Three Normal Things: Sixers Vs. Mavericks
Three Normal Things
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He has been legally banned from covering the team in person, and when that ban was set to be lifted, Covid-19 struck. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
Welcome to the very first edition of Three Normal Things, a new thing we’re trying out here at The Ricky. This is going to be pretty simple: games shall happen, and I shall write about three observations or takeaways I come away with. Let’s begin!
Observation #1: Joel Embiid’s mid-range shooting regression might be coming
After a torrid start to the season on jumpers, Embiid’s shooting numbers are starting to regress to the mean. Joel once again struggled to knock down open jumpers early on. Embiid was being defended by our old flat-footed friend Boban Marjanovic, so the approach to step out and try to score in space was sensical. But as we saw in both games in Tampa against the Raptors, he’s had difficulty knocking down some of the shots that earlier this season were seemingly automatic.
According to Basketball Reference, Embiid entered tonight’s game shooting 49.1 percent on shots from 10-16 feet, a stunning 60.8 percent from 16 feet to the three-point line, and 40.5 percent on three-point tries. I’m not too worried yet, but if Embiid’s jump-shooting numbers continue to slip, it could impact him in significant fashion.
Joel’s ability to knock down jumpers has helped facilitate his league-best efforts from the free throw line (11.7 attempts per game entering tonight). But tonight he struggled mightily, and in turn made just five of his 20 field goal attempts.
Observation #2: Strong night for Dwight Howard
Howard’s play over the last month or so has been pretty frustrating — it all starts with his poor hands, which have caused missed gimme looks, dropped rebounds and lost possessions. Additionally, Howard has often found himself in foul trouble. So it was encouraging to see him post 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks tonight. He was active on the offensive glass and finished through contact on multiple occasions.
If Howard can find his much better form from earlier in the season and begin to develop a healthy rapport with Ben Simmons, it will be much harder for teams to rout the Sixers when Embiid is off the floor.
File this under possible causes of Dwight’s satisfying performance: whenever he scorers, the Sixers now play the Superman theme. Nice touch!
Observation #3: I have no idea how anybody can score on Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid
It’s almost comical how terrifying of a defensive duo these two have become. Embiid is as reliable as you could ever want a center to be down low at the rim, and Simmons may be asserting himself as the best perimeter defender in the entire NBA. He’s 6-foot-10!
The Sixers held Dallas to just 97 points thanks to an excellent all-around defensive performance that included flashes of not just high-level individual defense, but coherent team defense as well.
Simmons did a great job defending Luka Doncic tonight, who only scored 19 points. Ben frequently cut him off on drives, contested tough jumpers and denied the wunderkind access to passing lanes. Embiid was his typical self, altering shots at the rim and, in simple terms, causing chaos.
We always talk about the offensive fit with Ben and Joel — as is necessary — but we often fail to recognize how wonderfully the two look together on the defensive end. Having Simmons’ perimeter versatility and Embiid’s rim protection at the same time is downright unfair.