Solutions to Sixers’ fourth quarter struggles: Pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop
Joel Embiid is the best player on the team and any successful Sixers offense should feature him. He is not, however, a reliable creator of offense down the stretch. He is too prone to committing turnovers (Hello, Danilo Gallinari). But he can still take the final shot.
The Sixers should run more pick-and-rolls or pick-and-pops featuring Embiid late in games. Embiid is not a great roller, but he’s always willing to work on parts of his game. Nobody thought he would develop into a reliable 3-point shooter but here he is. Embiid catching a pass with a head start from the top of the key sounds frightening for any late-game defender. With some practice, Embiid can become an effective roller.
What would make the pick-and-roll offense so lethal late in games is Embiid’s incredible mid-range game. Running the offense through Embiid late is too likely to draw a double team. But if the Sixers run a pick, they can get Embiid into a one-on-one situation where he can drill a mid-range jumper over a much shorter player. Or he could take the defender one-on-one, before the double team has time to arrive.