Offensively, the Philadelphia 76ers are playing to prove losing 58 games last season was an aberration.
So far, the results have been good, though the Sixers are coming off their first loss of the season heading into their Sunday visit to the winless Brooklyn Nets.
Philadelphia won its first four games by a combined 22 points and erased three double-digit deficits, including a 19-point hole, for a 139-134 overtime win over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday. Philadelphia was unable to pull off another comeback in Friday’s 109-108 home loss to the Boston Celtics. The 76ers never led and trailed by 24 with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter.
Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points to go along with 14 assists, tying a career high, in just 26 minutes. He has scored at least 25 in each game and is averaging 35.2 points. Joel Embiid, whose minutes are being monitored, added 20 in 25 minutes.
Embiid has scored at least 20 points in three consecutive games.
Philadelphia is coming off its lowest point total of the season but also struggled defensively until it started making a comeback.
“We did a much better job towards the end of the half and the second half, but that’s where it starts,” Embiid said. “Got to get into your man, got to get stops, got to be aggressive. Got to take pride in guarding your man. I think as much as everybody has been so excited about the good start, I feel like my mentality is all about, how can we get better?”
Brooklyn is winless through its first five games for the first time since dropping the first seven contests of the 2015-16 season. The Nets have allowed at least 115 points in each game but are coming off one of their better performances.
In a 117-112 loss to the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, the Nets scored the first 12 points and nearly pulled off a comeback from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting and has two 30-point games after getting three last season with Denver. Cam Thomas added 19 but is 9-for-29 from the field since he had a 41-point game in San Antonio last Sunday.
Nic Claxton also had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds but missed two shots in the final minute.
Brooklyn’s comeback bid was achieved with Terrance Mann playing point guard at times and rookies Ben Saraf and Egor Demin on the bench. Saraf has yet to score more than eight points while Demin is 2-for-11 from the floor in his past two games and has yet to attempt a shot inside the 3-point line.
“I think it starts with the point guard spot,” Porter said. “We have a lot of rookie point guards who are going to be great in this league for a long time, but they’re still rookies. … I think the point guard position may be the hardest position in the game, and we have a lot of young guys playing that position. So, it’s really hard to win when that point guard spot isn’t solidified.”
