In direct contrast to their frontcourt, the backcourt of the Philadelphia 76ers remained their Achilles heel.
The success of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ backcourt this season was almost doomed from the start.
No.1 overall pick Ben Simmons suffered a foot injury in the preseason and never returned to the court, eventually being ruled out for the season. Seen as the Sixers’ floor general for the next decade, this was a real body blow for head coach Brett Brown and the team.
Another, albeit less-heralded absence, was the loss of guard Jerryd Bayless.
Bayless was signed by the Sixers last offseason to a three-year, $27 million deal. Unfortunately for Bayless and the Sixers, he played in just three games before succumbing to season-ending wrist surgery.
So although the Sixers’ backcourt was short on talent, the durability of the rest of its contingent was quite notable. Point guard T.J. McConnell equalled forward Dario Saric with the most games played with 81.
Following these two, the next four players on the list for games played were all members of the backcourt.
The problem here though is that none of the five backcourt players ranked in the top six for minutes played were able reach double figures in points per game.
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And although McConnell returned the best field goal percentage of this quintet, his three-point accuracy was a miserable 20 percent.
Here we take a look at how the key members of the Sixers’ backcourt rotation performed this season, and the implications moving forward.