Brett Brown Returns to Philadelphia as Sixers Look for First Win

Saturday night will be a special one at Penn Medicine Court at The Center as their former head coach Brett Brown will be back in the building for the first time since being dismissed as the teams head coach after the 2019-2000 season.

Brown roamed the Sixers sideline through "the Process" years and directed them for three playoff seasons, failing to get past the second-round in any of their three appearances. Following a first-round sweep to Boston in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Brown was relieved of his duties with two years left on his contract. During those two years, Brown stepped away from basketball, but is back on Greg Popovich's bench as an assistant.

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The Sixers brought in veteran coach Doc Rivers, who has won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics, to try and get the team over the hump. However, many of the same issues still persist with Rivers in charge. Sixers fans liked to point at Brown as one of the reasons Sixers teams failed to advance in the playuoffs, now that finger is being pointed at Rivers.

Is the Sixers inability to advance past the second round a product of poor coaching or has the roster not been talented enough to get out of the second-round?

Many thought removing Brown would help unlock Ben Simmons. It never happened, in fact you can make a case that he regressed under Rivers and is no longer here.

Brown had a career mark of 221-344 and went 12-14 in his three playoff apperances.

Following back-to-back losses to open the season against Boston and Milwaukee, the Sixers will look to secure its first win of the season against a San Antonio Spurs team looking to make it two straight wins on the young season.

What To Watch For:

James Harden

Harden has had two terrific games to open the season, with two 30-point games, averaging 33 points, eight rebounds and assists so far.

While it's nice to see Harden have the offensive explosions and to see that he can still carry an offense if needed, the Sixers need to get Tyresse Maxey and Joel Embiid more involved in the offense to really start clicking.

Joel Embiid & Tyrese Maxey

The two losses to open the season have been disappointing in a lot of ways, but the performances of Embiid and Maxey rank near the top of the list.

Both of the talents have struggled to find their offense during the two games averaging 20.5 points and 18.0 points per game respectively. While those numbers aren't bad, its been how and when they are scoring them.

Can Embiid and Maxey regain their 2021-22 season forms? If even one of the two can make an impact against San Antonio, the Sixers will be in a strong position to claim their first victory of the year.

Young Spurs

This is a new-look, rebuilding and young Spurs team, who traded Dejounte Murray to Atlanta in the offseason.