PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are sitting at 7-4 to begin the 2025-26 season as they have shown a lot of mental toughness and an ability to get it done in the clutch. No matter what the deficit is, the Sixers have found a way to keep digging and get the job done.
There is one major reason why the Sixers find themselves in holes and that’s due to bad third quarters. One has to wonder what the issue is, but Philadelphia has been outscored by 104 points in the third across the first 11 games of the season per StatMuse–an average of 9.4 per game.
While the Sixers have been solid or great in the other three quarters, the issues in the third have been a problem.
“We got to figure it out,” said Tyrese Maxey after Tuesday’s win over the Boston Celtics. “We got to figure it out. I keep saying it after every game, but I don’t know. Kyle (Lowry) suggested maybe some layup lines or something that comes out the quarter. I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it is mental at this point, you know what I’m saying? But we have to figure it out.”
On the plus side, the Sixers have outscored teams by 75 points in the fourth which shows that they can get it done in crunch time. They have relied on Maxey and others to step up and produce with the game on the line and they have stepped up in a number of ways.
“Every other quarter we’ve been, I think we’ve been pretty good this year,” Maxey added. “I don’t know what the difference is, but once we figure that out, I mean, we would have a better record. Which our records are solid, but I’m proud of us, though, man. Even if we dig ourselves in the hole in that third quarter, fourth quarter winning time, we’ve done a good job of just trying to stay the course.”
With that being said, the Sixers are 7-4 on the season. They are winning basketball games and that’s all that matters to Maxey. The goal is to win and he has been able to find a way to get it done for this group. It hasn’t always been comfortable, but a win is a win. These close games can help build the team’s confidence going forward.
“It’s good for us, though, like I said, in the long run,” Maxey explained. “You know how to close games out, some games that you lose, you know how you lost them, and you can kind of revisit that. Like, I watched last five minutes of Celtics game one, Celtics game two, Orlando, Chicago, just like on my own. Just trying to figure out how we can close our games better. Once we figure that out, I think we’re doing a good job of it.”
The Sixers will face the Detroit Pistons on Friday to continue the NBA Cup.