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The Sixers arrived in California on Saturday night after their high-profile win over the Nets, readying themselves for the four-game road trip. With no game on Sunday or Monday, Doc Rivers’ club was able to have a rare team-bonding experience in this COVID-19 NBA world, watching the Super Bowl together.
Dwight Howard, who won a championship with the Lakers last season, said watching Tom Brady and the Buccaneers serves as motivation for the Sixers this season.
“Our goal is to win a championship,” Howard told reporters on Monday. “Just watching the Bucs win it this year and how they played. At practice every day, you know, we use a lot of the Bucs’ quotes and stuff like that about having the process and then the preparation and at the end the parade. That’s something that we’re striving for, to really have that parade in Philly.”
Tampa Bay never trailed in their championship game and the team’s relentlessness from start to finish is something that Sixers are looking to emulate.
“Just the way [the Bucs] played, they were very physical, very energetic, they didn’t let the other team breathe,” Howard added. “I think the whole game; it just seemed like [the Chiefs] were frustrated at how they played defense. We want to strive to be that way where the other team is like, ‘Man, every option that we try to bring up to these guys they’re there, they are moving, talking, their energy is so high.’ When you do that, it leaves you no choice but to win.”
The Sixers sit at 17-7, leading Eastern Conference the Atlantic Division. It’s been 20 years since the last time that Philadelphia won the division with their last win coming during the 2000-01 season when Allen Iverson won MVP and led the franchise to the NBA Finals.
