Pros and Cons: Sixers vs. Mavericks
On James Harden trade rumors, the 44-minute delay and more.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
Tonight, the Sixers began a two-game road trip with a meeting with the Dallas Mavericks. And we’ll get to that game soon -- but with one trade deadline rumor gaining a whole lot of steam today, let’s start there.
Pro: Brooklyn Nets open to dealing James Harden to Sixers
Noise has been circulating for the last month or so about the Sixers’ interest in seeking out a Harden trade, even if it means holding onto Ben Simmons beyond the deadline. Well, they might not have to wait that long.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported today that not only are the Sixers interested in a deal surrounding Harden and Simmons, but the Nets are open to having discussions as well.
Harden has not been quite as dominant this season as he has been in years past. But my stance remains the same as it was when the Houston Rockets were shopping Harden last season: do whatever it takes, sans moving Joel Embiid, in order to get Harden. Think about it this way: in a year where everyone has talked about Harden not being the same player, he is averaging 22 points, 10 assists and 8.5 rebounds a game on above-average efficiency.
Will Harden return to being a perennial MVP contender? I’m not sure. But he is a surefire All-Star, an easy All-NBA candidate, and far and away good enough to command a championship team’s offense as its primary ball-handler -- especially considering the prospects of pairing him with Embiid. The two would make a brilliant pairing.
Over the next few days, we should find out if this is really going to happen or not. But it certainly feels like things are trending that way -- which is the best news the Sixers could have possibly asked for this week.
Con: The worst delay in the history of the universe
As if a 10:00 PM local time start wasn’t bad enough… About halfway through the first quarter, Luka Doncic started frantically gesturing towards the officials. He wasn’t asking for a foul call, and he wasn’t complaining. He was showing the referees that the rim the Mavericks had been shooting into was tilted.
And so began a delay that took up 44 minutes of our time.
In a game that was flexed onto national television, we were witnesses to absolutely no basketball for nearly a full hour. It took until 11:30 PM EST -- exactly 90 minutes past the game’s listed start time -- for the Sixers and Mavericks to reach the end of the first quarter.
I’m sleeping in tomorrow. The fact that I am typing these words at this obscene hour is just awful. No more late night games, please!
Con: Sixers’ struggles against zone defense continue
If you’ve watched the Sixers closely over the last few weeks, you’ve probably noticed that they are seeing zone defenses a lot more of late. And you’ve probably also noticed that they seem completely clueless when it comes to actually scoring against those zones.
Dallas went to zone defense in the third quarter, and the result was a period in which the Sixers scored just 15 points. It was the biggest reason that Dallas went on a massive run that led to them stealing a win from the Sixers, who had looked like the better team for most of the game.
Time and time again, this team looks completely flummoxed and incompetent as soon as their opponent goes to the zone. The bottom line is that it reflects poorly on everybody -- especially the coaching staff -- that such a simple tweak to a defensive gameplan can give these Sixers so much trouble.
Struggling against zone defense isn’t a fatal flaw. But as we just saw, it is enough to turn a win into a loss. And that itself is significant. The Sixers lost a game they should have won tonight — and their continued ineptitude in these spots should be a major red flag.