The Philadelphia 76ers went into the all-star break with a 34-21 record and 27 games left on the schedule.
Coach Brett Brown will try to coach enough wins from his talented, but underachieving team to climb out of the fifth seed, where it sits now.
The Sixers are a frustrating team to figure out. They are 25-2 at home, the best record in the NBA. On the road, it’s a different team completely. The Sixers are 9-19 on the road, by percentage points the worst road record of teams listed in the eight playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Sixers will not get out of the first round if they don’t start to produce wins on the road immediately.
The bench has not performed well on the road, for sure, but the glaring problem that the Sixers suffer from overall is the lack of chemistry between all-stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. That lack of symmetry sticks out more because this team struggles so much when it travels.
There was a sign, though, over the final three games before the break, that this situation is going to get better down the stretch.
Philadelphia went on a three-game winning streak, all at home, before the break, a stretch that saw the two stars truly complement each other.
Brown talked about the game they put together against the Los Angeles Clippers, widely regarded as a contender to come out of the Western Conference.
The Sixers knocked off the Kawhi Leonard-led Clippers 110-103 at the Wells Fargo Center. Simmons registered a triple-double, scoring 26 points, pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists.
Embiid grabbed nine rebounds, blocked a shot and scored 26 points in just 28 minutes.
The Sixers held the Clippers’ other star, Paul George, to just 11 points on 3-for-15 shooting from the floor.
Brown made a bold statement after the game about what he saw from his two superstars that he hasn’t seen in three seasons. Still Brown insisted that the level of play they showed has always been there.
“It didn’t surprise me,” Brown said. “I think that when we add up Ben Simmons and Joel’s stat line … add up the points, add up the rebounds, add up the assists. It’s arguably the best game that those two have paired up with since I have been the coach here. I think that Joel and Ben, we put them in a lot of deep pick and rolls, we put them in a lot of high-low action … we’re talking about Joel, but the partnership with Ben and Joel needs to be acknowledged.”
Simmons said he agreed with his coach.
“I think the chemistry was good,” the 23-year-old said after the game. “With me finding him. With him being a force down low and getting open, it just went well tonight. I think we did a good job of getting mismatches and finding them.”
Simmons may see more time at the two or three spot, especially at the end of games when teams foul the ball handler. For his career, Simmons shoots just 59.5 percent from the free throw line. The 6-foot-10 point guard says he has no problem with how Brown plays him.
“I just love being a player,” said Simmons, who has hit 56.1 percent of his shots from the floor over his three-year career. “I don’t put myself at any one position because I’m so versatile and can guard any player at any position, one through five. I’m just happy to be out there and playing.”
Embiid said he was glad to see the improvements by the whole team on the court.
“It meant a lot,” the fourth-year center said. “It feels good. Everybody played well, we played together. The ball moved. We needed it. The second half of the season, I think, is going to be extremely fun.”
Embiid has had some battles with fans recently who are not happy with his efforts this year.
For various reasons, he has played in just 39 of the Sixers’ 55 games this season. The most games Embiid has played in one year is 64 (2018-19). The 25-year-old says he wants only love from Sixers fans and wants to deliver a title.
“It’s all love,” Embiid said. “I’ve been here for a long time now. We have a special relationship. I’m happy to be here. I can’t wait for the future, especially this year, because I think we can accomplish something great.”
Embiid was asked if he thinks Sixers fans still have his back.
“For sure, for sure,” he said. “I understand where they’re coming from. But I do know they got my back. I’m still here. This is still my city. We’re going to keep pushing and try and bring that championship.”
The Sixers look like they should win 50 or more games this season. That would mark three 50-win seasons in a row. This franchise has not had back-to-back-to-back 50-win seasons since the Julius Erving era. The Doctor led the 76ers to nine 50-win seasons over 10 years (1976-77 to 1985-86), seven in a row and four trips to the NBA finals, winning the championship in 1983.
This group has a long way to go to walk with those Sixers teams, but the talent is there.
Brown says the reality of coaching this lineup is that it is a unique lineup. It has taken a long time to find a way for this group to come together. He says he thinks that the time is almost here.
“I say this in an excited way, it’s not a traditional-type team, it isn’t,” Brown said. “If it’s taken us this long to try to continue to figure some things out and we arrive at a place that we’re all happy with, that we’re prepared for the playoffs, it’s worth it. We poked ourselves in the eye about two months ago, seems forever ago, and now I think we’re second or third in the NBA in scoring, so it served us well. We’re learning. We’re moving along and we’re learning.” ••
Follow Al Thompson on Twitter @thompsoniii
