NBA News: Sixers Coach Stresses Importance Of Chemistry Heading Into Playoffs

Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers is no stranger when it comes to identifying the needs of a team heading into the crucial stages of an NBA season.

He has had his share of struggles but has so far managed to overcome them, something is seen when former player Ben Simmons sat out most of the 2021-22 season.

A lot has changed since then, but Rivers proved that with the right tweaks, wins will come.

One team that has floundered is the New York Knicks, a franchise that made waves last year but has gone the opposite direction this season.

When asked to weigh in on the Knicks' troubles, Rivers pointed out how changes are critical for any NBA team.

“When you make changes, sometimes that goes well for you and sometimes it doesn’t,’’ Rivers explained as quoted by The Post.

“Chemistry is a very fickle thing, as we all know. When you have it, you want it. Sometimes you don’t even know why you have it, but you know you want to try to protect it. And when you lose it, you don’t know why you’re losing it sometimes. But there’s still time.’’

The Knicks still have 21 games left and need to rack up several wins to make it to the play-in tournament.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau is frantically trying to find answers to get his team back on the winning track, aware that the 360-degree turn may not sit well with Knicks management.

For his part, decorated book author Roland Lazenby believes that human psychology may be a factor in getting the Knicks back on the same page.

“Chemistry is also about human psychology. And one of the things I love in the books I write, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, now I’m writing about Magic Johnson… it’s the psychology of great competitors that fascinates us often, especially with a guy like Jordan or a Magic Johnson," Lazenby shared when he appeared on the Sports Bytes PH podcast hosted by Filipino journalist Brian Yalung.

"And that psychology really is part of the metaphor of our own lives. And so we’ll get to see some of this. We’ll get to see these people in a new context, a new chemistry."