With another win on Saturday night against the Brooklyn Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers remain first place in the Eastern Conference, taking a game and a half lead over the second-place Milwaukee Bucks.
How did the Sixers get here? Well, a number of things factored into their success to start the season. New reliable voices from the coaching staff, better-fitting personnel around the stars, and MVP play from Sixers center Joel Embiid have been just a few of many key factors to Philly's early success.
While the Sixers have been successful thus far through 24 games, they don't believe they're in peak form just yet. Following a big win over the Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving-less Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night, Sixers center Joel Embiid made it clear his team is not content. They believe they can and will get better moving forward.
“We got a long way to go,” he said. “I don’t think we’re close to where we want to be. Me, personally, I don’t think I’m close to where I want to be, and I know for sure I would say we’re not there yet. Every day we’re still learning how to play with each other, but I still think we got a long way to go. We got more to give.”
Sitting in first place within the Eastern Conference with a 17-7 record, the 76ers have tons of basketball left to be played. Some might believe Philly has found its identity, but Sixers head coach Doc Rivers would agree with his star center. The Sixers are still learning about each other as a team and have a lot of work to do.
"I like our team, I really like our team, but I don’t exactly know who we are yet,” Rivers stated before Saturday's game. “One, it’s early in the season. Two, it’s because of all this clutter. You want a clutter-free environment as much as you can. At least, as a coach, that’s what I try to create. You’re not creating a clutter-free environment right now; you’re just not, so you have to deal with that.”
It seems Rivers' mindset and message has landed successfully within the Sixers' locker room. Normally, a team coming off of a disappointing season and starting the following year off hot and in first place would have a "happy to be here" feeling. But that's not the Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid-led Sixers mindset right now.
Earlier this week, Rivers echoed the same statement he's been saying since the start of training camp; "I don't think we're even close to where I think we can be," he said on Tuesday. "I'm just focused on us getting better like, we have to get better. We're not where we need to be or where we want to be. If this is the best we are, we're not good enough. And that's what I tell our guys every night."
It seems Embiid is on the same page. Despite being a top MVP candidate on the Eastern Conference's best team, the big man isn't satisfied. The 76ers might be off to a promising start, but it seems the best has yet to come for the 2020-2021 Sixers.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
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