3 Sixers Takeaways: Top Ranked Offense, Maxey's Start, Embiid's Approach
3 Sixers Takeaways: Top Ranked Offense, Maxey's Start, Embiid's Approach
Are the Sixers still creating good shots?
Mike O’Connor is the best O’Connor in basketball writing. Previously of The Athletic, you can find Mike on Twitter @MOConnor_NBA. Mike’s writing is brought to you by Body Bio, supplements based on science, focusing on your gut and brain health. Get 20% off E-Lyte and all Body Bio products with promo code RTRS20 at Body Bio’s website.
Six games into the NBA season, the Sixers haven’t completely lit the world on fire, but boy has it been nice to watch some normal, competitive basketball. Just a couple weeks ago, I wondered if the Sixers would ever be able to attain a sense of normalcy as long as the Ben Simmons saga lingered on. After weeks of nonstop headlines, the Simmons situation has stopped dominating the news, and the Sixers’ solid on-court performance has been the leading story.
Here in this piece, I’ll break down my takeaways from the Sixers’ first six games of the season.
The anatomy of the No. 1 ranked offense
The sample size makes it almost meaningless -- the Knicks and Hornets rank two and three -- but the Sixers have the No. 1 ranked offense in the league through six games.
Perhaps the most notable part of their offensive success is how they’re doing it. Per Cleaning The Glass, the percentage of their offense that comes at the rim is way down from last year (32.2 percent to 26.5 percent), and the percentage of their offense that comes from 3 is way up (31.3 percent vs 38 percent).
That second number should come as a surprise to ardent Simmons supporters, who frequently cited his ability to create 3-point opportunities for teammates as his most under-appreciated offensive contribution. Sure, it helps that the Sixers added some shooting in the offseason, but the point remains that the Sixers are creating 3s just fine without Simmons.
That said, while it’s good that they’re having no trouble creating 3s, the decrease in at-rim attempts is nothing to scoff at, and could be impacted by the absence of Simmons -- without him, there is a real deficit of players on this roster who can put downhill pressure on the rim. For now, though, the Sixers have been able to offset the decrease in attempts at the rim with an increase in shooting percentage from that area (63.2 last year vs. 70.7 this year).
It’s very early, and they haven’t played many elite defenses, but I don’t see signs of a massive fluke here. They’re taking and making a lot of 3s, but they’re a team that’s rife with good shooters. I don’t expect them to maintain their top spot, but I feel even better about their offense than I did before the season.
Breaking down Maxey’s start
If there was one player who figured to garner the most attention to start the year, it was Tyrese Maxey. Out of anyone on the roster, he likely had the widest range of expectations among the fans.
So far, Maxey has lived up to the hype statistically. 14.7 points per game on 58 percent True Shooting is likely on the higher end of what fans were expecting. Throw in the fact that Maxey has taken care of the ball, and that the team is much better offensively with him on the court, and you’d be hard pressed to say that he’s disappointed.
The lone area where Maxey still leaves one longing for more is his willingness to shoot. He’s eighth on the team in 3-point attempts per game, which is simply not enough for your starting point guard. Doc Rivers’ decision to let Maxey linger in the dunker spot off the ball is somewhat baffling, but the reality is that Maxey’s hesitation to shoot makes that discussion a moot point.
Maxey’s predictable pump faking when defenders are 6-10 feet away isn’t getting it done. Defenses can sense his unwillingness to shoot a mile away, and his pump fakes aren’t fooling anyone. There are times when watching the ball swing to a semi-open Maxey brings back similar feelings to watching Markelle Fultz -- you know with absolute certainty that he’s going to pump fake, drive into nowhere, and kick it back out.
The jump shot was always going to be the swing skill for Maxey’s NBA career. No one expected it to come overnight, but it’s still going to hold him back until he crosses certain thresholds of volume and accuracy. The best thing he can do for now is simply let the attempts fly, and try to force defenses to guard him. For now, teams simply don’t expect him to pull the trigger.
Embiid’s approach
Embiid has had a lukewarm start to the season from a scoring perspective, but I think the thing that’s been most encouraging for him offensively has been his approach. He’s putting up the lowest points per 100 possessions of his career, but he’s also churning out a career high in assists (6.3) and a career low in turnovers (4.1) per 100. As he promised before the season, he’s also putting up what would be a career high 6.3 3-point attempts per 100 possessions, and shooting 34.8 percent. He hasn’t been overbearing and dominant, but he’s been steady, patient, and effective.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing from a scoring perspective is that Embiid’s free throw attempts haven’t taken a major dip. He’s at 14.6 attempts per 100 possessions, which is consistent with where he’s been for the majority of his career. Some players, like James Harden and Trae Young, have seen their free throw attempts go down as a result of the new officiating, but Embiid has not suffered anything dramatic.
One would like to see Embiid do a bit more dominating down low, but I don’t see anything concerning from a scoring perspective; his output is down mostly because his attempts are down. Without Simmons, some might’ve expected Embiid to be more prolific, but it seems Embiid is settling into a more steadied approach. Perhaps that’s the result of his nagging knee injuries, but regardless, I wouldn’t be concerned whatsoever with Embiid’s decreased scoring output, especially given his improvement in other important areas.