76ers vs. Wizards: Doc Rivers on Team's Approach Tuesday Night

Doc Rivers discussed the 76ers' approach to Tuesday's game in Washington.

The Philadelphia 76ers searched for their ninth-straight victory on Tuesday night on the road against the Washington Wizards. While the Sixers have struggled to play complete games, finding themselves in situations where they have to complete comebacks after trailing for the majority of the matchup, they’ve been achieving their ultimate goal by winning.

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers addressed the reality that his team’s had to form comebacks after slow starts over the last two matchups against the Los Angeles Clippers and the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. The head coach made it clear he isn’t concerned about delayed leads.

“That doesn’t bother me because you play good teams, teams get up,” Rivers said regarding his team’s last two games. “So, you know it’s a long game. Just in the other two, I thought we had the right approach. They just hit us in the mouth, and we played pretty well, we fought and kept fighting.”

Against the Clippers and the Knicks, the Sixers trailed for three quarters before getting out in front during crunch time and snagging wins. On Tuesday in Washington, a similar trend started as the Sixers lost control of their early lead in the first quarter and couldn’t get it back. While Philadelphia teased a comeback in the fourth quarter, the Sixers failed to find success getting out in front. 

In the event the Sixers were able to find success, Rivers would’ve labeled the victory a “steal.”

“Tonight, if we had of came back and won it, it would’ve been a steal to me,” Rivers continued. “I don’t think we had the right approach. I thought we came into the game, and you could see it early, we thought it was gonna be an offensive contest and we were just going to outscore them. We put no defense into the game in the second half, and we had to do zone to do that. It’s almost like the basketball gods down the stretch… You don’t deserve it.”

In the end, the Sixers left Washington with a 116-111 loss. That defeat issues Philadelphia its first loss since December 5 against the Houston Rockets. While the Sixers’ approach to Tuesday’s game wasn’t ideal, their head coach is far from concerned and ready to move on from the loss. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.