Philadelphia 76ers: Best single game team performances of the Brett Brown era
By Simon Smith
123.3 Offensive Rating vs. Denver Nuggets, Dec. 30, 2016
Analytics have become a key component of measuring modern-day performance. Offensive rating measures a team’s points scored per 100 possessions, and is a terrific indicator as to the efficiency of a team’s offensive output.
The most productive offensive rating of Brown’s reign came this season during a road victory over the Denver Nuggets. One big factor during their 124-122 victory was converting on 32 of 40 free-throw attempts, both season highs. In fact, when the Sixers as a team attempted at least 30 free throws in a game, they compiled an 8-3 record.
Joel Embiid was monstrous this game, getting to the line 14 times on his way to 23 points in just 29 minutes. For the season, the Sixers ranked 25th with 22.0 attempts per game. Another huge factor for the terrific offensive rating was hitting on 16-of-33 from three-point range.
The highlights from this game can be seen here:
The top offensive rating performances over the past four seasons are as follows:
- 123.3 vs. Denver Nuggets, Dec. 30, 2016
- 121.4 vs. Los Angeles Clippers, Jan. 24, 2017
- 121.3 vs. Detroit Pistons, Mar. 29, 2014
- 120.3 vs. Sacramento Kings, Jan. 30, 2017
- 119.4 vs. Dallas Mavericks, Mar. 17, 2017
The obvious thing that stands out here is that four of the top performances came this season. In keeping with Brown’s mantra of “pace and space,” these ratings should increase each season as the talent level at Brown’s disposal improvers.
By way of comparison, the Golden State Warriors led the league with an offensive rating of 113.2, with a single game best of 142.5. This gives the Sixers an idea of the benchmark they will be chasing moving forward.