Philadelphia 76ers: 3 must-win games in the month of February

The Philadelphia 76ers didn’t finish the month of January very strong, but they can always use a new month to start fresh.

The Philadelphia 76ers were 7-2 at one point in the month of January, before dropping three games in a row. They still finished 7-5, much better than their record in December (5-10), but there are still some growing pains this young squad is going through.

They’re not in terrible shape as the month of February gets underway. The Sixers are currently 24-24, good for eighth in the NBA Playoff picture. While they rank 20th in opponents points per game (106.9), they rank seventh in defensive rating (106.5).

The team has had 3-point shooting struggles to address, but they could solve that at this year’s NBA Trade Deadline. For now, they’re adjusting with the players they have on the roster.

Rookie Ben Simmons and big man Joel Embiid have led the way for this team with their play. Simmons was recently awarded January Rookie of the Month Award in the East for his production. He averaged 17.1 points, 6.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game in January.

Embiid is averaging a team-high 23.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 blocks per game this season. He’s continuing to find optimal health this year, appearing in 38 of 48 games on the season.

Now’s the time the Philadelphia 76ers made a bigger push to the NBA Playoffs. Here we take a look at three must-win scenarios for them in the month of February.