WASHINGTON — For the third time in four games to begin the season, the Philadelphia 76ers rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to win the game. This time, they trailed the Washington Wizards by 17 in the fourth before rallying to win in overtime 139-134 to improve to 4-0 on the season.
The comeback efforts have been impressive. This win over the Wizards stands out due to it being on the second night of a back-to-back and the Sixers were playing at such a fast pace to try and match up with the young legs of Washington.
However, even though it shows their fortitude and toughness, they can’t continue to rely on them and Tyrese Maxey knows it.
“It says that we’re tough, but we don’t want to become a habit, but it does say that we’re tough,” Maxey said after the win over the Wizards. “We’re resilient and it says we’re in shape, honestly. To be able to play like that and come back, and do it multiple times and like going into overtime of a back-to-back and still pull out a win. They made a lot of shots. Some of them was uncontested, but some of them was contested and they still made them. So, hats off to them.”
The third quarter, in particular, has been an issue for the Sixers to start the season. They were outscored 35-18 in the third by the Celtics on opening night, 38-25 in the home opener against the Hornets, and 38-26 in the win over the Wizards. The third quarter was solid in their win over the Magic on Monday, but three out of four third quarters have just been a struggle for Philadelphia.
“Yeah, the first two games was bad,” said Maxey. “Third, last night was actually pretty good, and then tonight was terrible, but you gotta find a way to get out there and start faster. In the first quarter, we’re doing a really good job of starting out the games. So, whatever we got to do to figure that out in the third quarters–that will help us be a better team.”
The Sixers will not be able to rely on the comeback efforts all the time as it will eventually catch up to them. With that being said, this is a good problem to have when a team is 4-0 compared to taking a loss or two along the way. They will look to keep things moving in the right direction when they take on the Boston Celtics in the NBA Cup on Friday.