Philadelphia 76ers: J.J. Redick continues to defy age

Currently in his 12th season, sharpshooter J.J. Redick shows no signs of slowing down as the Philadelphia 76ers march toward the postseason.

The Philadelphia 76ers again signaled their intentions entering the postseason with their latest convincing victory, a 118 -101 win over the perpetually underperforming New York Knicks.

This win represented the 44th of the year for the Sixers, their highest return since the 2002-03 season, and an amazing accomplishment considering they had won a combined 75 games over the past four seasons. Currently placed fourth in the Eastern Conference, many of the headlines (justifiably so) have centered around the dynamic duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

However, the play of veteran marksman J.J. Redick has been both an underestimated and invaluable part of this resurgence within the franchise.

More than a few eyebrows were raised this past summer when the Sixers signed Redick to a one-year, $23 million pact. While Redick is a proven veteran with an abundance of experience in the postseason, such a hefty price tag was always going to attract plenty of external noise. Despite this, Redick has responded in the best manner possible.

Now 33, Redick is enjoying a career season in his new surroundings, posting 16.5 points and 3.0 assists in 30.3 minutes per game. In his customary manner, Redick has proved lethal from the field, hitting at a 40.9 percent clip from 3-point range on 6.6 attempts per game.

Despite the challenges that an 82-game season can have on a veteran’s body, Redick has improved his play as the season has progressed.

In 15 games in March, Redick has averaged 16.3 points in 26.3 minutes per game while shooting at a 45.7 percent clip from long range. However on a per-36 minute basis, this equates to 22.4 points, which eclipses any single season per-36 minute average over the course of his career.

In a recent sit-down with Scott Cacciola of The New York Times, Redick explained how the importance of his daily routine and sticking to this regime was vital in maintaining his high-level of play in his 12th season in the league:

"“As you progress as a basketball player, the world around you becomes more and more chaotic. There’s more talent, there are more distractions — and these are all factors that create a lack of control. By having a routine, by having habits that I can fall back on, it’s my way of enacting control. It’s the only thing I can control.”"

While Simmons is the primary floor general of the Sixers, as evidenced by ranking fifth in the league with 8.0 assists per game, Redick’s partnership with Embiid has been a real highlight of the season. In fact, Embiid is tied with Simmons on 63 assists as the Sixers to have assisted Redick most frequently over his 63 games this season.

With Embiid’s ability to step out on the perimeter, and Redick’s constant movement around screens, this partnership is only going to become more important as the Sixers head into the business end of the season.

With the recent acquisitions of Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova, the Sixers have been able to restrict Redick’s minutes recently, as evidenced by his 26.3 minutes per game average for the month of March.

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Coming off a nightmare playoff series last year in his final season with the Los Angeles Clippers (9.1 points per game on 34.6 percent shooting from downtown in seven games,) the Sixers and Redick will be hoping that this extra rest pays dividends as this emerging team aims to make some serious noise in its first postseason since 2012.