Health will play a big role in determining the Philadelphia 76ers’ results when the NBA season resumes in Orlando. Here’s how it will affect the team.
Before the NBA season was suspended on March 11th, Ben Simmons had missed the Philadelphia 76ers‘ last eight games. Simmons was dealing with a back injury and the team went 4-4 over that stretch with second-year pro Shake Milton as the starter. Simmons’ health would become a storyline to track over the last few months.
Two weeks ago, we saw Simmons throwing down a dunk in an Instagram video where he appeared to have his athleticism back. But around the same time this happened, head coach, Brett Brown told the media, “I don’t expect” Simmons to be 100% healthy when the season resumes in Orlando.
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It’s safe to say this made Sixers fans confused and slightly concerned. And for good reasons too. All 22 teams will have to deal with COVID-19 testing as it is, which would send any player who tests positive home. Therefore the last thing any NBA team needs is to have a player missing time due to injury. Thankfully for fans, Brown would update the media this week to say that Simmons is indeed 100 percent recovered.
But for the duo of Joel Embiid and Simmons, the pressure to succeed is hitting hard now. That’s why it will be important for everyone to stay healthy, as that could determine how far they go.
In the case of the 76ers, their team dynamic is different than that of most of their competition. Whereas most teams have emphasized the 3-point shot, the Sixers’ strength is playing through Embiid and playing team-oriented ball. In terms of assists per game, they rank sixth in the NBA at 25.9.
Simmons is arguably the biggest reason for that and the fact that they have the sixth-best assist to turnover ratio. If Simmons hadn’t made a full recovery and wasn’t as effective as a facilitator, the offense could stall out. Especially if that affected getting buckets in transition which the sixers rely on for 19.8 points a night.
And when the offense stalls out, it has to rely on half-court sets more, where the shooting woes of the team would be brought to the forefront. Three-point shooting is not the favored method of offense in Philly, as evident by shooting the eighth least attempts during the season. In addition, they’re in the bottom half of the NBA in true shooting percentage.
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But keeping the offense running isn’t the only reason health could determine the 76ers season results.
The biggest strength of the team is its stout defense. The individual defensive ability of Simmons, Embiid, Josh Richardson, Matisse Thybulle, and others make them a tough team to play. As a team, they’re quick to the ball on the perimeter and lengthy enough to grab lots of steals. They’re sixth in opponents points per game, and defensive efficiency.
During the course of the season, we saw that stout defense on display multiple times. None more notable than against the white-hot Miami Heat in late November. the Philadelphia 76ers only gave up 86 points and held the best three-point shooting team in the league to 25 percent shooting. Furthermore, The Heat looked out of sorts the whole game and only dished out 12 assists, a far cry from their season average of 26.
Ultimately, an injury to one player would make everyone else have to step up defensively. And as we just discussed, making sure the offense stays clicking will be just as important. That could be a lot to ask of a team that’s led by two players under 25.
Finally, the fact that the eastern conference is deeper than in the past is why health could determine their results. For example, the Milwaukee Bucks and Celtics have better odds than the Sixers. And teams like the Heat and Indiana Pacers could also beat the Sixers a seven games series.
For Philadelphia 76ers fans, making sure everyone comes into Orlando healthy and stays healthy will be as important of an issue as to any other on-the-court issue.