later Philadelphia 76ers lifeless performance In Toronto Wednesday, coach Doc Rivers made a notable point about his team being out of sync early in the season. He acknowledged that the team’s offense was very much a work in progress and that he could not completely get the players off the hook.
“In the meantime, you should still be able to sneak out victories and win games with your efforts.” rice field.”
The Sixers went from 1-4 to 3-4 this weekend. raptors When bulls Victory on a continuous load. And while this is far from a tweaked machine at this point, if the team can sneak out a win as Rivers hinted, it doesn’t really matter. No, but time will tell if it continues.
The biggest takeaway of the weekend was that the Sixers found a way to bank some wins. In case you were watching the World Series, here are 10 things from the weekend that will help you catch up with the Sixers.
1. Friday night is the first truth Tyrese Maxsey A seasonal explosion that is always fun to watch. check out Joel EmbiidThe reaction on the bench in the clip below puts his hand on his head in amused disbelief.
It’s the feeling when Maxie gets on one of the few types of heaters. NBA Players can be matched. He scored 44 points on 15-of-20 shooting from the field and 9-of-12 shooting over the arc. The points and threes represent career-highs against a team he had a lot of postseason success with.
It’s been said a lot, but Maxie is a great player development success story. Think about the play the Sixers just executed.maxi set screen James Harden It flares out 30 feet out of the whoops, 28 feet, accepts a back bounce pass from Harden and rips it right away. It’s a good play when he’s doing it, somehow. Similar to Embiid, when Maxie’s onslaught is happening, all you can do is shake your head in disbelief.
2. Rivers continues his coaching streak even when Embiid isn’t playing. The Sixers went 6-8 without Embiid last season, much of it during their three-week COVID-19 absence as the rest of the team also dealt with the outbreak. There have been four games in which Embiid has received a legitimate road management night throughout his season. And the Sixers had his best (and most unlikely) win of the season in those games, where he went 3-1.
For some reason, Rivers is doing some of his best work in organizing the Sixers’ unmanned lineup offensively. There was one set that stood out.
3. The double drag screen is alive and well. Here are two Maxie buckets from the Sixers’ win in Toronto. One, at the top of the key is each starting guard where he initiates the action with two screeners (one roll and one pop).
Harden played poorly in the trip. Over the past three games, he’s posted his 32.4% shooting percentage from the field and doesn’t always make quick decisions to keep the offense moving.But some of his best work came when he found players slipping through Toronto’s switching scheme in double-drag action. Tobias Harris Harris takes advantage of the situation to find Maxie in the corner.
Below, Maxey accepts a switch defense and has a favorable matchup (Gary Trent Jr.) about separation. The Sixers have lived this action against Toronto.
4. The half-court attack has gone surprisingly well so far. Trust me, I know it doesn’t feel that way. Saturday’s game in Chicago was a perfect example.Harden and Embiid found a way Nikola Bucevich Defending in space, the second unit played at a good pace, and the Sixers scored 54 points midway through the second quarter. After that, the Sixers lost their pace and rhythm. Embiid said after the game.he rescued them By pick and pop 3.
However, the Sixers have an offensive rating of 103.9 on the half court, according to Cleaning The Glass. This seems like good news considering he’s a good third-place finisher in the NBA and there’s room for improvement here. The bad news is that the Sixers are ranked No. 26 in transition and generally can’t make enough easy baskets. That will probably have to change in the future.
5. The Sixers have a fair amount of zone defense. They have zoned on 7.7% of possessions, the sixth-most in the NBA. This is up from 1.8% last season and 2.5% last season. It helped them win Friday’s game against the Raptors’ backup unit, but it’s probably not a long-term solution, more than a changeup for a struggling defense.
And when zones are involved, it usually…
6. Matisse Cybull I finally got the rotation off. And it worked out pretty well. That’s not to say Thybulle did anything out of the ordinary. He had an up-and-down decision-making night against Toronto, who knocked down several open threes and gave him real stress on the offensive. But I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Sixers had his two above-average defensive performances and he had two best turnover forced performances.
Thyble, an early insertion into Maxxie (foul trouble) in Chicago, gives the Sixers another look. Specifically, he makes his backup lineup more switchable.As I wrote in my post on Friday mail bagit makes sense to have him in the lineup before he struggles Danuel House Jr. About how the Sixers are defending.
7. Deanthony Melton seems to be taking hold. After a rough first few games on the defensive end, Melton’s abilities are starting to show. When asked to screen Harden and Maxie on Friday night, he got off to a start and made some great plays on the short roll. He can push the ball in transition. He can knock down his 3-pointer and isn’t afraid to take him. Melton fits the bill of a player who, in theory, can hang on either end of the court.
But above all, Melton is a havoc creator with a slightly different kind of role than Thybulle. Ball handlers are very good at pushing the ball, so they need to be very careful when putting the ball in front of them. Toronto learned it the hard way, as Melton made five steals on Friday. And whether it’s scrambled for shots at the rim or chipping into the defensive grass, Melton is also a good leaper. It’s easy to see.
8. Instead of Embiid, the Sixers have a small ball. Montrez Harrell I can see. Harrell was the backup center in both games this weekend. Paul Reed didn’t get a chance to play. Center Tucker proved dynamite again in Toronto (the starter netted his rating of plus-41.5 in his 22 minutes). The group was definitely helped by Maxxie’s incredible shooting. At one point in the Chicago game, the Sixers all went to a group of benches for foul trouble: Milton-Melton-Thybulle-Nian-Harrell. That group also held on in a limited amount of time.
9. The half-court defense swept the game against Chicago. Despite their offensive problems, the Sixers dug in and held the Bulls to 22 points in the fourth quarter.One of the tweaks that proved important in the second half was embedding Patrick WilliamsThe logic behind that move is simple. Bucevic had made his 3-pointer on a pick-and-pop, so the Sixers dared to beat him on the inside, giving the rim his protector a player he could afford to leave.
Embiid put his strategy to good use with his defensive activity level day and night compared to Wednesday in Toronto.This property below ends in difficulty demar derozan A shot of Embiid fighting right after the video ends.
10. Embiid is now 12-0 against Chicago. Despite some close calls, he tends to close the door late against the Bulls.
Related listening
(Top photo of Tyrese Maxey: Cole Burston/Getty Images)
