With the Sixers being winners of four of their last five games and Joel Embiid scoring 31 points in a successful return to action, has this team finally turned a corner and found itself ready to compete with the best teams in the NBA?
As we do every week, let's take the temperature of the national perspective of the Sixers with a power ranking roundup:
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NBA.com: 18 (+8 from last week)
With many understandably focused on Embiid's return, writer John Schuhmann details one of the most crucial aspects of his 31-point outing in Chicago:
"Embiid scored 31 points in a little less than 33 minutes in his return, with 10 of his 13 buckets being assisted by Tyrese Maxey, who recorded his first career triple-double. Embiid shot 3-for-14 from outside the paint but took just as many shots (10-for-14) in the paint. Only 22 (38%) of his 58 shots through his first four games came in the paint." [NBA.com]
One of the most daunting facets of Embiid's subpar play in his first four appearances of the season was that his average shot distance was considerably higher than usual. Embiid has terrific touch for a seven-footer, but he also needs to be able to utilize his enormous strength advantage down low.
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ESPN: 24 (+3 from last week)
ESPN's panel of experts chose the biggest issue plaguing each team so far. When it came to the Sixers, the choice was easy for writer Tim Bontemps: star driven offense:
"The biggest issue with this team is health. But from a strictly on-court perspective, the team is mired at 27th in offensive rating, thanks to ranking 28th in 3-point field goal percentage. One easy fix? The team's superstars must hit their shots. Joel Embiid is just 3-for-23 from 3 this season, while Tyrese Maxey (29.3%) and Paul George (31.2%) have also struggled — not a good look from a trio with high offensive expectations entering this season" [ESPN]
The Sixers' offense has indeed been putrid for much of the season — ESPN was not the only outlet to highlight that this week — but it showed flashes of excellence in Chicago, albeit against a small and rather weak defensive unit. If Embiid, Maxey and George can all get hot from three-point range in the near future to bring their season shooting percentages closer to being in line with their career averages, this team will be able to put up a lot of points.
The Athletic: 23 (+3 from last week)
Before detailing an interesting trend surrounding each team, writer Law Murray gave them letter grades for their first quarter of the season. Predictably, the Sixers received a D-minus.
"The lack of star player availability has a lot to do with Philadelphia’s rotten start. Only five teams have a worse field goal percentage, only the Pelicans average fewer points per game, and no team makes fewer shots per game than the Sixers." [The Athletic]
It is almost unbelievable to fathom how much worse these numbers would be had rookie guard Jared McCain not become a quality go-to scorer for multiple weeks, showing signs of future stardom. But ultimately, the 20-year-old cannot be the player the Sixers are reliant on.
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