After another thrilling comeback win, this time in overtime, the Philadelphia 76ers have now stringed together four consecutive wins to remain undefeated. Despite a lights-out shooting night from the hosts, the Washington Wizards, the visitors persevered in the final frame before imposing their will on both ends during the rubber period.
As expected, Tyrese Maxey once again led the way for the 76ers in the scoring end, finishing the night with a game-high 39 points to go along with 10 assists. Joel Embiid, who was sidelined during their previous game against Orlando for injury management, turned in 25 points in just 23 minutes while Quentin Grimes added 23 markers off the bench to lead the second unit.
It was, however, Adem Bona who imbued the type of energy required for the 76ers to dismatle the Wizards piece by piece. He swatted four shots in the fourth quarter and another one in overtime , bouncing back after subpar performances during his previous appearances.
Of course, a 4-0 start will alwasy be good. Only two other teams have a record as good or better than theirs at this juncture (San Antonio and Oklahoma City), and the 76ers still have a lot of room to improve with their injured players still sidelined.
The 76ers are playing the kind of basketball that works in the playoffs
No one seems to be comfortable penciling the 76ers in as definite title contenders yet, which is probably justified given how young we all are into the season. Having said that, this team has all the tools needed to be a successful playoff team and perhaps even go all the way.
Health permitting, Philadelphia has a well-rounded group. They have high-octane scorers in the backcourt in Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Jared McCain, a reliable off-ball threat who can go get his own in Quentin Grimes, and forwards who can score and defend in Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr.
In addition, the 76ers have great role players who should remain effective as long as they are not cudgeled into roles that are too lofty for them. Of course, that would presuppose good health moving forward, which is probably the biggest red flag with this group.
However, that mold is exactly what the two teams that made the Finals last season had for the most part, although defense is something the 76ers still have a lot of work to do on.
But ultimately, as long the injury bug is kept at bay, it is difficult to envision this Philadelphia 76ers team being an early out in the playoffs. At their very best, they are capable of making it to the biggest stage, provided that the basketball gods don’t screw them anew with a fortuitous curveball.