Philadelphia 76ers: Once again, defense the key to recent resurgence

Currently holding a four-game winning streak, defense has been the key to the recent resurgence of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Following a 100-92 loss at the hands of the Indiana Pacers, the Philadelphia 76ers found themselves with a 25-25 record after their fourth loss in five games. After the performance, Sixers’ head coach Brett Brown was putting a positive spin on things despite the team falling short:

"“I leave feeling like our defense was good, I think that both nights (second night of a back-to-back) the defense was pretty good, we just struggled in the second half, especially scoring.”"

After posting a defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 102.7 the previous night against the Miami Heat, the Sixers backed this up against the Pacers with a rating of 102.0.

So with their season somewhat at a crossroads, and Brown’s words ringing in their ears, the Sixers simply took their defense up a notch over the past four games, with their current winning streak taking their home win streak to 10 games.

During this most recent stretch, the Sixers have led the league in defensive rating at 91.4, significantly below their season average of 102.6. In fact, over their past three games, the Sixers have posted an outrageous rating of 87.0. To put this in perspective, the Boston Celtics currently lead the league over the course of the season with a rating of 100.5.

As usual, it was center Joel Embiid leading the way on the defensive, posting a team-best defensive rating of 87.3 over this stretch. Furthermore, the Sixers were overall 9.9 points per 100 possessions better off defensively when Embiid was on the floor over the past four games.

To cap this off, Embiid was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week following the Sixers’ win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Over a three-game stretch, Embiid averaged 26.7 points, 15.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.

An under-the-radar contributor during this recent span has been backup point guard T.J. McConnell. While he certainly doesn’t attract the headlines of the likes of Embiid and Ben Simmons, the spark McConnell has provided off the bench has been critical all season as the Sixers attempt to make the postseason for the first time since 2012.

More from Philadelphia 76ers

• That escalated quickly: How the Harden-Morey situation intensified
• 3 NBA superstars with legacies on the line heading into 2023–24
• Ranking the 4 riskiest boom-or-bust NBA teams in 2023–24
• NBA Rumors: Stalled trade talks may lead to Blazers, 76ers keeping stars
• NBA Trades: This Blazers, Heat, 76ers, and Clippers swap would alter NBA

Over the current four-game winning streak, McConnell has averaged 9.0 points, 7.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 27.7 in minutes per game. Furthermore, his 2.3 steals per game has contributed to the Sixers leading the league in steals over this stretch, nabbing 11.0 per game as a team.

McConnell capped this current winning streak with his first career triple-double, lodging 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, while also matching his career-high with six steals against the New York Knicks.

Over the course of this season, only DeMarcus Cousins, James Harden and Victor Oladipo have also registered at least six steals on two occasions. Furthermore, McConnell recorded a remarkable 10 deflections on the night — an amazing feat for a 6’2″ point guard with just a 6’0″ wingspan at his disposal.

As is his custom, Embiid took no time to mark the occasion on social media:

However, this isn’t the first time this season the Sixers have turned things around.

Earlier in the season, they lost nine out of 10 games leading up their Christmas Day showdown at Madison Square Garden, all the while registering a defensive rating of 105.7 during this time.

However, the team responded in winning 10 of its next 13 games, in which time they recorded a defensive rating of 98.5. Therefore, it goes without saying that the Sixers have been significantly more successful this season when producing on the defensive end of the floor.

Next: 2017-18 Week 18 NBA Power Rankings

Following their most recent win over the Knicks, the 76ers have just one game at home against the Miami Heat before setting off on their midseason All-Star break. Considering the team had won just 75 games over the previous four seasons combined, cracking the 30-win mark by the All-Star break would be some accomplishment for all involved in the franchise.