PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In the end, it doesn't matter in the NBA Playoffs if you lose by four or by 26. All that matters is the final result.
Such was the case for the 76ers, who dropped Game 1 of their second-round playoff series to Atlanta, 128-124. The Sixers got off to a slow start and fell behind by as much as 26 points. They got as close as two in the final minute before the Hawks put the game away.
While it was a valiant comeback in the fourth, Tobias Harris and his teammates know they made too many mistakes early in the game to deserve the win.
"We put ourselves in that position at the beginning of the game," said Harris. "Lack of focus on correct plays. Defensively, we weren't where we needed to be. They made shots. We put ourselves in that position."
The final score would have been a wider margin if not for the heroics of Joel Embiid. Despite dealing with a torn meniscus, Embiid poured home 39 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Embiid says the Sixers never recovered from the early Atlanta onslaught.
"We were all hyped," Embiid said. But like I said, our focus on the basketball court wasn't the same. They hit us hard at the beginning, so now it's on us to respond."
Other Sixers echoed similar sentiments to those of Harris and Embiid. The Sixers were down by 20 at halftime and were fortunate to even come close to tying the game late. Ben Simmons said he and his teammates did not respond fast enough when Atlanta built it's large lead in the first half.
"We waited too long," said Simmons. "They hit us first, we didn’t hit back. At one point, we were down 26, and we still were in the game. That tells you a lot about this team."
Sixers fans will know more about their team after Game 2 on Tuesday. A win evens the series and gives the Sixers a chance to correct their mistakes. A loss will put them in a 2-0 hole which will be difficult to overcome. Coach Doc Rivers knows his team has to play better defensively while hoping the Hawks will cool off after shooting 51% from the field and hitting 20 three-pointers in Game 1.
"We shot 55%," Rivers said. "I'm still going to complain, but we were pretty good there. We lost this game by allowing a team to score 128 points."