Sixers: 3 biggest issues ahead of NBA playoffs
Sixers’ biggest issues ahead of playoffs: Defense
One could credibly argue that Philadelphia has two of the NBA’s 10 best defenders on its roster. Joel Embiid and Matisse Thybulle can both single-handedly change the chemistry of a game with their effort on the defensive end. It is, therefore, slightly strange to have such misgivings about the Sixers’ defense.
The Sixers do not have an elite defense, plain and simple. Generally speaking, it takes both a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense to win the championship, and the Sixers are lagging behind defensively. Some of that is chemistry and continuity, but some of that is plain and simple roster construction.
Embiid is an absolute monster of a rim protector and defensive anchor, but he can only do so much. Teams with stretch fives can take Embiid out of the paint and work him in space, while pull-up happy pick-and-roll guards have torched the Sixers perennially in big moments with Embiid playing drop coverage.
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Thybulle, on the other hand, is the Sixers’ only real answer to the elite perimeter creators of the world, and he’s going to get played off the court offensively on a regular basis. You can point to his recent 3-point surge as a sign of growth, but frankly, that feels naive. It’s nothing more than a hot streak, and we will most certainly be witness to an equally disheartening cold spell in the coming weeks.
Once you move past Embiid and Thybulle, the Sixers are an absolute mess defensively. James Harden has put in considerable effort on that side of the ball, but he’s still exploitable. So is Tyrese Maxey, a smaller guard whose effort is too often neutralized by his lack of discipline. Tobias Harris has his moments defensively, and the effort level is there, but he’s just not quick enough to play consistently high level defense.
The bench is a whole different ball game. Philadelphia will get torched whenever Deandre Jordan plays. If the Sixers truly plan on using Jordan for 8-10 minutes each night in the playoffs, then you can count on the Sixers being thoroughly outplayed for 8-10 minutes each night. Niang, Green, Milton, Korkmaz — everyone else is an exploitable defender who is generally slower than you would like at their position. The Sixers just don’t have enough athleticism around Embiid and Thybulle to field a good defense unless Paul Reed and Charles Bassey emerge from the shadows in the next four weeks.