Philadelphia 76ers: Solutions to defending stretch-fives

The Philadelphia 76ers‘ first of a two game series against the Milwaukee Bucks was a loss on the heels of a back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns. While the losing effort can be attributed to the Sixers being tried, there was one major issue that arose in that game that could cause problems for Philly in the playoffs.

The Bucks have two stretch-fives in Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis who scorched the 76ers in that game. They combined for 39 points on 9-12 shooting from the 3-point line. It’s hard to win any game against Milwaukee when two role players at the center position go off like that.

The two centers that the Sixers have on their roster are Joel Embiid and Dwight Howard who are superior interior defenders, but both, and especially Howard, aren’t great defend defending stretch-bigs. Neither are great at closing out bigs who can stretch the floor and it could compromise the team’s pretty stellar defense for the postseason.

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There are four teams in the Eastern Conference that could present that problem for the 76ers in the playoffs, who are the Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, and maybe Chicago Bulls if they make it in. However, there’s a solution to eliminating that as a weakness in the postseason.

How the Philadelphia 76ers should guard stretch-fives moving forward.

To be quite frank, the Sixers actually showed how they plan to combat this issue halfway during that Bucks loss. They switched Embiid on superstar power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who isn’t a threat shooting the ball from the 3-point line.

This works for most teams that the Sixers could see postseason as Christopher Kline, Jonathan Geib, Uriah Young, and I talked about on The Sixer Sense Podcast. Having Embiid guarding the none shooter on the opposing team makes sense, while Embiid isn’t great at closing out shooters, he is excellent at guarding ball handlers on the perimeter, even some guards.

Each one of the teams listed above has a non-shooter in their starting lineup. The Bulls have either Thaddeus Young or Daniel Theis and while both can hit the occasional 3-pointer but neither is a consistent threat. The Pacers have Domantas Sabonis who falls under the same category as Young and Theis.

Having Embiid defend those players could work out for Philly and have Tobias Harris defend the opposing stretch-big and make those big beat them at way. Only Nikola Vucevic of the Bulls is the only player out of the opposing stretch-fives in the East who can take over a game from the post and punish Harris. However, in that case, Philly would probably be better served by switching Embiid back on him and making him beat them with his outside shot.

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This could work for Howard in some cases, but if that player has a solid driving or mid-range game, the Sixers may have to bench Howard and play either Ben Simmons, Mike Scott, or Paul Reed at the small-ball center position.

Howard has struggled against stretch-bigs and even when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers last postseason it was apparent. He was essentially benched in the Lakers playoff matchup against the Houston Rockets who had P.J. Tucker, who is on the Bucks now, as their center.

There will be times this postseason when head coach Doc Rivers will have to bench Howard against teams who have stretch fives. Teams like the Nets who could play Blake Griffin at the center could make it hard to play the former Defensive Player of the Year. The Bucks have already made it clear they can torch Howard with their stretch bigs and the Bulls have Lauri Markkanen could keep Embiid on the bench with his 3-point line.

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Stretch-fives could present problems for the Philadelphia 76ers. However, if Embiid’s guarding the opposing team’s non-shooter and Howard stays on the bench, then the 76ers can neutralize the danger that a stretch-five could give them.