Critical Evaluation: Five(5) Intriguing 76ers Statistics thus far this Season
The addition of Nick Nurse was undoubtedly Daryl Morey’s best move during an otherwise stagnant offseason. The head coach has entirely altered the team’s offensive and defensive styles. Doc Rivers’ inflexible decisions have enhanced the pace, motion, and deployment of several types of situational defenses.
Without a question, most fans are overjoyed, at least for the time being. The 76ers are comfortably third in the Eastern Conference, displaying unmatched consistency and depth. And to prove it, here’s a collection of some of the season’s most intriguing stats.
OFFENSE: The Sixers currently have the best offensive rating in NBA history (122.1).
Simple as that. The league is in its 78th year, and there hasn’t been a single team capable of scoring more points per 100 possessions than the Sixers this season. But while that sounds crazy, it’s also not that strange. The 5 best seasons in history in offensive rating correspond to 5 teams of the current season: Philadelphia, Boston, Indiana, Milwaukee and Atlanta. The modern defense is far from countering the modern offense, but in this mess that is producing the highest NBA scores in decades, the 76ers are among the elite.
Nick Nurse has established a winning system that, coupled with Embiid’s brilliant season and Tyrese Maxey’s stratospheric explosion, is nearly impossible for most teams in the league to contain. Not even the Minnesota Timberwolves, considered the best defensive team in the NBA, were able to stop the duo.
SHOOTING: The 76ers are 1st in the NBA in catch and shoot Percentage (40.5%) but are the 28th team in catch and shoot attempts (23.6)
Last season, there was no franchise more efficient than the 76ers from beyond the arc. Even if it didn’t really feel that way. But the truth is that the team has a large number of shooters in its rotation. The catch and shoot is the most efficient shot, and the Sixers are the most efficient team at this type of shooting.
Currently, there are 3 Sixers players in the NBA top 10 in catch and shoot shooters with at least 20 games played. Marcus Morris Sr with 52.9%, Tyrese Maxey with 51.6%, and, surprisingly, Joel Embiid with 50%. But more surprising is the 72.7% Mo Bamba is shooting in these types of situations. Any franchise would want two of their centers to be that efficient, right?
But the bad news is that Philadelphia is the 28th most catch and shoot team in the NBA. Beyond De’Anthony Melton with 4.2 attempts per game, Kelly Oubre with 3.4 and Tyrese Maxey with 3.3, the shooting volume seems to be lower than desired. Perhaps the possible departure of Tobias Harris at the deadline will mean the arrival of a quicker trigger player who will be able to take advantage of the gravity that Nurse’s two star players generate with their mere existence. Or maybe not, and we’ll have to wait until the off-season.
HUSTLE: Philadelphia currently averages the most deflections per game (17.1), the highest steals per game (8.9), the highest loose balls recovered per game (6.4) in the entire NBA
A characteristic blueprint of Nick Nurse’s Raptors was their defensive aggressiveness. Big, quick players like OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam or Scottie Barnes were constant threats at the passing lanes, and versatile enough to switch on screens. And Daryl Morey, especially after the James Harden trade, have given him valuable tools to do the same with the Sixers roster.
Robert Covington is one of the biggest disruptors in the history of the league. The forward has incredible hands and decision-making on defense that get him minutes on those attributes alone. But he’s not the only one. Other players like D’Anthony Melton and Kelly Oubre have shown their ability to step up on defense, and it’s translating into wins.
Hustle stats are usually directly proportional to a team’s desire to win, and the Sixers are first by far. Not only are they leading in deflections per game with 17.1, but they are also leading in steals and loose balls recovered. A philosophy that makes more sense the closer the Playoffs get.
ISOLATION: The 76ers are the 3rd team with more ISOs per game (10.3), and they are the 5th team with more points per possession in ISO situations (1.07)
Well, this shouldn’t be that surprising. Joel Embiid is probably the best 1-on-1 player in the entire league, and virtually impossible to defend in a simple matchup. On top of that, Tyrese Maxey’s left-handed progress has allowed him to become a lethal scoring weapon, capable of leaving any defender behind. These two players, along with Marcus Morris, are the biggest reason the Sixers have so many ISO opportunities. But the truth is that in addition to having a high volume of these types of plays, they are very efficient players.
But don’t be fooled. The Playoffs are a completely different kind of basketball, and defenses are going to adjust to these types of plays. In fact, that’s been part of the Sixers’ problem over the past few postseasons. But that attention Embiid or Maxey will generate during the Playoffs should be the key for other role players to step up in the spring. We don’t know if we’ll be able to count on Tobias’ contribution, but at least some new faces like Kelly Oubre will be happy to take advantage of those opportunities.
CLUTCH: Philly is currently 26th in the league in Clutch Time (4W-7L), but they are the 25th team that has played the most close games.
And finally we come to a mostly negative statistic. The Sixers are having trouble closing out games this season, and right now stand at 36% of wins in games that go undecided into the final minutes. A situation that really isn’t new for the team. Since the Brett Brown era, Philadelphia has struggled to solve tight ends.
However, within this negative statistic, there is another positive. The Sixers have played the 25th fewest tight ends so far this season, behind only the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Sacramento Kings, who have usually been able to get to the final quarter with the game locked up. And I say only behind those two teams because the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies are also ahead of Philadelphia, but for other reasons. Let’s say the situation is similar, but in reverse…
Just a few weeks ago, the Sixers posted the largest positive point differential in league history during a four-game winning streak, winning by a total of 148 points against the Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons twice. And that was just a month after beating the Los Angeles Lakers by 44 points, which was the biggest loss of LeBron James’ 21-year career. A sample of the two-way potential of one of the teams of the moment.
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