Philadelphia 76ers: The bench unit has transformed the team

The recent play of their bench unit has significantly raised the expectations of the Philadelphia 76ers as they get closer to the postseason.

As the hottest team in the league, the Philadelphia 76ers‘ current 13-game winning streak is naturally garnering plenty of headlines. With the supreme talents of All-Star Joel Embiid, and Rookie of the Year favorite Ben Simmons on display, the Sixers have become somewhat of a Cinderella story taking their considerable struggles in recent seasons into account.

In addition to Embiid and Simmons, the remainder of the starting unit in J.J. Redick, Robert Covington and Dario Saric have recorded an incredible net rating of _21.4 when on the floor together – head and shoulders above any other five-man unit that has played at least 500 minutes together.

Up until Embiid went down with a facial fracture, this core five posted the insane net rating of +51.1 over the first eight games of their 13-game streak.

However, unlike earlier in the season when things tended to go awry when the starters left the court, the Sixers’ new-look bench unit has proved to be a decisive factor in their rise up the standings.

Before the streak

In the weeks leading up to the current winning streak, the Sixers made some significant changes to their second unit. Just prior to the All-Star break, Marco Belinelli was signed after being waived by the lowly Atlanta Hawks. Then just a fortnight later, the team signed forward Ersan Ilyasova, also recently waived by the Hawks. Furthermore, the Sixers also waived recently acquired veteran Trevor Booker in order to make room in the rotation.

So with a new bench unit taking some time to acclimate, the results were not immediately forthcoming. Therefore, taking these moves into account, and the bench units the Sixers had used through the early party of the season, here’s an overlook at the numbers of the second unit prior to the streak, and how they appear now.

Sixers bench production – 66 games up until March 13

• Offensive rating: 101.1 (29th)
• Points per game: 27.4 (26th)
• 3-point percentage: 32.2 percent (28th)
• 3-point attempts: 7.5 (28th)

Sixers bench production – current 13-game winning streak

• Offensive rating: 107.6 (9th)
• Points per game: 44.0 (6th)
• 3-point percentage: 34.6 percent (16th)
• 3-point attempts: 11.8 (12th)

In addition to Booker, other key rotation pieces who have virtually disappeared from the rotation of the winning streak are guard Jerryd Bayless and swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.

The play in particular of Belinelli and Ilyasova recently has been exceptional.

Here are their numbers over the past 13 games:

• Belinelli: 15.4 PPG, 56.2 FG%, 44.3 3P%, 26.9 MPG, +100
• Ilyasova: 11.2 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 25.5 MPG, +58

Recently, head coach Brett Brown marvelled at Belinelli contributions thus far with the team:

"“He’s that classic weapon that you have coming off a bench that can erupt just for quick buckets. He’s one of these rare players that I think shoots better off balance….Gosh, he hits tough shots – on the fly, on a dime, fading away, falling back….He really all-in-all has been a huge pickup for us.”"

Additionally, the Sixers have recently welcomed back the presence of No. 1 overall pick, Markelle Fultz. Sidelined since Oct. 23 due to a shoulder scapula issue, Fultz has returned to the court for the past seven games, impressing mightily in the process.

Over seven games, Fultz has averaged 7.3 points and 4.3 assists in 16.0 minutes per game. In addition to shooting at a 44.0 percent clip from the field, he has returned an exceptional 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.

With his ability to be an additional ball-handler while being able to create his own shot off the dribble, Fultz has thus far provided the Sixers with a genuine point of difference coming off the bench, which will be even more important in the playoffs.

Whereas the Sixers were seemingly trying to keep their heads above water sufficiently enough to make the postseason for the first time since 2012, this recent surge has clearly raised the expectations both internally and externally.

With the No. 3 seed locked up if they can wrap up their final two games against the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks, having home-court advantage in the first round is going to an incredible experience for a franchise that has been to hell and back in recent seasons.

Next: 2017-18 Week 25 NBA Power Rankings

As we have seen over this current winning streak, the play of their bench unit has given the Sixers every reason to believe they can be legitimate contenders come the postseason.