The Philadelphia 76ers’ bizarre February, by the numbers

A lot happened for the Philadelphia 76ers in February — injuries to their All-Stars, a winless road record, an undefeated home record, and players forgetting how to shoot… what exactly happened? 

The month of February. A good one if you are in a relationship, not so much if you’re not, and an even better one if you are not a Philadelphia 76ers fan. Despite it being the shortest month of the year, it did feel unusually long this time around; especially with the Sixers’ two All-Stars, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, going down to injury.

Let’s review the ups and downs of the month of February by the numbers.

38.1 percent from the field on road games

They have been struggling on the road for the whole year, but nothing compares to this month. They just seem to forget how to play basketball and it is the first month they have failed to win a game on the road.

The Sixers shoot an awful 38.1 percent from the field and 34 percent from three away from the Wells Fargo Center. Here’s an interesting stat in the month of February:

• Sixers shooting the three at home: 39.5% on 27 attempts per game
• Sixers shooting the three on road: 33.4% on 38.4 attempts per game

They shoot 11 MORE threes on the road, and shoot six percent worse as well. Do they just settle more?

• Sixers shooting open to wide open shots at home:  42.9% on 24 shots per game
• Sixers shooting open to wide open shots on road: 35.1% on 35 shots per game

Settling certainly isn’t the problem, they seem to get a lot more open looks on the road. There are two reasons for this: They played the Bucks (twice) and the Heat on the road who are among the top three teams in threes allowed, per Cleaning the Glass.

It is important the Sixers solve their shooting struggles on the road, and especially in this case where the Sixers are most likely going to be playing the Heat in the first round and Bucks in the second — if they win of course. Their three-point shooting will make all the difference, and they need to take advantage of all the open looks they get against them or anyone else they’ll face.

Embiid coming back to form and Simmons always playing more aggressive at home and less so on the road, also helps the case why they have so few three-point shots at home compared to the road.

Simmons attempted 16.3 field goals per game in three home games and only 7.3  field goals per game in four road games last month. Thats nine less shots in the paint from Ben and potentially nine more from three for anyone else. Aggressive Ben is what works at home, and is what the Sixers need on the road too. There is also someone else who’s been a lot more aggressive recently, and not just basketball wise.