The Sixer Sense
Fansided

What is a successful road trip for the Philadelphia 76ers?

By Rusty Gorelick

HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 30: Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers warms up before the game against the Houston Rockets on October 30, 2017 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Darren Carroll/NBAE via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 30: Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers warms up before the game against the Houston Rockets on October 30, 2017 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Darren Carroll/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Philadelphia 76ers head west for five games in nine days, finishing against the Lakers on Nov.15. What would make a successful road trip?

There are a lot of firsts coming up for the Philadelphia 76ers: the first extended road trip of the season, the first game of the season against the Golden State Warriors, and the first game against Rookie of the Year hopeful Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers. This will be the first westward excursion for Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz if he’s healthy, and one of the first for Joel Embiid, and Sixers fans will quickly find out how the young core can adapt to NBA life.

Three of the Sixers’ five wins have come on the road: they won in Detroit, in Dallas, and in Houston so far. The next five games will prove whether or not the Sixers are legitimate road warriors, and if they prove their strength away from home, then this trip will bring a lot of momentum to Philly. Here are the things that need to happen for the Sixers if they want to call it a successful five games against Western Conference opponents.

Win Three Games

The Sixers play the Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, and the Lakers over the course of the next nine days, and three of those are definitely winnable. Philly has more talent than the Jazz, Kings, and Lakers, so assuming all goes well and everyone stays healthy, the Sixers will add three more wins to the five they already have. If they go 3-2 on the road, then that will make them 8-6 with six road wins.

More from The Sixer Sense

The Sixers should give the Clippers a run for their money on Nov. 13, and if Joel Embiid can contain DeAndre Jordan and Ben Simmons can contain Blake Griffin, then it should be an easy win. Brett Brown will be asking a lot of his first- and second-year stars to contain two All-Stars, but if they can do that, it will put the league on notice about Philly’s defense.

Shut Down Lonzo Ball

Stopping the Big Baller serves more to prove that he doesn’t deserve the Rookie of the Year award more than anything, and having the man who really deserves the award outplay him would go a long way to take the hype away from Ball. Simmons has clearly played better than Ball this season, but if people see the two head-to-head and Simmons keeps up his current level of play, then NBA fans could jump on Ben’s bandwagon.

The Sixers could also grant the wish of Olivia Simmons if her brother dunks on Lonzo. Making family happy is just as important as winning games!

Exploit the Warriors’ Weakness

Warriors center Zaza Pachulia is not good. Sixers center Joel Embiid is good. Zaza Pachulia has never averaged more than 0.5 blocks per game in any single season in his career, and the Philadelphia 76ers need to get the ball to Embiid and let him go to work on the Georgian.

Even if the Sixers lose, which will probably happen, getting the league to realize that the Warriors’ interior defense, apart from Draymond Green, is terrible, will put the Sixers on the map and get the up-and-coming team more respect.

Next: 5 numbers that highlight the Sixers' improvement

In addition to exposing Pachulia’s defensive deficiencies, if Embiid can show that the 6-foot-7 Green can’t stay with him, then that will show the league that Embiid cannot be stopped by anything other than injuries. Giving the Warriors a tough game would highlight an important road trip for the Philadelphia 76ers, and the team could come back home with a lot more momentum than they already have.