Philadelphia 76ers
The 2020-21 Philadelphia 76ers season can be defined by the fact that the Sixers lost in the second round to the Hawks despite being the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference, and big changes could be on the way.
What did we learn?
Our Season Review for the Sixers after the 2019-20 season was pretty spot-on.
We declared The Process dead for the umpteenth time, stating that: “It just doesn’t appear so far that Embiid and Simmons can really play together. We have always wanted to believe it can work, but it doesn’t look like it can, at least without the right complementary pieces.”
But with Daryl and Doc arriving to the City of Brotherly Love and joining The Gang, we pronounced that The Process alive once again.
The makeup of this roster did look a lot better after Daryl flipped Al Horford and Josh Richardson for Danny Green and Seth Curry. We have always known that Embiid and Simmons need to be flanked by shooters to maximize spacing.
It’s easy to forget now, but Philly steamrolled the regular season.
The slightly new-look Sixers had the 2nd-best defense in the league, just a shade behind the Lakers.
Joel Embiid was the no doubt first-half-of-the-season MVP. Per usual, he was a wrecking ball and bulldozer in the paint. But now with a soft, deft shooting touch, Embiid looked more nimble than ever before, displaying a shooting prowess (53% on long 2’s and 41.6% from 3!) and Harden-like free throws (10 per game) that upped his game to a magnitude he hadn’t reached before.
Tobias Harris also played tremendous during the regular season, pretty damn close to being at 50-40-90 guy at 51% from the field, 39.4% from 3 and 89% from the line. Harris deserves more credit for that, and Doc, too, as the Tobias Harris whisperer. The strong shooting numbers from Tobias kept defenses more honest, allowing for more of that oh-so-precious spacing.
Speaking of, Seth Curry was still one of the best in the biz at 45 percent from 3 on 4.9 attempts per game. And Danny Green? A tick above 40 percent on even higher volume at 6.3 attempts. The shooters that Daryl brought in were shooting alright, and it was all working out so well…
Then Embiid missed ten games in March after a scary knee injury that was thankfully not more devastating, fearing the worst at the time. But in those ten games without Embiid, the Sixers went 7-3 with the three losses at the hands of the Bucks, Clippers and Nuggets. The Sixers defense actually improved over that two week stretch to a staunch defensive rating of 101.7, more than 5 points per 100 possessions better than their mark of 107.0 for the season. Shoutout Matisse Thybulle who was a defensive wunderkind, earning All-Defensive 2nd Team in his second year in the league.
Philly’s leading scorer sans Embiid was primarily Tobias Harris, as expected, but Shake Milton, Danny Green and even the rookie Tyrese Maxey finished games with the most points scored. That is to say that it seemed like we had the evidence here of a T-E-A-M with a strong defensive foundation that we thought should bode well when it’s needed most in the playoffs.
Pop quiz: How many games this season did Ben Simmons lead the 76ers in points? The answer is just two times. TWICE. The writing was on the wall that Ben Simmons had taken a clear step back offensively. However, his assists, rebounds and rock-solid defense could still be counted on.
But at this point we all know what happened in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Atlanta.
Simmons was a complete and total liability in the worst way. It could not have been more magnified. Unplayable on offense down the stretch. Sitting on the bench. Shooting an NBA history worst 32% from the free throw line. Scared to shoot. Scared to dunk. It got to the point that we felt downright bad for the guy. (NBA Twitter can be a ruthless place.)
Say what you will about Danny Green, but the Sixers totally missed him in the last four games of the Hawks series. To be clear, we are in NO way giving Philly a free pass, far from it. We are just saying that Danny Green is a proven veteran and winning player. The dude has done nothing but win his entire career, and having that type of player on the court would have been helpful. (The Hawks weren’t at full strength either.)
It was also noted on this here blog as far back as December as to how much Philly was relying on Seth Curry in crunch time.
We can’t discount the fact that Embiid was playing with a freakin’ partially torn meniscus! But the fact is that he wore down in the fourth quarter of those physical playoff games. He gave it his all, but he was gassed. And he didn’t have enough help. Tobias Harris fell back to his old ordinary ways. The bench was brutal and Doc continued to play them with Tobias anyway. Fourth quarter of an elimination game on the road? Yup! Late in the 3rd quarter of a close Game 7? You betcha, Sally baby! (Although Maxey did actually save them in Game 6.)
It all amounted to another catastrophic disappointment for the post-Process Sixers. Up 2-1 and a blown 18-point second-half lead in Game 4 followed by a blown 26-point second half lead in Game 5. Absolutely revolting.
And now, it could be officially over over for real this time around if Ben Simmons is traded.
The worst part is knowing that it’s for the best and that it has been this whole time.
R. I. P.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
Over 43 wins. We can’t quit on Philly with Daryl calling the shots.
Sixers 2020-21 Record: (49-23)
YES, our preseason Over/Under prediction hit!
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What’s Next?
NBA Twitter and the media have been coming up with fake Ben Simmons trades since the minute the buzzer sounded on Game 7. We like the CJ McCollum and Buddy Hield ones the most. Perhaps waiting for the next disgruntled star to come forth is the best move here. Dame Time in Philly, anyone?
Key free agents: Danny Green, Dwight Howard, Furkan Korkmaz and Mike Scott. Daryl is going to have to get creative with $100 million in salary tied up between Embiid, Simmons and Tobias Harris.
Bring back T.J. McConnell!
Thanks to his All-NBA selection, Embiid is eligible to sign a 4-year, $190 million supermax extension that would kick in in 2023-24.
Figure out how to close.
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