When P.J. Tucker signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this summer, he brought something they didn’t have before: championship experience. Tucker won the title with the Milwaukee Bucks. When the Sixers faced Tucker’s former team on April 2, Tucker reflected on what it was like to play in that atmosphere, even if it was only for half a season.
Tucker told Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that the general vibe as a team was that nothing else mattered besides winning when he played his half-season with the Bucks.
“It’s a different type of thing,” he said. “It’s weird when I come here, it kind of switches that. I’m always like that, especially now. But it gives me that feeling, again.”
Tucker also told Pompey how no one remembers how many points a player scored on a team if they won the championship because they’re remembered as winners, which makes the sacrifice itself hard.
“That’s the hardest thing, because it’s easy to say it,” he said. “Then when you sacrifice and you win, and then you extend the sacrifice. When you do it and you don’t win, then you say, ‘Why did I do it?’ It’s like, ‘Whatever, whatever.’ When you do it and win, it’s like it does make a difference, it does matter.”
P.J. Tucker Expected Tough Game From Bucks
Before facing off against the Bucks, Tucker told NBC Sports Philadelphia how he expected a good game from his former team after their tough loss against the Boston Celtics in their previous game.
“They just took a bad loss, so I’m sure they’re going to be ready to play. [Mike Budenholzer] is gonna get those guys going,” Tucker said. “We gotta be locked in. We know to get where we want to go we got to beat the Bucks, so it’s one of those games, great energy and an opportunity to be ready.”
The Bucks lost to the Celtics by 41 points in their previous game, then proceeded to beat the Sixers by 13.
Coincidentally enough, the Sixers’ next opponent will be the Celtics themselves when they meet for the fourth and final time on April 4.
Tobias Harris Challenges Sixers Following Bucks’ Loss
After the Sixers’ loss to the Bucks, Harris challenged the Sixers to be stronger mentally to win against tough matchups like Milwaukee
“Shoot, figure it out,” Harris told reporters, per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “We got to figure it out. Four games left. I think the biggest thing is that in midst of all that stuff, we still got to be mentally strong to win a game or at least to just present ourselves that we feel like we win a game.”
Harris said that the Sixers can’t act like that when the playoffs start.
“If you just looked at us out there, I’m not watching the game on TV, but I can guarantee you, you saw a team that looked a little defeated out there from time to time in the game,” Harris said. “That can’t be us as the playoffs get ready to start.”
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P.J. Tucker Sounds Off on ‘Hardest Thing’ Amid Sixers Title Chase