It was not the start to the Sixers season anyone wanted. After going out and acquiring Paul George, along with several role players, the Sixers’ first couple of months were a disaster. The word disaster here is not hyperbole. They were one of the worst teams in the country, finishing November with a 4-14 record.
Joel Embiid missed a ton of time as he ramped up from the knee injury he was still recovering from. In fact, he played in just 4 games during that 4-14 stretch. Paul George played in just 9 after he suffered an injury in preseason. Tyrese Maxey, not wanting to be different from the group missed 6 of those 18 games. Caleb Martin missed time too, and Jared McCain, who looked poised to be Rookie of the Year, had his season derailed by a torn meniscus. It felt like the whole season was cursed.
But lo and behold, things have turned around. After entering the month 4-14, the Sixers will ring in the New Year 13-17. Still not great, but a hell of a lot better than where they were. They closed things out with a decisive 125-103 win over the Trail Blazers.
Embiid is looking more like his usual self, Maxey has found his groove, and the team defense has been fantastic. After there were calls in November for them to forget this season, and tank for Cooper Flagg, the Sixers now find themselves back in the mix.
There is still work to do. They have not dug themselves out of the hole yet and things will start to get harder as the season goes on. But a weak Eastern Conference, outside the top 3 or so teams, and a resurgent December has them looking like the team we thought we might see when they signed Paul George this offseason.
Related: Turning Point? Sixers Stun Celtics on NBA Christmas Day
But how much stock should we put in this hot streak? Is it for real, or are they just beating up on bad teams?
These 5 Numbers Should Convince You The Sixers Are The Real Deal
3
The goal is to avoid the play in tournament. Too much can go wrong in 1 game that you do not want to settle for the 7th or 8th seed. Besides, you also dont want to play the Celtics or Cavs in round 1.
The good news is, despite the terrible start, the Sixers are within reaching distance of the 6 seed. As it sits on Dec 31st, they are 3 games back from the Bucks for the 6-seed, and only 3.5 games back from the Hawks for the 5 seed. You can easily see a world where by February 1st they are not only in a playoff spot but outside of the play-in.
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The Sixers are lucky that the East is so thin. The Hawks are .545 and in the 5 seed. .545 would have been the 10 seed in the East last year. The other teams in this conference were struggling right alongside the Sixers. Maybe not quite as much, but enough to make the Sixers’ hole not as deep as it should have been.
As it currently stands, 45 wins will be enough for the Sixers to avoid the play-in. The Sixers need to play .615 basketball the rest of the way to make that happen. Not easy, but way easier than it should be after how bad they were to start the season.
