A couple days of film study still showed the ugly truth.
Too many turnovers.
The 76ers committed 19 turnovers, including nine in the first quarter, of their Game 1 loss to the Hawks. The result was a 128-124 defeat in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday in Philadelphia.
76ers coach Doc Rivers pointed to turnovers as his team’s primary issue after the series opener. He did again on Tuesday before Game 2.
“When you are playing a team that’s a really good offensive team and you are going to give them that many extra possessions, you are asking for trouble,” Rivers said. “And trouble happened. A lot of them were unforced. A lot of them were guys trying to do too much with the ball. Give Atlanta some credit, they created some of the turnovers as well. So, we just have to be better with the ball.”
76er starters accounted for 13 of the turnovers. Ben Simmons had five followed by Joel Embiid (4), Tobias Harris (3) and Danny Green (1).
In other pregame news before Game 2, Rivers declined to say whether Embiid would play or start but said he is “optimistic” the center would be available. Embiid, dealing a slight tear of the meniscus in his right knee, played in the opener. He finished with 39 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 38 minutes.