NBA Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers Haven’t Turned Corner Quite Yet

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By @Greg_Sacidor

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Getty Images

With two straight wins, the Philadelphia 76ers appeared to reach a new level. But after their loss Tuesday night, it appears they have not.

Heading into their matchup Tuesday night with the 76ers, the Atlanta Hawks found themselves atop the Eastern Conference standings. With the team at the start of a stretch that includes four games in five days, head coach Mike Budenholzer took a page out of Gregg Popovich’s book – the man he was an assistant for with the San Antonio Spurs from 1996-2013. With the team playing the Boston Celtics in Boston Wednesday night, Budenholzer made the decision to rest Jeff Teague, DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap — three of his five starters.

After winning three of their last four games, including two in a row, many felt as though the Philadelphia 76ers had finally turned some sort of corner in their ongoing rebuilding process. With three big wins and the team no longer in last place in the NBA standings, it appeared as though the 76ers were finally ready to be taken serious by the other teams throughout the league. However, Budenholzer’s decision showed that this just isn’t quite the case.

If the 76ers turning a corner truly was the case, then three of the Hawks’ five starters would not have been held out for rest purposes, especially when the Hawks are taking on a less than formidable Celtics team in the second-half of their back-to-back. Also, if this truly was the case, then the 76ers would not have lost to the shorthanded Hawks by 18 points.

Last week, the 76ers gave everyone a glimpse of how exciting things will be when the team finally gets back to their winning ways. But by no means was it an indication that the team had all of a sudden made huge strides in their ongoing rebuilding process. Sure, winning three out of four games (especially the exciting way in which they won all three games) is a good morale boost for the very young roster of the 76ers. But when a team rests three of their five starters and still defeats you by double digits, it just shows that you haven’t made it quite yet.

Greg Sacidor is a Philadelphia 76ers and NBA writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Greg_Sacidor or add him to your network on Google.

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