Sixers vow not to play down to struggling teams in soft stretch: ‘You’ve got to respect the game’

When asked about the 76ers’ defensive effort in Friday’s win over an Atlanta Hawks team playing without superstar Trae Young, Kelly Oubre Jr. gave an introspective-yet-revealing answer about the mental pitfalls his team is trying to combat.

“We kind of have this thing,” the reserve wing said. “… We don’t bring that same attentiveness as if we were playing somebody else. That’s within us. It’s not within anybody else. We just have to come locked in and focused every night.”

“Somebody else,” in this case, was code for a more formidable on-paper opponent. Those comments came two nights after the Sixers barely survived the even-more-woeful Washington Wizards, needing 50 points from reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid to cross the finish line.

» READ MORE: This is a sign of a very good team, and the Sixers are looking like just that

Yet Monday’s rematch against Washington unfolded drastically differently, a 146-101 Sixers demolition to drop their opponent to 3-19. The Sixers led by double digits within the first two minutes of the game. They drained nine three-pointers in the first quarter, and 20 in the game. They got 34 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists from Embiid, along with 24 points and six assists from Tyrese Maxey — without either needing to play the fourth quarter.

Following the game, coach Nick Nurse and multiple players acknowledged they came out with greater intensity from the start, then never let up during the a 45-point shellacking. Now, maintaining that internal motivation — aka, fighting human nature — will be critical as the 15-7 Sixers continue to navigate this bizarre stretch against the Eastern Conference’s five worst teams.

The ultimate don’t-look-ahead situation arises Wednesday and Friday, with a road-home set against a Detroit Pistons team on a 20-game losing skid. The Sixers then play the second half of a back-to-back at the Charlotte Hornets, who entered Tuesday 13th in the East standings with a 7-14 record, before hosting the 12th-place Chicago Bulls (9-15) next Monday. Following a home date against the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves, they play the 11th-place Toronto Raptors (9-14) on Dec. 23 in their final game before a marquee Christmas Day clash at the Miami Heat.

“I don’t look at it that way,” Embiid said when asked about the upcoming opponents’ records. “You’re still in the NBA. You’ve got to respect the game, and you’ve got to respect your opponent. Any given night, teams and players can just go off, so I never look at who we’re playing.

“It’s all about looking at ourselves and finding ways to get better on both ends. That’s the mindset that we have, and we should have it every night.”

» READ MORE: Who was harder to play with, James Harden or Ben Simmons? Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid weigh in.

A practical (or cynical) examiner of the schedule would point out how imperative it is for the Sixers, who entered Tuesday in fourth place in the East, to rack up wins against these inferior opponents. Receiving this coincidental wave now, after all, means the slate is expected to turn much more challenging later in the season.

Yet one could also view this timing as more advantageous.

The Sixers have not quite reached the regular season’s doldrums — usually between the start of the new year and the All-Star break, and then again in the stretch run before the playoffs — when physical fatigue and mental lapses from the 82-game grind plague even the league’s best teams.

Embiid and others also have remarked recently that this still feels like a relatively new team, following Oubre’s return from a fractured rib from a reported hit-and-run accident and the continued acclimation of the four players who arrived in the blockbuster James Harden trade.

During the past week, Nurse has been experimenting with lineup combinations while aiming to solidify the rotation. Defensive details — such as covering better when a teammate tries for a steal or deflection, improving in transition, and finishing possessions — have remained a consistent focus in recent practices, following a dip on that end of the floor. And after Sunday’s team session, veteran forward Nicolas Batum reminded that the Sixers had trailed in the fourth quarter of both of last week’s games against the Hawks and Wizards — and should not “count on Joel to get 50.”

“I’m serious, though,” Batum said. “It’s great if he gets 50, but we can’t count on that. So we have to be ready. We have to respect ourselves, respect the game, and go out there and play the game the right way.”

» READ MORE: Paul Reed accepts fourth-quarter benching against Hawks: ‘I see that I did a lot of things wrong’

Multiple Sixers also know what it feels like to be on the other side of such lopsided on-paper matchups. Embiid and Robert Covington survived The Process. Oubre and starting guard De’Anthony Melton were on a 19-win Phoenix Suns team in 2018-19, which at one point lost 17 games in a row. Batum, standout forward Tobias Harris, and reserve wings Marcus Morris Sr. and Danuel House Jr. have all been on teams that won fewer than 30 games during their lengthy careers.

So they know the Pistons will inevitably win another basketball game. Someday. Eventually.

The Sixers’ task is to ensure that breakthrough does not happen against them.

“We’ve got to be careful,” Batum said. “Because we play against NBA players. We don’t care about their record.”