After 33 games, the Philadelphia 76ers are 22-11 and are the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Last season, after 33 games, Philadelphia was 23-10, so they were actually a game better in terms of wins and losses a year ago.
However, this season feels a little different for Philadelphia. Their All-Star center Joel Embiid appears to have a different mindset and is in better shape. Embiid is having an MVP-caliber season and is averaging 29.6 points(career-high), 11.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. After a slow start, All-Star Ben Simmons is playing elite on defense, and in the last five games, he’s averaging 23.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game. Because of his ability to guard all five positions, Simmons believes he is the best defender in basketball.
After the team’s 111-97 victory over the Mavericks on Thursday night, reserve center Dwight Howard, who won a championship with the Lakers last season, shared his thoughts on Philly’s chances of winning a title.
“We have everything we need, and we have what it takes to win a championship,” Howard said. “it’s going to be on us. It’s going to be on how hard we go out and play every night, what we do when we are not in the games, how we are taking care of our bodies, but also just how we approach every day. We stay in the moment, stay locked in on winning this championship day by day. We can’t wait until the end of the season to focus on a championship. We gotta do it every single day. Coach has been telling us, ‘The preparation process and parade.’ That’s the only thing on our mind.”
Simmons believes that Philadelphia has great chemistry right now, and the best he’s seen since he has been in Philly. Having Doc Rivers around helps, and the team is saying that he is holding everybody accountable. However, it appears they need some more bench help, and it should interesting to see what they do before the March 25th trade deadline.
At this point, Philly will be judged on what happens in the playoffs. We have seen Simmons come up small in playoff situations, and if this team wants to make a deep playoff run, he has to be better. Plus, getting by Brooklyn, who has three walking buckets in Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving, won’t be easy.
Philly is playing good basketball right now, but we still have to wait and see how this team looks come playoff time.
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