76ers answering questions early on
PHILADELPHIA >> The phrases flow from Brett Brown with regularity and sincerity, mantras of a coach who has been around the NBA for 20 years.
They are his goals as they are his safety valves. They reflect his belief as they do his agendas. They are said, and said again, without hesitation.
“Deliver the players to April, May and June,” he will hum.
“Land the plane in April,” he will promise.
And always, he will mention that it’s the way it was done, “in his former life.”
To Brown, later is what matters. Yet in some years more than others, there can be no April-May-June without a meaningful OctoberNovember-December. And the Sixers, reimagined and reconstructed since last they were caught playing in the spring, are three games into one of those years. With that, an early observation: It’s working.
The Sixers did not face the questions this season that they used to confront, such as, “Who is that point guard again, and where is he from?” But there were some issues, some risks, and some demands of faith.
The most driving concern came in two layers: Where would Brown turn for a critical, late-game score after Jimmy “Jimmy Buckets” Butler had rolled to Miami? And while the $180 million contract the club gave Tobias Harris in the offseason should have been a goldplated hint, there was the question of whether the notime All-Star was ready to assume that responsibility.
In a 105-103 victory Monday night at Atlanta, the Sixers were desperate to build on a one-point lead with 42.1 seconds left. That’s when they trusted Harris, who muscled in on the left side and deposited a nine-foot shot for a 103100 edge. It was a vision of the “smash-mouth” offense that Brown promised. And while Brown has said that he would look at multiple options to replace Butler in late-game situations, nothing the Sixers have planned can work if Harris doesn’t surface as a reliable, lategame star.
There were other questions, high among them whether an unorthodox plot to, as Brown will say, deliver Joel Embiid to the postseason in peak form can work. The Sixers’ idea was to spring for Al Horford and use him as a hybrid fourfive man. On nights Embiid would be available, the veteran could thrive in the same frontcourt. And for games that Embiid was being load-managed or not made to play through an injury that could worsen later, Horford could start at center. Saturday night in Detroit, Embiid rested a mild ankle injury, so Horford started center, going for 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a 117-111 triumph. He even popped out, Embiid style, to take seven three-pointers, draining a pair.
Of all the changes the Sixers
accepted in the offseason, effectively shifting from J.J. Redick to Josh Richardson was the most dramatic. Given that Redick’s advancing age had become problematic at the defensive end in the postseason, with the Nets at one point basically looking to exploit him on every trip, the Sixers had the understandable urge to move on. While Redick, in the shape he was in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, was vital to 103 regular-season wins, the Sixers needed more at the defensive end. Through three games, the lengthy Richardson has blocked five shots, has combined with Ben Simmons to project an imposing perimeter defensive front and has been active in passing lanes.
The recommitment to Harris, the trust in Horford’s versatility and the defensive upgrade from Redick to Richardson have all shown the capacity to strengthen the presence of Embiid, Brown’s so-appointed “crown jewel.” Having committed to a better offseason diet, Embiid already has begun a strong MVP campaign. The Sixers need nothing less. At 25, Embiid is rounding into his prime six years into his pro career. In Atlanta, he produced 36 points, 13 rebounds, five snuffs and three steals. He also taunted John Collins with an after-dunk dance. With Brown’s directive to play “bully ball defense,” the first three games were a capsule-form dose of what he needs from Embiid: Two excellent games sandwiched around one of those necessary nights off in which Horford could frolic.
If the Sixers are to face issues later, it will be in the playoffs, where point guards must be reliable outside shooters. Simmons is playing back a form that should make him a midseason AllStar, but he won’t shoot from distance and that will be a springtime crisis point. Raul Neto and Trey Burke were training-camp disappointments. Richardson is OK at the point, but has not looked fully comfortable as a distributor. But it’s early. And the Sixers can be buyers at the trade deadline, adding another shooter or point-guard option.
The Sixers, the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference, will return to the Wells Fargo Center Wednesday for an interesting test against the 3-0 Minnesota Timberwolves. Then, they will take a swing through Portland, Phoenix, Utah and Denver. The day the schedule was released, it was widely agreed that it would be tough for them early, with six of their first eight away from home. But they won their first two road games, one with Embiid, one without.
Will it all hold through later-season road trips, the many more nights of managed Embiid loads, challenges from the Clippers, Rockets, Lakers and Bucks, and the sure-to-come adjustments from opposing coaches? Why not?
As Brown will continue to stress, it’s how the plane lands that matters. But a 3-0 start, given the potential for turbulence, has been an impressive takeoff.