Some will say what the 76ers are playing typically sloppy April NBA basketball as they anxiously wait the postseason. Others will argue they're sorely missing their "crown jewel," Joel Embiid. Both are valid, but the bottom line in sports is always wins and losses, and right now, the Sixers are losers of four out of six to relatively easy opponents, with the latest defeat coming to the Atlanta Hawks, again, 130-122.
Even though the Hawks have 29 wins, three of those came against the Sixers, a squad expected to the compete for the Eastern Conference Championship.
Simply put, not good.
The 76ers lost to the Hawks because their defense was dreadful, allowing 24 fast break points, 22 points off of turnovers and a lot of baskets off of pick and rolls. The same problems exist for Brett Brown's "third" team of the season. Thus, their magic number to clinch the three-seed over the Celtics remains two, with four regular season games left.
Are you biting your finger nails yet?
The Sixers will probably get the No. 3 seed. They would need a monumental collapse to fall into the four-five first round match-up. I also previously wrote that Embiid resting the entirety of this three-game road trip that just past was smart due to their opponents—Minnesota, Dallas and Atlanta. I'll admit when I was wrong, and I was wrong.
Assuming Embiid plays Thursday's game against the Bucks, he'll still likely miss at least one more game because of a back-to-back situation in the final two games of the regular season at Miami and versus Bulls. That means Embiid will sit at least 12 of the final 24 regular season games following the All-Star break, which were 50 percent of the opportunities Brown had to build chemistry amongst his new starting five. And by the way, Jimmy Butler hasn't played every game Embiid has appeared in during the unofficial second half of the season.
NBC Sports NBA Insider Tom Haberstroh recently wrote it's a "myth" that teams need to go into the postseason hot, specifically highlighting the Warriors recent playoff success. But, the Sixers aren't Golden State, as Brown has noted. They're not at the level where they can do a complete 180, and suddenly play championship level basketball after limping through the end of the regular season.
If you're not biting your finger nails yet about their quality of play, start. Unless they prove otherwise in their final four regular season games, there are reasons to be concerned about your Sixers as they head on their postseason journey.
Defense
Heading to Thursday night, the Sixers 108.8 defensive rating is tied for 12th in the NBA, with the Bucks, Pacers, Raptors, Celtics, Heat, Magic and Pistons each sporting better ratings. They haven't held a team under 100 points since March 12, and that was an underwhelming win over the Cavaliers. Two days prior to that, they were sensational in the second half defensively against the Pacers. Since then, it's either been inconsistent or rather bad.
Road Woes
The Sixers are 19-20 on the road after losing four of their last five away games. The Bucks are 26-14 away from Milwaukee, while the Raptors are 25-14 south of the Canadian border.
Every other Eastern Conference team either with a playoff spot locked up, or in legitimate playoff contention are under .500 on the road, except for the ninth-place Heat, who are 20-18. But, the Sixers aren't trying to beat just the lower seeds of the East. They want to take down Milwaukee and Toronto.
Who has the edge in a potential playoff match-up if those teams can win on the road, but the Sixers can't.
Chemistry
The numbers about who little Embiid has played in the second half are noted above, but to summarize, Embiid and Tobias Harris have barely played together. That's not good.
Depth
Whether it was pre-Butler trade, pre-Harris trade or present day, the Sixers bench is not deep, at all.
Brown is going to try to have a rotation of nine in the postseason, but how much can the Sixers rely on Mike Scott, Boban Marjanovic, James Ennis, Jonah Bolden or T.J. McConnell?
Scott was a minus-18 and McConnell was a minus-14 in the latest loss to Atlanta.
According to multiple reports, the Sixers are signing veteran big man Greg Monroe for depth and experience, and waiving 21-year-old 7-foot center Justin Patton. Patton was part of the return in the Butler trade, and Joshua Harris spoke very highly about his future at the introductory press conference.
Did the Sixers need to reluctantly give up on someone they could develop so the 28-year-old Monroe could help their bench in a limited role this postseason?
If that doesn't perfectly summarize their depth issues, nothing will.
Playing Down To Opponent
Even with Embiid on the floor, the Sixers haven't looked great against recently against inferior opponents, such as Atlanta, Dallas or Orlando. Brown felt good about how they played in Minnesota, but the Timberwolves made it interesting in the fourth quarter.
Basically, ever since the Sixers finally beat Boston on March 20, they haven't been themselves. They have played down to lesser competition this season. Would that happen in a first round playoff match against Detroit, Brooklyn, Orlando or Miami? With what's happened this season, it wouldn't be surprising.
