The Sixers have rolled through their grueling March road schedule. Here’s how they did it.

The Sixers believe they've faced the kind of adversity that can "build championship habits." Their schedule, which features several contenders, is another test for the NBA's best team away from home.

The Sixers' Tyrese Maxey throws a pass to teammate Joel Embiid while playing a game against the Indiana Pacers.Read moreSteven M. Falk / Staff Photographer

by Gina Mizell

Published Mar. 24, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

SAN FRANCISCO — When the 76ers slipped into a 13-point second-half deficit against the Cleveland Cavaliers last week, Georges Niang believes “a lot of teams would just be like, ‘[expletive] it. … we can mail this one in and figure it out’” with two opponents with losing records coming next on the schedule.

Instead, the Sixers regrouped, chipped away, and overtook the Cavaliers in a 118-109 victory to clinch the regular-season tiebreaker against a team one spot behind them in the Eastern Conference standings.

“You could have guys just pointing the finger,” Niang said. “But guys were taking accountability, and they’re like, ‘Hey, this is what we need to do to get back in the game.’ I think those are the small moments that, you put together enough of those over a season, and you build championship habits.”

That collective in-game response encompasses how the Sixers have not only survived this March gauntlet of road games, but used it to to claim the status as the NBA’s best road team with a little more than two weeks remaining in the regular season. They boast an 8-1 record in such matchups this month — including wins over Cleveland, the Milwaukee Bucks, and Miami Heat, and two back-to-back sweeps — to raise their road mark to 23-12.

That continues a trend since Doc Rivers became coach before the 2020-21 season. And this recent run has generated momentum heading into a difficult finish to this stretch of 12 of 15 away from the Wells Fargo Center. It begins Friday at the defending-champion Golden State Warriors, who are 29-7 at home, before a matchup against the Phoenix Suns the following night. Then comes a highly anticipated game at the West-leading Denver Nuggets, who are 30-6 on their home floor and are anchored by back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokić.

“It’s something about the road,” said veteran forward P.J. Tucker. “I like playing on the road. But our team, honestly, all season, we knew we were going to have this little rough trip right here at the end. Thank God it’s been a build-up all season for us … but it’s something we’ve got to continue to focus on.”

Though the Sixers entered Thursday with the second-most road wins in the NBA, their 65.7% win percentage was ahead of the Boston Celtics (24-14, 63.2%) and Bucks (22-13, 62.9%). The only West team with more than 20 wins away from home entering Thursday was the 22-14 Sacramento Kings.

The Sixers ascended to their position atop the league in this category during a month that initially appeared daunting.

Their only road loss in March so far was on the second half of a Miami-Dallas back-to-back that Rivers called “absurd” because of the travel distance, and when Mavericks stars All-Stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving dropped 42 and 40 points, respectively. Throughout this stretch, the Sixers also have won three games without NBA assist leader James Harden, 1½ contests without NBA leading scorer Joel Embiid, two without Tucker, and one without Tobias Harris.

When asked recently about his team’s progress as road winners in recent seasons, Embiid matter-of-factly said, “I wasn’t as good as I am right now, back then.” He is, after all, an MVP contender for the third consecutive season. The roster around Embiid, meanwhile, also has been upgraded with players such as a future Hall of Famer in Harden, the rugged Tucker and the dynamic Tyrese Maxey, while longer-term Sixers such as Harris and Shake Milton have settled into their complementary roles.

Ranking third in the league in offensive efficiency (117.1 points per 100 possessions) and sixth in defensive efficiency (111.8 points allowed per 100 possessions) entering Thursday also typically translates to success in all venues, though surprising outliers such as the Warriors’ horrendous 9-29 road record do exist.

Yet improving on the road has been a priority for Rivers since arriving in Philly, after the Sixers posted a “dismal” 12-26 mark the previous year. They immediately underwent a dramatic turnaround, going 20-16 during a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season to help push them to the top of the East’s regular-season standings. Then, their 27-14 mark last season was the best in the East, and second-best in the NBA.

Rivers emphasized early in his tenure that the front office and staff needed to set the tone with “how they conduct themselves on the road” in terms of preparation, travel, and down time between games — trusting that the players would follow that example. This season in particular, the coach has noticed players settling into a “seriousness” in their routines, such as arriving for breakfast meetings at the same time in each city.

“I made a point to all our travel party and everyone,” Rivers said, “that when you’re on the road, it’s not a vacation. It’s a work trip, and we have to focus.”

Players also have established their own rituals while away from home. Following shootarounds, for example, Maxey said he calls his mom, Denyse, eats some pasta, and takes a nap. Niang maintains his weight-lifting regimen but also allows himself time for solo walks in his favorite cities. Milton now recognizes when he needs to rest or receive treatment at the hotel on off days and when he needs an extra trip to the gym to put up shots — and commended the staff’s flexibility in helping him achieve any task.

Embiid, meanwhile, prioritizes sleep.

“We’re just mature,” Embiid said. " … There’s a lot of trust in all of us to know that we have to do the right things and be ready to play basketball and win games.”

When they step on the floor inside opposing arenas, the Sixers relish in what Milton describes as a “bring-your-own-energy” mentality. That includes vocal leadership from stars in timeout huddles, and nonrotation players supporting from the bench, Milton said. Maxey echoed that sentiment, saying improved communication has allowed teammates to direct each other like coaches on the floor during games but still joke around in the locker room. After the Sixers rolled the Bulls on Tuesday in Chicago, for example, Niang and De’Anthony Melton playfully badgered Maxey to wrap the media session at his locker and join them on the team bus.

“I can’t stand Melt [and] Georges,” Maxey joked. “None of them.”

More tangibly, Niang points to the Sixers’ growing comfort in tight games as a key on the road. They entered Thursday ranked second in the NBA with a plus-15.1 net rating in “clutch” games, when the score margin is five points or less with five minutes or less remaining on the clock.

“We thrive in those intense moments, and they’ve kind of helped propel us over the top,” Niang said. “You get put in enough situations where you’re down one, down five, up two, you kind of learn through experience what shots you need to get, who needs to have the ball — on top of having Joel and James, who really can make [stuff] happen anywhere.”

Following the Golden State-Phoenix-Denver trifecta, the Sixers have three regular-season road games remaining. Next Sunday is a marquee showdown against the East-leading Bucks. On April 7, they face the Atlanta Hawks on the second night of a home-road back-to-back. Then, they conclude the regular season April 9 at the Brooklyn Nets, a game that could have immense playoff seeding implications or be completely meaningless depending on how upcoming games unfold.

Then, if current positioning holds, the Sixers would have home-court advantage in the postseason’s first round — but not in the second round or Eastern Conference finals. That means they would need to win at least one road game to secure a series upset.

That’s why this grueling March has been an appropriate pre-playoff test. And, so far, the Sixers have rollicked through it.

“Home or road, it doesn’t matter,” Embiid said. “It’s still the same mindset: [We’ve] got to win every game. We know what it takes, offensively and defensively. It’s all about everybody doing their job.”