The Philadelphia 76ers are tired.
Philadelphia’s offense has sputtered while its third-quarter struggles remain detrimental to its win total. The 76ers started the season with four straight wins but have since fallen to 8-6. Philadelphia will have played four sets of back-to-back games – largely without Joel Embiid and Paul George – after facing the Milwaukee Bucks at 8 p.m. EST. Given these circumstances, the 76ers deserve some grace.
It all starts with Tyrese Maxey
Tyrese Maxey has surfaced as a low-end Most Valuable Player award candidate – averaging 31.9 points per game, which is third-best league-wide, and 7.8 assists. His career-best output has come with a price, however.
Philadelphia has relied upon the 25-year-old to be its offensive engine with Embiid and George totaling seven games played this season. While Maxey has largely delivered, he leads the NBA in total minutes played with 564. He is also experiencing a career-high in usage rate; a metric that measures the percentage of plays a team runs through a player when they’re on the floor at 30.1%.
These numbers may seem inconsequential, but if Maxey continues to inherit such a burden, he could grow fatigued come the playoffs. The 76ers have carefully managed Embiid and George throughout the season and will likely continue to. Their sporadic absences have left Maxey as Philadelphia’s go-to scorer and teams have started to notice.
It ends with everyone else
The 76ers rank in the bottom four teams across the NBA in points and assists per game through their last five contests with 107.4 and 23 respectively. Philadelphia’s offense frequently faltered whenever defenses elected to swarm Maxey off the dribble as it lacks someone to shoulder the scoring load sans Embiid and George.
VJ Edgecombe has endured the highs and lows that come with being a rookie, Kelly Oubre Jr. will miss the next two weeks after spraining his left knee against the Detroit Pistons and Jared McCain is slowly getting back into the swing of things. Quentin Grimes, who eclipsed 20 points in his last three contests, has been the 76ers’ only other reliable scoring option as of late.
Philadelphia’s lack of offensive firepower has given way to its biggest issue – poor third-quarter performances. It ranks second-worst in the NBA in third-period scoring with 24.5 points, which has been a swing factor in its eight losses. The Toronto Raptors outscored the 76ers 44-26 in the third quarter in Philadelphia’s 121-112 loss on Wednesday.
Third-quarter struggles and injuries have prevented the 76ers from reaching their full potential. While Philadelphia must refocus its approach coming out of the locker room, it’s difficult to do so without two of its best players. Considering the situation, the 76ers must receive some leeway.