Chase Center against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.
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The 105-139 beatdown managed to trigger a passionate rant from ESPN’s Tim Legler, who blamed the loss on Philly’s defeated mindset going into the second game of a back-to-back fixture. The NBA analyst claimed that it was very evident right from the jump that the Sixers had an excuse to lose on Thursday, and they capitalized on it to the fullest extent.
“From the very beginning of the game, [the 76ers] were physically and mentally not there prepared to compete at the level you need to in this league,” Legler said on the All NBA Podcast. “Do they have dead legs or are they dead between the ears, like mentally...”
Joel Embiid led the effort for the 76ers with a 28-point double-double. But Legler couldn’t be more disappointed with the concerted effort of the team. He underlined how the Sixers let a Golden State team that has been struggling in recent games, run away with a commanding lead from the very first quarter.
The former NBA star further stated that the 19-35 deficit in the first quarter was inevitable after the unacceptable defensive lapses that the Sixers allowed as a unit.
“For me, the story of the game was the lack of participation from the Philadelphia 76ers. They just bought into the fact that, hey man, we got a built-in reason not to be good tonight,” Legs concluded.
The mentality to give in that Legler highlighted in his monologue will concern Philly fans. With Joel Embiid finally healthy, the priority for the Sixers should be to collect as many wins as possible to not only compensate for their poor start to the season, but also to alleviate the pressure that is awaiting them at the business end of the season.
The 76ers failed to win a single quarter after their early setback in the Dubs game.
They are 11th in the East currently with a 13-19 record. The objective for Nick Nurse’s boys now should be to win as many games as possible before the All-Star break.
Philly will end their road trip with a relatively easy game against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. They should be winning that to regain their confidence before returning home.
