By Sean Kennedy
The Sixers are now the owners of a 4-game winning streak (the 2nd-best streak in the NBA behind the surging Warriors), following an improbable road win against the Trailblazers. There’s a lot of hand-wringing from fans in the pro-tanking community as every win takes the Sixers further away from the dregs of the Eastern conference, thereby lessening their odds of obtaining one of the the franchise-altering talents in this summer’s draft. The team is now only 1.5 games out of a playoff spot! Personally, I think things will sort themselves out in the end, whether by management moving someone at the deadline or a key injury crippling a roster with zero depth (much like Michael Carter-Williams’ times sitting out sent the team into a tailspin). These few and far between winning streaks are more exception than rule so just enjoy them when they come around.
More interesting to me is how the Sixers have gone about earning this recent winning streak. One area of improvement immediately stands out. Over the past 4 games, the team has drastically cut down on its turnovers, sporting a 12.9% TO Ratio (which would be the lowest turnover rate in the NBA this season), as opposed to their yearly rate of 16.6% (the 5th-worst mark in the league). Such a drastic shift has a huge impact on both ends of the floor as you obviously get more shots at the basket when you’re not treating the ball like an unwanted Yankee swap gift, and you’re not providing the other team as many live-ball turnovers which led to easy points on the other end. Those fewer turnovers are likely the reason the team has produced better defensive numbers over the winning streak.
That shift in turnover rate was not the result of an change in coaching philosophy, as the Sixers have actually played at a faster pace than their already league-high tempo (105.74 as opposed to 102.53 possessions per 48 minutes). It also hasn’t been one player figuring things out, such as if Michael Carter-Williams ever stops making those ill-advised passes that we chalk up to rookie mistakes, the team would greatly benefit. Rather, it’s just been slightly fewer turnovers from everybody up and down the roster. These things lead me to believe that the turnover rate will eventually correct itself back to the Sixers’ usual level of carelessness and the losses will return. But we will see.
The team’s next test is tonight against Minnesota, where they’ll be back home after their successful west coast swing. The Timberwolves are the third-best team in the NBA at forcing turnovers, thanks primarily to the lightning-quick hands of Ricky Rubio, who leads the NBA at 2.9 steals per game (just ahead of a second-place Michael Carter-Williams). So tonight’s game will be a great test of the Sixers’ new-found ball security. Philadelphia has also struggled in the past against the frontcourt tandem of Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic, who represent one of the best rebounding tandems in the NBA, especially on the offensive end. Love is a tough matchup for Thad Young with a 40-pound weight advantage and the added bonus of being an exceptional basketball player. He and Kevin Martin are the primary threats for behind the arc for the Timberwolves. All and all, the Timberwolves aren’t a terrible matchup for the Sixers; let’s see if they’ve truly turned over a new leaf, or if their playoff carriage turns back into a pumpkin.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
