Tyrese Maxey, 76ers Highlight Biggest Obstacle After Hawks Loss

Tyrese Maxey and Doc Rivers discussed the 76ers' biggest obstacle after Thursday's loss to Atlanta.

Doc Rivers felt the turning point was coming after the Philadelphia 76ers picked up arguably their most impressive victory of the season against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.

Unfortunately, the Philadelphia 76ers couldn’t keep the ball rolling. A slow start in Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks had the Sixers trailing 46-42 at halftime. 

While the Sixers did a solid job knocking a double-digit deficit down to a two-possession game going into the second half, the Sixers failed to formulate a comeback.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Sixers were down 80-66. An all-bench lineup brought some much-needed energy that teased a potential fourth-quarter comeback, but the Sixers simply didn’t have it in them to complete it.

Inevitably, the Sixers collected their seventh loss by falling short 104-95 in Atlanta. As the Sixers know they can defeat their opponents on any given night, they’ve failed to show consistency in doing so. Following the Thursday night loss, Doc Rivers highlighted the team’s biggest obstacle at the moment.

“Health,” said Rivers. “James (Harden) is out, we know that. But if we can keep everybody else healthy, we can make a run here. Having one guy out, even though it’s James, hurts us, right? We just need the continuity of guys together. We have a stretch here where we have games and practice. We have a chance to put something together in this little run coming up.”

The Sixers started the year off healthy, as nobody missed time throughout the first five games of the year. Despite having the entire roster on board, Philadelphia still struggled as they went 1-4 during that stretch. 

By game six, Embiid was off the floor due to a sore knee before returning in Philadelphia’s seventh outing. Unfortunately, coming back for a 31-minute shift in Chicago didn’t start a healthy trend. As Embiid was diagnosed with the flu, the big man missed three-straight games. 

In the second outing Embiid missed, the 76ers lost James Harden to a tendon strain in his right foot. Now, the star guard is expected to miss at least a month’s worth of action. Health wasn’t the Sixers’ biggest obstacle through the first two weeks of the season, but now it becomes the most significant issue they have to overcome as they continue to search for answers. 

“It’s tough,” Rivers explained. “It really is, especially because a lack of point guard play was really clear tonight. When Tyrese comes off the floor, he’s not a pure point guard, but he gets to play with Tobias and Joel, and Melt, so it’s easier for him. It’s when he comes off the floor, and you leave the rest of the guards on the floor. We’re going to have to make an adjustment there.”

The Sixers are in a tough spot, but Tyrese Maxey isn’t willing to accept that they can’t thrive while shorthanded.

“Certain guys are missing, but at the end of the day, we got to find ways to win these games,” said Maxey. “We’ve been in a lot of close ones. We’ve been in a lot of close ones that should’ve been Ws. Those come back to haunt you. Spurs is one, Knicks is one, Washington is one, Milwaukee was one. I just named four or five right there. Coach keeps saying we’re right there, but we’ve got to break through. We have to break through and start winning those games — the ones that are right there in front of us.”

The Sixers and the Hawks will have a rematch on Saturday night in South Philly. The Sixers will be shorthanded without Harden once again, but they have to find a way to overcome the obstacle and get themselves on track. 

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