CAMDEN, N.J. — At the beginning of the season, the Philadelphia 76ers were discussing their aspirations to be the best defensive team in the league. It made sense considering they have Joel Embiid, PJ Tucker, Tobias Harris and others on the roster. However, the team endured a tough start on that end of the court.
The Sixers gave up more than 113 points per 100 possessions four times in their first five games per Cleaning the Glass, including giving up more than 120 points per 100 possessions three times.
Since Embiid returned from the flu, the Sixers have been much better on that end. They held the Phoenix Suns to 88 points, and they were terrific in both contests with the Atlanta Hawks and the win over the Utah Jazz. They’ve given up an average of just 100.9 points per 100 possessions over those games and are ranked fifth in the NBA in defensive rating at 109.9.
A big reason for the success is Philadelphia’s defensive scheme. It has limited switching and allowed Embiid to do what he does.
“That’s what we’re doing,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We don’t want to switch the 5 as much as we can. First of all, just with the way we’re playing and the pace we’re playing, he’d be exhausted. I mean, we don’t want him chasing guards. We want them up at the screen, being able to get back, we want our low man to take the roller as much as he can and Jo get back.”
The Sixers want their guards to fight over screens and stay with their man. When that happens, they can then tunnel any drivers toward Embiid and let him protect the rim, which is what he does best on the defensive end.
“We want our guards fighting over the screens,” Rivers added. “We’ve been better when we’ve done that. Then, we’ll be out of a timeout, we’re switching everything, but for the most part, we’re switching 1 through 4.”
That goes for all of the guards on the floor for Philadelphia. Every once in a while, there will be an exception that forces the Sixers to make a change to their scheme, but Rivers wants the guards to fight over the screens and defend out on the perimeter.
“Every guard,” he said. “Every once in a while if it’s a guard on the other team that we’re worried about. Not our guards, our guards can get over, but if it’s a guard that wants to go downhill or wants to attack we may trap and that still allows Joel to get back to this guy.”
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