January 28, 2020
The Philadelphia 76ers are scheduled to take the court on Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors in their first game since a stunning blowout win over the Lakers over the weekend. It will also be the first game for the team since the tragic passing of NBA legend and Philly-area native Kobe Bryant.
Because that news stunned the basketball world (and beyond), we have a bit of an abbreviated power rankings roundup this week, with several outlets not yet having published their weekly rankings. But, at least for the most part, the outlets that did post power rankings this week rewarded the Sixers for another solid week of play without star center Joel Embiid, who hasn't played since early this month after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his hand but could return against the Warriors.
Let's take a look at where the Sixers rank this week:
After an impressive 108-91 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night, the 76ers have moved up one spot to No. 8 in The Inquirer’s NBA power rankings.
Why just one? Because the Sixers lost at Toronto, 107-95, earlier in the week. They had begun the week with a 117-111 win over Brooklyn. They are 7-10 against teams in this week’s Top 10. [Mark Narducci, Inquirer.com]
Breaking it down: While this might be a bit high for the Sixers, it's still within the reasonable range of where they deserve to be ranked. It also feels like a one-spot improvement is just right. The team needed everything Ben Simmons could give to get past the Nets on Monday night, and then went out and laid an egg against a very good Toronto team, something they should definitely be punished for given the stakes of that game. But the way they bounced back at home against LeBron James and the Lakers — without Embiid and Josh Richardson? That more than makes up for the loss to the Raptors, even if it doesn't help as much in the standings.
The Sixers are 6-3 in this stretch without Joel Embiid, which has been bookended by wins over the Celtics and Lakers. The offense has remained a struggle; Despite Ben Simmons averaging 21.6 points on 65% shooting and Al Horford hitting some big jumpers last week, the Sixers rank 29th offensively (104.8 per 100) since Embiid's surgery. And now they're without secondary playmaker Josh Richardson (hamstring strain) for a couple of weeks.
But only the Bucks have been better defensively than the Sixers (102.9 points allowed per 100) over these last 2 1/2 weeks. Philly's win on Saturday, with Ben Simmons holding LeBron James (2-for-9 shooting with Simmons as his defender) in check, was the Lakers' worst offensive game of the season (91 points on 101 possessions).
The Sixers are 7-6 in games between the top six teams in the East, 6-1 at home and 1-5 on the road, where they will face the Celtics, Heat and Bucks on a four-game trip that begins Thursday in Atlanta. [John Schuhmann, NBA.com]
Breaking it down: Last week, we gave Schuhmann some grief for dropping the Sixers despite how well they were playing despite Embiid's absence. This week, it seems like he finally caught on. But his analysis also serves as a bit of a warning, one that is much needed. The Sixers have been great at home, and the opposite of that on the road. With a huge road trip on tap after Tuesday's game against the Warriors, one that will see them face some of the other top teams in the East, this could be a big week for the Sixers to climb in the standings with the likely return of Embiid. It could also, however, see them fall down the standings if they aren't careful.
This year's version of the 76ers can turn on a switch against elite teams. In the two wins this season against the Bucks and Lakers, Philadelphia won by a combined 29 points. The win against the Lakers on Saturday not only saw Ben Simmons put on an All-NBA performance on both ends, it showed that rookie Matisse Thybulle continues to make a case for All-Defense. The team has a defensive rating of 95.7 in the 27 wins they have when Thybulle is on the court. [Staff, ESPN.com]
Breaking it down: This currently feels like the correct spot (and week-over-week change) for the Sixers. No complaints here.
Mike Scott: Nothing against Scott, but he's basically the only non-starter with any sort of significant salary to be included in a deal ($4.8M). Philly is in desperate need of shooting and playmaking, so perhaps it could trade Scott (and assets) for someone who fills that role. [Colin Ward-Henninger, CBSSports.com]
Breaking it down: I get that Mike Scott has been playing poorly, but this seems like a weird time to drag him, especially given that he's typically not the reason the Sixers win or lose a game. Of course there's a real chance he's no longer playing in Philly after the trade deadline, but if you're going to drop the Sixers three spots after going 2-1 this week (and 5-2 over the last two weeks) without their All-Star center, you better have a better reason than an underperforming Mike Scott.
Fresh off winning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Ben Simmons was "ridiculously dominant" in last Monday's 117-111 win over the Nets.
In addition to a career-high 34 points, Simmons also turned in 12 rebounds and 12 assists while cranking up the defensive intensity during the fourth quarter. With fellow perimeter-harassment specialist Matisse Thybulle also causing havoc, the Sixers collected a whopping six steals in the game's final 12 minutes. Simmons swiped five on his own in the game.
He can't let up.
Joel Embiid is still out, and the Sixers will also be without Josh Richardson for at least a couple of weeks after the guard had to leave Wednesday's loss to the Toronto Raptors with a strained left hamstring. Earlier this year, he missed six games with an injury to his right hamstring, and we should expect Philly to exercise at least that much caution with this one.
Winners in five of its last six (Wednesday's road stumble in Toronto being the only blemish), Philadelphia looks stabler than it has in a while. Its defense, despite the absences of Richardson and Embiid, was still sturdy enough to hold the Los Angeles Lakers to 91 points Saturday. Prior to that, nobody had held L.A. under 95 points this season. [Grant Hughes, BleacherReport.com]
Breaking it down: Bleacher Report actually dropped the Sixers last week from 12th to 13th, but corrected that this week by moving them back up to 11th. Sure, it's the lowest ranking of the week for the Sixers, but at least unlike CBS Sports, they have Philly trending in the right direction.
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