Three late reversals in four games! Behind the 76ers undefeated record is commendable tenacity

Translator's Note: The original article was published in TheAthletic. The data in the article are as of the time of publication of the original article (October 29, local time). The dates and times involved are all local time. The opinions expressed in this article have nothing to do with the translator or the platform.

The 76ers may never lose again.

Well, that's an exaggeration. They're going to lose at some point - we guarantee it. But they have performed so well at the beginning of the season, and it will be interesting to see how long this winning streak lasts.

Victories like the 76ers' 139-134 victory over the Wizards on Tuesday night don't come often. The 76ers trailed for most of the game, trailing by as much as 19 points. They trailed by 13 points with five minutes left in the game. Their defense was outplayed most of the time. For much of the game, a loss seemed inevitable. And when the game entered overtime, they trailed most of the time.

When the reversal was completed, there was a small celebration. But most of the time, the Sixers players were exhausted. They hugged each other for a few minutes, then took a quick shower, changed into casual clothes, and talked about how to spend their hard-earned day off on Wednesday.

"It was a tough game," 76ers head coach Nick Nurse said. "They were hitting us the whole game, and we just couldn't guard them. We had to make some adjustments, and we ended up guarding a couple of offenses. I thought the opponent played really well, and we were lucky to get this win."

The 76ers showed incredible resilience to get off to a 4-0 start. On Tuesday, Tyrese Maxey contributed 39 points and 10 assists. Quentin Grimes hit a game-tying three-pointer in the final minute of regulation. Adem Bona performed a top defensive performance, blocking 5 shots - many of which occurred at critical moments. Moreover, despite poor defense for most of the game, the 76ers' defense woke up at the most critical moment, allowing their opponents only 16 points in the fourth quarter.

However, the meaning goes beyond that. Being able to fall behind by 17 points in the fourth quarter and complete the comeback in the second game of back-to-back games must have a strong mental strength behind it. That's what the Sixers have now. They knew they didn't do a good job defensively in the first three quarters. And they also knew they had a huge point deficit to overcome.

They start by setting small goals. First, they just want to cut the Wizards' lead to 10 points. They finally did with about five minutes left in the game.

"When we did that and saw the lead shrink to 10 points, we told ourselves during the timeout that we just need to defend two more offenses." 76ers forward Kelly Oubre said.

After reaching that goal, they wanted to close the gap to five points, which they did with 1:46 left in the game when Grimes hit a long three-pointer. He then hit another three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

"We said that as long as we can catch the point difference to 10 points, we can find a way to win," Maxey said. "We caught the point difference to 10 points. We found a way to win."

This is the second time since the 76ers reached the NBA Finals in 2001 that they have made a 4-0 start (the other time was in the 2019-20 season). They won the game on the second night of a back-to-back, and they did so while running low on energy the entire game.

However, we might as well pour cold water on it and talk about the need to reverse three of the 76ers' four wins. And it's not just a reversal, it's a big reversal that the opponent should not have allowed to happen. Three fourth-quarter double-digit comebacks, to be exact.

First of all, the 76ers have not performed well in the third quarter this season. The issue was particularly acute Tuesday night in Washington. Their struggles against the Wizards can be attributed to a lack of energy as it was their third game in four days. But the 76ers didn't play well in the third quarter in three of their four games. This is a problem they clearly need to address.

Secondly, Maxey and VJ Edgecomb have too much playing time. On Tuesday, on the second night of a back-to-back and early in the season, Maxey played 47 minutes. Edgecombe played 39 minutes and 59 seconds -- 40 minutes. Oubre played nearly 44 minutes.

Coach Nurse is in a difficult situation. He knows his players are being overused, but because of injuries, it's a choice he has to make in order to win. The balance between this is difficult to grasp. Nurse spent the past two nights trying to get some rest for his main team, inserting veteran guard Eric Gordon into the lineup. However, when the game is close, Maxey and Edgcomb are the players who can give the 76ers the best chance of winning.

"We know we're still working through these issues and it's tough," Nurse said. "In a sense, we're going to have to get through this period before some of our guys come back. When we get Jared McCain back, we'll add him to the backcourt Rotate the lineup, and that will help control the playing time of some players. We are also looking to see if other players can return. We can only play as hard as we can and see how it goes."

Every game, the 76ers are sending a signal: This is a different season for them. They are a different team than they have been in the past. They are playing with a new mentality and a new open-and-open style of basketball that has led to some crazy games and results. And with each victory, the signal becomes clearer.

It’s time to take the 76ers seriously.