The Philadelphia 76ers are heading back to the East Coast after wrapping up a five-game West Coast swing with a 3-2 record-a trip that ended on a sour note with a 135-118 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. That final game?
A tale of two halves. The Sixers were within striking distance until the third quarter unraveled in spectacular fashion, with Portland outscoring them 49-22 and effectively shutting the door on any comeback hopes.
But let's zoom out for a second. Considering the circumstances-an awkward travel schedule, the looming trade deadline, and most importantly, the absence of Joel Embiid for two of those five games-going 3-2 out west is nothing to scoff at. In fact, it’s a pretty solid showing for a team that’s been juggling injuries and rotations while trying to stay competitive in a tightly packed Eastern Conference.
Head coach Nick Nurse summed it up well after the Portland loss: “Four and a half really good games. I think there’s a half tonight or a quarter here tonight that’s really bad.
One quarter in LA, but most of it was really good basketball.” He’s not wrong.
Outside of two quarters-one against the Lakers and the other in Portland-the Sixers played inspired, high-level basketball.
Let’s break it down.
The trip opened with a statement win over a surging Los Angeles Clippers squad. That was followed by a gritty performance in San Francisco, where the Sixers took down the Golden State Warriors on the second night of a back-to-back.
Wins like that, especially without your MVP centerpiece, don’t come easy. Then they went into Phoenix and outlasted a tough Suns team, showing poise and depth in the process.
The two losses-one to the Lakers and the other to the Blazers-will sting a bit, especially the one in L.A., where the Sixers had a real shot before letting it slip in the second half. But again, when you’re missing your best player and still come out of a West Coast trip with a winning record, you take it.
Now sitting at 30-23 and holding the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia is just 1.5 games behind the fifth-place Toronto Raptors. With one more game before the All-Star break-a home matchup against the New York Knicks-there’s a chance to head into the midseason pause on a high note.
The Sixers are in a bit of a holding pattern until Embiid returns, but if this road trip showed us anything, it’s that this team has the grit to stay in the mix. Nurse has them competing, even when the odds aren’t in their favor. And if they can get healthy and stay afloat, the second half of the season could get very interesting in Philly.