The Philadelphia 76ers waited until the second half to finally pull away from a young Chicago Bulls team. After a first half that saw the Sixers holding onto a five-point lead, the team found its focus, outscoring the Bulls 62-48 in the second half.
Philadelphia also began to live up to their defensive potential, impressing both with and without their stars on the floor. VJ Edgecombe's first half will be remembered for his electric dunks, but his hustle and defensive instincts were especially impressive. However, the most important takeaway for the Sixers came on the offensive side of the ball, specifically their half-court offense.
Despite scoring a season-high 29 fast-break points against Chicago, the Sixers' half-court offense struggled at times as the team's stars continued to develop chemistry. Philadelphia ranks fifth in the league in isolation frequency at 8.6%. However, they are also the 11th-worst team in isolation efficiency, averaging just 0.81 points per possession.
That will almost certainly improve over time, but the Sixers' offense can look completely stagnant when operating in the half court. This was one of the main reasons the Bulls were able to hang around in the first half, capitalizing on Philadelphia's missed shots by getting out in transition and playing effective defense against the Sixers' isolation-heavy attack.
The Sixers' lockdown defense and opportunistic transition offense allowed them to pull away from the Bulls in the second half, but they cannot always rely on those two aspects of their game to win.
In the team's lone loss this season to the Detroit Pistons, the Sixers were without both Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe. Philadelphia scored 16 fast-break points, right around its season average. However, its lack of half-court offense kept the team from even reaching 100 points that night, the second time this season that has happened. The Sixers' defense was unable to bail them out, either, as Detroit shot 41.2% from beyond the arc, the highest percentage Philadelphia has allowed this season.
The Sixers' half-court offense is not yet a major concern, given the small sample size and significant roster turnover. However, their win over the Bulls once again highlighted their overreliance on transition scoring to bail out their offense. As the team grows and continues to improve its chemistry, this will hopefully become a non-issue for the star-studded Sixers. Still, Philadelphia will need to develop its half-court offense as the season progresses, especially as it marches toward the playoffs.
In the postseason, teams tend to play more disciplined basketball, making transition opportunities harder to come by. If the Sixers are still using their transition offense as a crutch rather than a complement to their half-court attack, they could be in for a rude awakening. The Sixers need to spend the early portion of the season developing chemistry and improving their shot selection. At this point, there are countless possessions in which players simply watch as one of their stars goes to work in isolation. Although this style of offensive play has not come back to haunt them yet, particularly given how well the Sixers have run the break, the team will need to focus on consistent improvement to break this bad habit early in the season.
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