Sixers Seek Momentum Amidst Ongoing Struggles After Eight Straight Losses

NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers took the floor for their shootaround at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday morning, nursing an eight-game losing streak as they faced the challenges of a 20-37 record. The team’s recent woes included a 142-110 blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls, where they trailed by as much as 50 points.

This season has deviated sharply from expectations for the Sixers, who boast star players Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey. Previously dubbed potential contenders in the Eastern Conference, they instead find themselves grappling with a series of injuries and a lack of on-court cohesion.

The loss to the Bulls, a team struggling since the trade of Zach LaVine, raised eyebrows among fans and analysts alike. “Honestly, the energy that they played with, we have to take that and play with the same energy,” said Kelly Oubre Jr. during shootaround. “We all have similar records at this point, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t have been competing against them or even winning, but at the end of the day, we didn’t.”

With the defeat, the Sixers fell 2.5 games behind the Bulls for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. Despite the steep climb, there remain 25 games in the season, providing ample opportunity to close that gap. Oubre emphasized the importance of harnessing the pain from their recent performance rather than discarding it. “I don’t think we can flush anything at this point,” he remarked. “It hurts. It’s an elephant in the room of us and our season pretty much not being what we thought it would be so let’s not flush it, man. Let’s store it. Let’s harbor these emotions, man so we can be motivated each and every night.”

The emotional toll of poor performances is a significant hurdle for players. “What everybody sees on the surface is definitely a challenge, right?” Oubre explained. “But as a player, it’s just hard mentally. Just staying confident with the same group. Building a rhythm, just going out to war each and every night with the set group of an army, you know? So it’s hard.”

The addition of new players at the trade deadline adds complexity to the team dynamics. Oubre noted, “Every game is different and, obviously, we have new pieces on our team so it got even more different. We’re just still pretty much trying to get to know each other and figure out what our system is and our identity is.”

Despite the challenges, Oubre has emerged as a reliable constant for the Sixers, having played in 54 out of 57 games this season. He is averaging 14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting 46.5% from the floor. “It’s tough in the moment,” Oubre admitted. “It’s real tough in the moment because we’re competing, right? You never wanna get your butt kicked. You never wanna lose, period, but in those moments are lessons.”

He added, “I just try to continue to show up, continue to have a positive mindset, man, because stacking negatives on negatives is not helping. But at the end of the day, today’s a new day. It’s a new opportunity for us to feel good about ourselves.”

The Sixers aim to turn the tide as they have remaining games to solidify their standing and make a playoff push.