Sixers used most of practice to focus on fixing their defensive issues

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CAMDEN, N.J.–The Philadelphia 76ers got back to work at practice on Sunday looking to figure out the best ways to grow under the guidance of new coach Nick Nurse. The Sixers are sitting at 14-7, and are 2nd in the league in offensive rating, but they have recently slid to 15th in defensive rating. Now that defensive ranking has a “however” attached to it. The Sixers have been dealing with injuries and illnesses to the likes of Joel Embiid, Nic Batum, Kelly Oubre Jr., and others. Not having continuity like that and having guys in and out has a domino effect on the defensive end of the floor. With the practice time at his hands, Nurse spent the majority of practice focused on the defensive end. “A day like today that was a great practice,” said veteran Nic Batum. “Pretty much all defense. 80% of practice was defense. So now just to correct stuff, get details communication, correct some stuff. Get to know each other and be on the same page because we have a guy come from coming from different teams who have different strategy on defense. So we need just to be on the same page. It’s gonna be gonna be okay. We had a great day today.” Nurse is just looking to get the Sixers to the end of the possession. He would like to see his team start a defensive possession well and then end it with a stop. That’s how he views things on that end. “I kind of have this thing that possessions that start bad usually end bad and some of it’s still that,” Nurse explained. “Like if we don’t get off to a good start, you’re not back in transition, and matchups are missed, and whatever and all of a sudden, you don’t have a chance, right? But there’s also it’s a little bit now we got some starting really good and you just got to get them to the end.” With that being said, Nurse believes it can be a simple fix. They just need to find a way to get to the end of a defensive possession and secure the stop. “Like one more little technique or effort or play that needs to be made in those possessions that have started going and gone really good,” he added. “All the way until the shot goes up need just a little bit more tweaking.” Nick Nurse explains why Sixers sent Jaden Springer to G League for a gameSixers' Nick Nurse gives update on Joel Embiid after tweaking kneeMo Bamba discusses staying ready for any opportunity with Sixers
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Source: https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/2023/12 ... ve-issues/