The 76ers’ regular season kicked off a little over a week ago against the Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook led Washington Wizards on 12/23/2020. Once the game started, you could see the talent and spacing around Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons had made a difference but there was still some comfortability issues within the offense. It was an up and down game with the Sixers leading by double digits and then having to come back from double digits in the fourth quarter to win. During that game, Joel’s dominance was evident as he made it clear from tip-off that he was the best player on the floor. A little side note from this game: Russell Westbrook seems like he is really good and tallied one of his four triple doubles this season. It also seems that at this point of his career he doesn’t affect winning like you would think. Thus far the Wizards are 1-5 on the season and won the game Westbrook did not suit up in.

The Sixers followed up with a nice blow out victory against the New York Knicks where Embiid showed his dominance once again. An early storyline this year has been how bad Tobias Harris has looked in the first two games. He looked like he just was very unsure of where to be and what to do within this new offense. I had the same feeling initially with Danny Green and Seth Curry and it showed in the bad loss they had against the Cavs when Embiid did not play.

When Embiid returned to the lineup, the Sixers regrouped and got a quality comeback win at home against the Raptors and two blowout wins against the Magic and Hornets. Since the game against the Cavs, Tobias has looked more decisive on offense and it has made such a huge difference when he is scoring efficiently. Seth Curry has looked more comfortable as of late as well. In his last three games, he has scored 17, 21, and 21 respectively. His chemistry with Joel Embiid continues to improve and will open a lot more things up for the entire Sixers offense.

Overall, the Sixers have been truly lead by their defense and are #1 in Defensive Efficiency in the NBA as of 1/3/2021. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid both have played like DPOYs in their own right. Simmons has locked down some of the best offensive players on the perimeter thus far this season. He was able to lock up Bradley Beal and Pascal Siakam, taking them out of the offense and contesting every shot they put up. The offense and chemistry will continue to improve and it could help propel the Sixers into being one of the best teams in the league.

Quick Notes and Observations:

• Joel Embiid is playing like his old self and like a MVP candidate. He’s averaging 25 ppg, 12.6 rpg, and 2.8 apg. So far in 5 games, he has looked much better passing out of the double teams and we all hope that trend continues.
• Doc Rivers’ substitution patten is much different than what fans may be used to. With Brett Brown as Head Coach, we saw a lot more staggering of minutes with the starters playing with the bench. With Doc, he usually substitutes like hockey and runs with all bench lineups. It will be interesting to see how the rotation develops.
• If Tobias continues to play how he has the last few games, he can really help take this team where they want to go. He’ll never be worth the 180 million dollar contract he signed but if he can average about 20 a night with efficient 3-point shooting, he can make a huge difference.
• The James Harden cloud will be over this team all season and expect Sixers Twitter to be mock trading for James Harden after every loss they take until the trade deadline.
• I like Tyrese Maxey. #thatisall

Sixers are in action this week starting with the Hornets on Monday night at 7PM. #TrustTheProcess