Processing the Philadelphia 76ers: A 2-2 start is nothing to worry about
The Philadelphia 76ers are 2-2 after a brutal loss to the Detroit Pistons, but the sky isn’t falling.
Blake Griffin dropped 50 and the Philadelphia 76ers, due to several unfortunate miscues, dropped to 2-2 following an overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons. After entering the season with high hopes, the Sixers have shown some noticeable flaws in the early going. It’s not time to panic, though.
Their opening night loss to the Celtics was expected — a tough road environment against a superior opponent with unfavorable matchups. Boston was supposed to win and took care of business. The Celtics are better than the Sixers, point blank.
Then the Sixers went on to beat Chicago and Orlando. The Bulls are the worst defense in the league, and the Sixers took advantage. Orlando has been a tough out in the early going, even taking down Boston. The Sixers won despite missing Ben Simmons for all but seven minutes.
Detroit is a playoff-caliber team and Griffin put together the best game of his career. The Sixers still had several chances to win. If it weren’t for a missed technical free throw and/or accidental foul from J.J. Redick, overtime might not have happened.
It’s also worth noting that the Sixers were without Simmons entirely in Detroit, on the road, against Griffin on his absolute best night. Only losing by one point in OT ain’t bad.
Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are bona fide stars. J.J. Redick looks like the Sixth Man of the Year favorite. Markelle Fultz has hit a couple threes. Things are looking up for the Sixers, whether their early record reflects it or not.
Here’s some of the best Sixers content from around the web.
- NBA Power Rankings: Will the Lakers ever win again?, Ian Levy/The Step Back
With a week of NBA action under our belts, Levy drops fresh rankings for every team. The Warriors fall to No. 4, which means there is some movement up top. Which teams are on the rise, and which teams are faltering?
- The Dance: Inside the Joel Embiid and J.J. Redick two-man game, Rich Hofmann/The Athletic ($)
The Embiid-Redick duo played a big role in the Sixers’ narrow victory over the Magic last Saturday. Hofmann breaks down the team’s best two-man game, with quotes, film breakdown and more.
- Sixers-Pistons report card: Grading Embiid, Redick, Fultz and more, Mike O’Connor/The Athletic ($)
As always, O’Connor provides some great analysis in his post-game report card. The Pistons loss was tough, but there were some underlying positives, which Mike points out.
- Beyond the box score: Observations from Sixers’ wins over Bulls and Magic, Jackson Frank/Liberty Ballers
Frank gives some in-depth analysis on the Sixers’ two wins, including some shortcomings on both ends. Ranging from off-ball movement to Covington’s up-and-down performance, Frank touches every base.
- J.J. Redick is the NBA’s best mid-range shooter, Matty Breisch/Section 215
We all know about Redick’s three-point marksmanship, but as Breisch points out, the 34-year-old also provides value with his shooting closer to the basket.
- Markelle Fultz and the 76ers have a problem of overlap, Ben Ladner/The Step Back
Ladner dives into the Sixers’ offense with Fultz and Simmons on the court, touching on the obvious spacing issues and what it might take for Fultz to improve his effectiveness as the secondary playmaker.
Recent content from TSS
- 3 takeaways from overtime loss to Pistons, Christopher Kline
- Player grades from loss to Pistons, Jack Duffy
- Robert Covington’s return on investment has been huge, Josh Wilson
- Markelle Fultz steps up in Ben Simmons’ absence, Rusty Gorelick
- J.J. Redick should start and finish games, Christopher Kline
- Sixers suffer from NBA timetable change on draft age rule, Lucas Johnson
- Markelle Fultz looks more comfortable at point guard, Christopher Kline
- Vet presence has been important to Sixers for some time now, Josh Wilson
Next. 3 takeaways from overtime loss to Pistons. dark
We’ll be back with more great content on Saturday before the Hornets game.