The Philadelphia 76ers need their bench guys to step up once the playoffs start.
At 39-30, the Philadelphia 76ers are a virtual lock for the playoffs. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons continue to spearhead one of the most productive starting units in the NBA, while the Sixers’ defense has been borderline elite since Chritmas.
That said, there are still some notable issues that could hold the Sixers back in postseason play. Perhaps the biggest of those issues is bench production.
Even with upgrades in the form of Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli, the Sixers’ bench is a weak point in their rotation. When you look at some of the other teams around Philly in the standings — Indiana, Washington, Cleveland — the Sixers’ second unit doesn’t stand up favorably.
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That’s what makes Belinelli and T.J. McConnell so important entering the season’s final stretch. They’re easily the most important non-starters on the team, and their production could mean the difference between a competitive first-round series and a quick departure.
Belinelli’s shot-making
Shot-making has been a struggle for the Sixers’ bench all season, which is why Belinelli was such a big get on the buyout market. His defense is an obvious weakness, but he has the ability to curl around screens and knock down a wide array of shots that nobody else in the second unit can hit.
That, combined with his nifty cutting, has been an overwhelming positive for the Sixers — when he’s hitting shots.
Marco has been a little inconsistent, but we’ve seen how good the team looks when his shots are falling. His 21-point outing sparked the Sixers’ comeback against Charlotte Monday night, further highlighting his impact on a good night.
To put it simpy: the Sixers need Belinelli to come off the bench and hit shots, because they don’t have anybody else capable of filling that role when he’s off.
McConnell’s playmaking
As for McConnell, he hasn’t performed up to par in recent weeks. Brown has flipped from T.J. to Belinelli as the first man off the bench, while T.J.’s production — offensively at least — seems to be slipping.
That’s something he’ll need to turn around in the postseason. Assuming Markelle Fultz doesn’t return this year, the Sixers are painfully short on playmaking. Outside of Simmons and Embiid, McConnell is the only player on the roster capable of breaking down the defense and generating open looks, both for himself and teammates.
Part of his struggles tie back to his shot. He hasn’t been probing the defense and carving out mid-range shots as consistently as he was earlier in the season. That’s one of his better skills, and defending him becomes much harder when he gets into the paint and poses a legitimate scoring threat.
McConnell has never been a big scorer, but coupling his high-I.Q. passing with semi-reliable scoring is a must, especially when Simmons is off the court.
When Simmons is on the court, T.J. has to be willing to shoot open threes. He has been more hesitant with his long-range shooting lately, which hurts the Sixers’ spacing a great deal. His slow release limits his opportunities from deep, but he needs to be more confident when those opportunities arise.
McConnell regaining form and Belinelli hitting shots could put the Sixers’ bench on the same level as some of their competition. It isn’t a stretch to say the Sixers’ starting unit can compete with any starting group in the East.
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They just need their core bench guys to step up when the stars take a seat.