Philadelphia 76ers: 5 gut reactions after the first week of the regular season

The Philadelphia 76ers have lived up to the hype so far, but not everything is perfect. Here are my five gut reactions from the first week of the season:

The Philadelphia 76ers are off to a very fast start here in the early part of the 2019-20 season. Sitting at 4-0, the team has lived up to the insane amount of hype that was bestowed upon them heading into the year.

Yes, the team is undefeated through the first week, but not everything has been perfect so far, and it simply would not be very Philadelphia of us if we didn’t overreact a little bit to some things early on. With that said, here are my five gut reactions following the first week of the regular season.

1. The defense really is that good

We all knew the potential was there for the 76ers to be one of the most dominant defensive teams in the NBA this year. So far, they have proved to be just that. The Sixers have adopted tough, hustle defense as their identity as a basketball team and every player on the roster seems to be fully bought in to that idea.

Not only does it show up on the stat sheet (the Sixers are second in the league in team defensive rating), but it shows in the way that the team carries themselves. This team is a bunch of dogs. Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Mike Scott, Matisse Thybulle — everyone on the team plays with a certain swagger and toughness defensively that really gets under the opponent’s skin. Just ask Karl-Anthony Towns.