After dropping their first-round opener at the Garden, the 76ers know they have to bounce back Monday and bounce back, both literally and figuratively.
That means being more physical.
That means boxing, playing angles and playing tougher.
And that means playing better, with coach Nick Nurse citing disappointing games from the likes of Buddy Hield, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Paul Reed.
The Sixers’ bench was dominated, they got pounded on the boards, they were outscored 23-9 on offense and 26-8 in second-chance points.
Identifying the problem was easy.
“Rebounding,” Nicolas Batum said of the Knicks’ offense, adding, “That’s too much in a playoff game.”
The Knicks led the league in offensive rebounds.
But after watching Mitchell Robinson’s seven points nearly match that total alone on the offensive glass, I watched the tape again and felt a renewed need to step up their sloppy work on the glass. Ta.
“What we all saw live confirmed a lot of things,” Nurse said. “Listen, we did some things really, really well, schematically and in terms of what we were trying to do. We didn’t do one thing very well.” We let them make the most of one of their strengths.”
And the Sixers didn’t play the way they wanted.
Philadelphia’s bench outscored them 42-7. Hield is an elite shooter, but in his first playoff game he went 0-for-2 with no hits.
“Buddy didn’t have much of a chance. … He made some plays there. He didn’t play well,” Nurse said. “If a player makes three or four mistakes, you can’t give him more playing time. But I will say this: he will be an important factor in the series.
“I think Kelly can play better, too, right? I don’t think he’s anywhere near the athlete he needs to be. … But he understands that, too.”
Another reserve who needs to bounce back is Reed.
Despite being minus-21, mostly in relief from Joel Embiid, Nurse said he plans to play more combinations to help rebound. But Reed has to play under control.
“He was way out of position,” Nurse said. “I thought he went for a lot of blocked shots that he didn’t need, and he didn’t get them, and they ended up getting another shot because he moved away and got away from them. ‘But we’ll show him it.
“I think he has a chance. He plays hard. He wants it — I think he played a little too aggressively. He helps out when he doesn’t need to.” He went too quickly and ended up hurting us, but we showed it to him. [he’ll] to understand. “
