Nick Nurse, Sixers explain slow start after tough home loss to Bucks
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers played host to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday looking for another win as they try and move forward in the absence of Joel Embiid. Coming off a very good win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, the Sixers were looking for momentum.
That didn’t happen on Sunday afternoon from the Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia shot just 7-for-25 in the opening quarter compared to 13-for-22 for Milwaukee and fell behind by 14 points in the opening quarter. The Sixers then trailed by 21 at halftime after the Bucks shot 8-for-13 from deep in the second quarter.
“I think offensively we didn’t play near enough the way we needed to,” coach Nick Nurse said after the loss. “I think that we got a little kind of quick in the shot selection, I think, and it was a little bit contagious and we didn’t make some of them. They weren’t the worst shots in the world, but if you’re going to take some of those you got to, I know it sounds silly, but you got to make them, right?”
The Sixers shot the ball better in the third quarter at 52% as they outscored the Bucks 34-26 in the third, but the slow start on both ends of the floor really hurt their chances. The Bucks pulled away with a 119-98 win on the road.
“I didn’t think we just kind of worked it side to side enough or got multiple touches and things like that,” Nurse added. “I think that was a bit of the deflating issue that we—I mean, we obviously shot the ball really poorly the whole night, right? Except for we had a stretch there in the third where we started playing a lot better and moving the ball and making plays both in and out and all that stuff, but I think that was probably the issue.”
It looked as if the Sixers were a bit disorganized and playing pickup basketball rather than running any structured sets. Philadelphia needs to find a way to get into a rhythm offensively. Nurse has done a great job of getting the team to understand how sets are run and things of that nature, but it just wasn’t there on Sunday.
“We didn’t get into some sets early,” said Tyrese Maxey after the loss. “Coach Nurse was just talking about how we got to get more organized.”
The Sixers now have a stiff challenge ahead of them as they pay a visit to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
