Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse addressed the team’s defensive and offensive struggles following a 112-109 loss to the New York Knicks on Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Nurse pointed to rebounding and offensive execution as key areas that hindered the Sixers.
“And a lot of that was the offensive fault and the defensive rebounding. We just gotta continue to work on a variety of things…a little bit too much of the same probably tonight,” Nurse said.
The coach explained his late-game strategy, including planned substitutions. “We were going to…put Robinson on the line. I just felt more like for one or two possessions of rest, maybe see if he would miss him as well. We kind of climbed back into the game,” he said.
Nurse noted the challenge of countering New York’s small-ball lineup. “They went small. I thought we did pretty good job against their small lineup, especially offensively. We scored about every time,” he added.
He also addressed his defensive approach to limiting Jalen Brunson’s impact. “We were trying to blitz Brunson and not let him be the one to beat us. Got a couple turnovers, a couple missed shots about four or five in a row,” Nurse said.
The Sixers coach reflected on OG Anunoby’s timely shooting for New York. “We got even to OG and made him reload the one in the corner and he hit it. Then Shamet hit the next one,” he said, describing the sequence that swung momentum.
Regarding Tyrese Maxey’s final attempts, Nurse explained, “I would imagine he knew he was getting fouled and that they were trying to foul, and he was trying to get the call in a shooting motion.”
Nurse also highlighted the importance of readiness for bench players during sudden substitutions. “Those guys always got to be ready to come in and do whatever,” he said, referencing players like Justin Edwards and Adem Bona.
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid scored 38 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but New York’s third-quarter explosion proved decisive. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 31 points, while OG Anunoby added 23. Consecutive threes from Anunoby and Landry Shamet helped the visitors maintain a slim lead late.
The Sixers fall to 24-20, while the Knicks improve to 27-18 with their second straight win. Philadelphia will visit Charlotte on Monday, and New York returns home to face the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
