Philadelphia 76ers: Questions remain ahead of opening night

Just days out from their opening night matchup with the Boston Celtics, key questions still remain at the forefront for the Philadelphia 76ers.

After a significant breakthrough season, fans of the Philadelphia 76ers are naturally eagerly anticipating the commencement of the 2018-19 season. Set to face the Boston Celtics on opening night, the team that knocked them out last season’s playoffs, the Sixers concluded their preseason schedule with a 3-1. While the future for the team is bright, some lingering concerns again came to the surface over the past couple of weeks.

Last season, the Sixers ranked dead last in the league with 16.5 turnovers per game. Unfortunately, this has again shown no signs of abating, particularly during their recent trip to China. In four preseason games, the Sixers averaged 20.5 turnovers per game, committing 22 and 23 in each of the contests against the Dallas Mavericks while abroad.

Again, it was the leading duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons that were the biggest culprits in this department. Here’s a look at their turnover numbers from last season and from the past four preseason games:

Embiid:

17-18 regular season: 3.7 per game

18-19 preseason: 4.0 per game (5.9 per 36 minutes)

Simmons:

17-18 regular season: 3.4 per game

18-19 preseason: 4.5 per game (6.1 per 36 minutes)

Recently, newly installed assistant coach Monty Williams gave his perspective on the Sixers’ turnover plague:

"“You look at turnovers from a whole league perspective, Golden State won the title last year and they averaged 15.4 turnovers, [26th] in the league. So being in the top five in the turnovers category does not guarantee you a championship. There are a couple of teams, if you study those turnovers, they’ve been in the top five for the past four years and don’t win. I think there’s a balance. The players today have more creativity than when I played. To allow that creativity to grow, there’s a give and take. Now, what’s the right balance? I’m not quite sure about that. But I do know that being in the top five or even the top 10 in turnovers does not guarantee you success.”"

While Williams’ sentiments certainly make sense, there were some notable numbers from last season as it relates to the Sixers and turnovers:

Sixers 17-18 season:

• 19 or more turnovers: 8-15 record
• 15 or fewer turnovers: 30-9 record

This all being said, the fact remains that Embiid is still just 24 and Simmons 22, and possess a combined 175 career regular season games between the two of them. Therefore, despite the tremendous success of the Sixers last season, there’s still likely to be some growing pains moving forward.

The problem is that when the stakes get the highest, as the Sixers will be hoping happens this season, their turnover issues only get further amplified, such as the following tweet from Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer during last season’s Celtics playoff series:

However, Simmons did give a terrific impression of what could be possible this upcoming season with the following masterpiece from last season:

Given the Sixers led the league in passes last season, and that this duo led the team in touches per game, turnovers are naturally bound to occur.

However, as coach Williams alluded to, striking the balance is vital, and could ultimately determine the Sixers fortunes in 2018-19.