Sixers Defense Must Improve After Struggling in First Two Games
Shake Milton quickly went from zero to hero last night after hitting the game-winning three to give the Sixers their first win in the bubble.
Philadelphia captured a much needed win against the Spurs, as the team gets back on track after a disappointing loss to the Pacers. Although, they made the win much harder than it needed to be. The Sixers gave up a 12-point lead in the fourth to a Spurs squad on their second game of a back-to-back. Yes, Coach Popovich always gets his team ready to bring it every day, but the Sixers cannot let that happen, especially to a Spurs team below .500 and without LaMarcus Aldridge.
The main issue in the first two games in Orlando? The defense.
The Sixers allowed the Pacers and Spurs to score way too easily, giving up 127 and 130 points in each game, respectfully. This is compared to allowing 107.4 PPG this season before it got shut down, which was T-5 in the NBA at the time. Indiana and San Antonio have a 50% FG% and 43.3% 3PT% in both games combined.
This has hurt the team the most in the fourth quarter, where they have been outscored 89-67 in the two games. In addition to the 12-point lead the Sixers blew against San Antonio, they also led Indiana by as much as 10 in the fourth before losing. Not ideal to give up leads like that in back-to-back games.
Forwards seem to be scoring the easiest on the Sixers. T.J. Warren dropped 53 (hated having to type that out), DeMar DeRozan 30 and Rudy Gay 24. All three forwards were the highest scoring opposing players in the games.
One of the ways the Sixers are getting exposed hardest is in pick and roll defense. Players have often hesitated on how to handle on-ball screens and struggled guarding players on switches. Pop made it even harder for Philly by occasionally calling for his signature double screens. Unfortunately, this has been an issue for the Sixers several times in the past. No matter what players he has had over the years, Brett Brown still seems to have a problem fixing this issue. Let’s hope it can somehow improve over the next few games.
Philly cannot change what happened in the past. The team is 1-1 in Orlando and still the 6th seed in the East. They have winnable games coming up vs. the Wizards, Magic, Blazers, and Suns. Everyone has to use these games to fix the issues on defense. The next four games are important to win in order to move up in the standings. If the defense does not improve, it will be a rough finish to the season once the playoffs come around.
