Sixers play, win with passion one day after seeing ‘Hamilton’ on Broadway

The Sixers pulled off an impressive 105-95 win against the Nets in Brooklyn Sunday. It was an enthusiastic effort — headlined by a 20-point performance by Joel Embiid. But perhaps an impromptu team field trip to Broadway the day before served as extra motivation.

Before the team earned its 10th win of the year — equalingtheir entire win total from a season ago — owner Joshua Harris landed tickets for the entire squad to go and see “Hamilton” on Broadway. Many of the team’s roster had never even been to a Broadway musical, and the hip-hop inspired story from America’s early days was a special experience for the youthful squad.

“It was great, a lot of good history in there,” Nerlens Noel told the Sixers’ website. “I think it was a real good opportunity to go out there, spend some time with the team, the coaches. It was great to take it all in.”

The snowy Saturday trip to the Great White Way served a second purpose, one that hopefully will help the team bond and become more of a true team, on and off the court.

“Even the foreign guys were trying to connect the dots with hip-hop and American history,” Sixers head coach Brett Brown said.”To hear the players talk about it on the bus on the way back to the hotel —team stuff like that —growing a culture and building a program off the floor, that stuff matters to us. It’s one more example of things you do as a team to grow a culture. It was a beautiful day.”

If Saturday was a beautiful day, Sunday was something else entirely, as Philly closed a double-digit halftime gap to steamroll the lowly Nets and earn a third win in four games.

The Sixers will return home after two more days off and host New York’s other team, the Knicks, Wednesday night.