Jrue Holiday has been a bright spot for the Philadelphia 76ers this season. (Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com)
The Philadelphia 76ers (30-44), Chicago Bulls (40-33) and Washington Wizards (28-47) are each averaging a league-worst 92.9 points per game this season, but that unremarkable scoring production has produced varying results for each team.
The Bulls, seeded sixth in the Eastern Conference, still have a chance at gaining home-court advantage in the playoffs. The 76ers, on the other hand, are on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention, occupy the ninth spot and will try their luck at the NBA Draft Lottery in May.
The Wizards, furthermore, have been out of the playoff conversation for the majority of the season.
It is due to their lack of expected success in 2012-13 that I decided to single out the 76ers and examine the team’s offensive struggles.
Since there are a seemingly endless amount of figures that can be used to tell this story, what follows are a few of the statistical categories that help explain why the 76ers and the scoreboard have not been friends this season.
Starters vs. Bench
The starting five for the 76ers is ranked 13th in scoring, averaging 65.8 points in 32.6 minutes per game. By comparison, the starters for the playoff-bound Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks log a pinch less at 32.4 minutes, but average more points at 68.7 and 68 points per game respectively.
76ers coach Doug Collins has relied heavily on his starting five in 2012-13. (Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com)
Only the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies make use of their starters more than the 76ers, with varying degrees of efficiency.
Most notably, starters for the Trail Blazers top the league by playing 35.4 minutes per game in which they score 80.4 points. Coach Doug Collins is certainly not getting that kind production from his starters, but a lack of depth in talent on the 76ers roster may be forcing his hand.
The 76ers bench players register just 15.6 minutes and contribute only 27.2 points for a rank of 26th in those two categories.
In wins, the starters’ minutes increase to 34.6 minutes per game and they score 74.2 points, taking pressure off the substitutes. However, production from the starting five dips down to 60 points in losses and the reserves, even though they score more points (29.5), are not able to provide the team with the lift it needs.
Overall, the 76ers average 98 points in victories and are held to an average of 89.6 points in losses.
Getting to the Line
The 76ers have attempted (1,234) and made (890) fewer free throws than any other team in the NBA.
In contrast, the Oklahoma City Thunder rank first in makes (1,686), second in attempts (2,039) and lead the league in scoring with 106 points per game.
On a per-game basis, the 76ers go roughly 12-for-16 from the foul line, while the Thunder hit 23 of their 28 attempts.
I realize that the 76ers do not have the equivalent of Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook, but along with the Orlando Magic, they are flirting with history.
To be exact, the 76ers are attempting 16.7 free throw attempts per game and the Magic 16.4. Both of these marks would fall below the record-low of 18 set by the Phoenix Suns in 2005-06.
Not surprisingly then, the 12 makes per game would also establish a new NBA record-low. Only five teams in the history of the league have converted an average of less than 14 free throws per game and of those, three teams, the 76ers, Magic, and Hawks, are doing it this season.
Moving on, the 76ers are actually 13th in made field goals per game (37.4), but with a shooting percentage of just 44.6 percent (tied for 18th), they are not able to make up for the lack of free throws.
Typically, players have an easier time earning trips to the free-throw line on drives to the basket and the 76ers don’t appear to be in the lane all that often, with just 41.9 percent of their points scored in painted area.
With the 76ers apparently not drawing contact on many of their field goal attempts, it is not surprising that a league-low 12.9 percent of the team’s points are scored on free throws.
The “What If” Factor
In the 2010-11 season, the first with Collins patrolling the sidelines, the 76ers placed seventh in the East with a 41-41 record and ranked 19th in scoring at 98.3 points per game.
Last season, their scoring average plummeted to 92.3 points per game (25th overall) but the team still managed to grab the eighth playoff spot with a record of 35-31. However, scoring was down league-wide last season, perhaps because of the shortened training camp and compressed 66-game schedule following the lockout.
Andrew Bynum would have provided a major boost in scoring and rebounding. (Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com)
Prior to this season, the 76ers took traded away Andre Iguodala, whose scoring numbers had been on the decline since 2007-08, as part of a deal that brought in Jason Richardson from the Magic and Andrew Bynum from the Lakers.
The team appeared to have bolstered its offense, but Richardson, with a career average of 17.3 points per game, was contributing a career-low 10.6 points before being sidelined with a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 21, having appeared in just 33 games.
Bynum, who achieved career-highs with 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game in 2011-12, was set to be a presence in the paint for the 76ers, but his season never got off the ground due to knee injuries.
Although Bynum’s contract expires after this season and removes $16.9 million from the team’s salary cap, the 76ers gave up a lot to acquire him by sending promising talents Maurice Harkless and Nikola Vucevic along with a future first-round pick to the Magic as part of a four-team trade last August.
These moves did not pay off for a 76ers team that, in comparison to 2011-12, has shown the least offensive improvement of any team this season.
On the Bright Side
The 76ers do have a solid core of young players to build around, highlighted by point guard Jrue Holiday, guard Evan Turner, forward Thaddeus Young and center Spencer Hawes, all of whom have posted double-figure, career-high scoring averages in 2012-13.
Holiday, for example is enjoying a break-out season, averaging career-highs in points (18.2), assists (8.5) and rebounds (4.4). However, he was just 2-for-24 in an 88-83 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday, April 3. It was the most attempts by an NBA player in 25 years who made just two shots.
Recently, the team has shown improvement on offense. In their last 11 games, the 76ers have averaged 95.7 points per game and are 6-5 in that stretch.
With plenty of room under the salary cap to spend in the summer of 2013, the 76ers will be in a position to address their lack of bench production.
The addition of a reliable sixth man–just look at what Jamal Crawford is doing for the Los Angeles Clippers–could vault the 76ers back into the playoff picture as early as next season.