The session must have been painful, but the Sixers had to go through it. After pulling out all the stops in the wake of an exceptional James Harden to win in Boston in Game 1, Doc Rivers’ men have just come through in the last two games, with a “blowout” in Game 1. 2 (121-87) and a chilling loss in Game 3 at home on the evening of the MVP trophy presentation to Joel Embiid (102-114).
The day after this poor performance, the players therefore had to go through a video session where they were able to list all of their mistakes. For Tyrese Maxeyin the heart of the storm with James Harden (respectively at 4/16 and 3/14 in shooting on Friday evening), the session would have at least allowed the group to reunite before tackling a Game 4 which arrives this Sunday afternoon in Philly.
“The most important thing today is that we were honest with each other, and that’s a good thing”did he declare. “You have to be honest when you’re with family. The family must be able to express itself. Everyone must express the emotions they feel, it must be able to come out. And I think we’ve done a good job of that all year.”
Tyrese Maxey and James Harden to tip the scales
The “combo guard” is also aware of his responsibility and will have to regain his offensive impact to help his team find the right path, while shooting at 37% of shooting skill since the start of the series. He thus spent a good part of yesterday’s training working on his shot and his attacks from the circle.
“Yeah, I’m trying to stimulate it a bit and get my touch back. I feel like I lost it in the last game and that’s really what I was trying to do today, get my touch back, my rhythm.”, he added. “The coach attacked me. He told me he felt like I started the third quarter with confidence, then after I missed a shot or two my confidence went away, I stopped being aggressive and I started trying to force. I just have to be confident throughout the game and continue to be aggressive”.
Doc Rivers, on the other hand, would have rather spared James Harden on the video session, and instead encouraged “The Beard” to remain in decision-making, to play for others, despite the waste caused in Game 3.
“The Celtics help out on everybody’s drives, so they bring people in, and James has to make the right decision. And overall, I think that’s what it does. There was a time when I’m sure people thought he could have shot, but he was going to his right… For me the fact that he’s a passer is not a bad thing for us” .
The pressure is mounting and the Sixers are not far from meeting again ” back against the wall “ before this Game 4 as Tyrese Maxey pointed out. In addition to tactical adjustments, the mental aspect will also be of great importance.
“It’s the nature of the playoffs. It looks like emotional terrorism at times, but you have to deal with it. You have to be able to handle it. Otherwise, you lose. And I said it, it’s part of the game. You have to know how to deal with it. I think after watching the game again, we felt much better.” concluded Doc Rivers.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Joel Embiid | 66 | 34.6 | 54.8 | 33.0 | 85.7 | 1.7 | 8.4 | 10.2 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 33.1 |
| James Harden | 58 | 36.8 | 44.1 | 38.5 | 86.7 | 0.7 | 5.4 | 6.1 | 10.7 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 21.0 |
| Tyrese Maxey | 60 | 33.6 | 48.1 | 43.4 | 84.5 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 20.3 |
| Louis King | 1 | 28.8 | 61.5 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 20.0 |
| Tobias Harris | 74 | 32.9 | 50.1 | 38.9 | 87.6 | 0.9 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 14.7 |
| Mac McClung | 2 | 20.5 | 45.0 | 36.4 | 60.0 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 12.5 |
| De’anthony Melton | 77 | 27.9 | 42.5 | 39.0 | 79.3 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 10.1 |
| Shake Milton | 76 | 20.6 | 47.9 | 37.8 | 85.3 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 8.4 |
| George Niang | 78 | 19.4 | 44.2 | 40.1 | 86.7 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 8.2 |
| Jalen Mcdaniels | 24 | 17.5 | 48.8 | 40.0 | 82.4 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 6.7 |
| Montrezl Harrell | 57 | 11.9 | 59.8 | 0.0 | 69.3 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 5.6 |
| Daniel House | 56 | 14.4 | 47.2 | 33.6 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 4.8 |
| Paul Reed, Jr. | 69 | 10.9 | 59.3 | 16.7 | 74.5 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 4.2 |
| Furkan Korkmaz | 37 | 9.6 | 43.2 | 39.1 | 72.2 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 3.8 |
| pj tucker | 75 | 25.6 | 42.7 | 39.3 | 82.6 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 3.5 |
| Dewayne Dedmon | 8 | 9.6 | 59.1 | 50.0 | 20.0 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 3.5 |
| Saben Lee | 2 | 5.1 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
| Matisse Thybulle | 49 | 12.1 | 43.1 | 33.3 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 2.7 |
| Jaden Springer | 16 | 5.6 | 48.6 | 40.0 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 2.6 |
| Michael Foster, Jr. | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Julian Champagnie | 2 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
