The Sixers' Game 1 win over the Miami Heat in their best-of-seven series was impressive on all fronts.
They drilled a franchise playoff-record 18 three-pointers. Ben Simmons was far from timid in his first postseason game, as he came up a single rebound shy of a triple-double. Their defense forced the Heat into 18 turnovers, which resulted in 28 points.
The Sixers even nailed things before the game got underway by having a masked Joel Embiid serve as the ceremonial bell ringer.
All of the good vibes have swept a big fact right under the rug: it's just one victory.
"They don't get two wins, three wins for this," Erik Spoelstra said after the game. "It's one win."
If anyone understands that, it's Spoelstra. Now in his 10th year as Heat head coach, he's been in just about every playoff situation imaginable.
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Perhaps the most important thing Spoelstra has learned over time is that a series can change in a hurry.
"We'll make some adjustments. We came here to work and get better today," he said after Sunday's practice at Temple University. "When you have more experience in this, you realize it all counts as one. We can crawl out of here with a one-point win and it's all the same. Then we're in the driver's seat."
That's exactly what the Sixers are trying to prevent. Despite a 27-point win, they went back to the drawing board to fix a couple missteps of their own before Game 2 (8 p.m./NBC Sports Philadelphia).
"Just cleaning up some stuff that we made mistakes on in the last game," Markelle Fultz said of the Sixers' objective during practice. "Focus on the things that we did good and just try to improve on those and just go from there."
Sounds pretty simple. Much like what the Sixers have accomplished to this point.
Sure, they've won 17 in a row and the last one was their first playoff victory in six years. But they also realize none of that will mean a thing if they come out overconfident on Monday night.
"We protected home court," JJ Redick said. "Doc Rivers used to always say something along the lines of a playoff series really doesn't start until someone gets a road win. So all we've done is protect home court for one game."
