PHILADELPHIA — Before the Philadelphia 76ers left for their 3-game road trip, a big talk was transition defense. It has been a bit of a bugaboo for this group at times as the Sixers have had trouble getting back defensively and really giving much resistance in that department of the game.

Per TeamRankings, the Sixers are currently No. 27 in the league fastbreak points given up per game. They were able to go 2-1 on their road trip, but they gave up 22.3 fastbreak points per game on the trip which is above their season average of 17.0 per game.

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Even in the win over the Indiana Pacers, the Sixers allowed 22 fastbreak points. The Pacers had eight in the first quarter so Philadelphia was, obviously, able to buckle down and figure it out, but the fact remains that transition defense continues to be a bit of an issue for the Sixers.

“I think we have a lot of guys that wanna offensive rebound,” Andre Drummond told Sixers Wire. “I don’t think we have the type of personnel to have all five guys go so I think it comes down to guys knowing their role when it comes to rebounding. If you can get it, 100% absolutely go get it, but I don’t think four out of five guys should be crashing for our team. So, it’s just something we have to work on, something we have to talk about, and just make the adjustment.”

The transition defense struggles might not be a problem in the playoffs when the game slows down a bit, but for the final 23 games of the regular season, the Sixers will have to figure it out to avoid the play-in tournament. The good news for them is that they have a ton of talent and will look to lean on that in the tough moments.

“We just gotta get back, man,” Tyrese Maxey added. “We gotta get back. We crash sometimes when we shouldn’t crash. Just ahead and get back. Get back and play defense. Settle in. If you cross match, you grab the closest man to you.”

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Philadelphia’s matchup with the Miami Heat on Thursday will be a challenging one as the Heat lead the league in pace. It will be on the Sixers to prepare for what’s to come.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers discuss their struggles in transition defense on the season