Sixers highs and lows at midseason: Most underrated player, biggest disappointment, best win, and more

Ahead of Saturday’s matchup at the Charlotte Hornets, Nick Nurse had not realized it was Game 41 for the 76ers — aka, the regular season’s midway point.

“Is it?” Nurse said. “Wow, that went fast.”

It’s understandable that the team’s first-year coach does not view the season through that lens, as the 28-13 Sixers aspire to play deep into April and May, perhaps even June. Nurse also remains focused on the daily steps his team still must take to absorb his creative concepts and polish execution, entering Sunday a half-game back of the Milwaukee Bucks for second place in the Eastern Conference and boasting a top-five offense and defense anchored by Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

“When you come into a new team and a new situation, I’m not sure that you’re sure at all where you’re going to be,” Nurse said. “At all. First week, 20 games, 41 games, whatever, I’m not sitting here thinking, ‘Yeah, this is about where we are.’ …

“There is a decent amount of work to do. I know I keep saying that. But I also think, at the halfway point, yeah, we’re probably halfway there.”

Still, this marks a reasonable time to review how the Sixers have done so far.

Maxey’s latest leap — which vaulted him into All-Star contention and prevented any temporary slippage following the James Harden trade — deserves a shout-out here.

Yet Embiid is the easy choice. He is again putting up career-best numbers, entering Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs averaging a league-leading 35 points. He has fulfilled his goal to become more of a playmaker, averaging a career-high 5.9 assists, while recommitting to interior defense (1.9 blocks per game).

» READ MORE: Hawks’ Dejounte Murray could be a player worth pursuing for the Sixers as trade deadline approaches

If he plays in 65 games, Embiid is the front-runner to repeat as MVP. His current brush with history is his 20 consecutive 30-point games, joining Wilt Chamberlain (four times) and Harden as the only players to accomplish that feat in their careers.

Batum has been a seamless fit as the Sixers’ fifth starter since arriving in the Harden trade.

His stats — 6.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists in 27 games — do not exactly pop off the page. But the savvy veteran brings value with his defensive versatility, lightning-quick shot release, post-entry passing, and complementary ballhandling.

How quickly the Harden saga was resolved — and forgotten — should get mention here. It is difficult to fathom how this portion of the Sixers’ season would have unfolded had he remained on the roster until the trade deadline, both because of the potential distraction and because Batum, Marcus Morris Sr., and Robert Covington would not have been around to contribute.

Yet let’s acknowledge Oubre and Beverley, two players on veteran’s-minimum contracts who have been impactful members of the rotation.

Oubre (12.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.3 steals per game) has toggled between starter and reserve, finding success when he can unleash his athleticism in transition and knock down open shots. Beverley (5.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists) has become the Sixers’ secondary ballhandler, and his prowess as a defensive instigator and tough-minded player has predictably endeared him to Philly.

It’s worth noting, however, that these are two areas the Sixers might aim to upgrade at the trade deadline.

Embiid and Nurse have both downplayed the importance of Embiid getting to the 65-game threshold required to qualify for end-of-season accolades, including MVP. His priority is being healthy for the playoffs, after missing at least one game in each of the last three postseasons.

Still, the Sixers remain in search of consistency when Embiid does not play, going 3-7 in such games so far.

Maxey perhaps most embodies that unpredictability, with some dazzling performances and clunkers coming in those outings. That’s also when Tobias Harris has a prime opportunity to step up, and when big men Paul Reed and Mo Bamba must play within their roles.

This could be recency bias. But last week’s matchup was another thriller at the Wells Fargo Center between these two teams, when Embiid amassed 41 points and 10 assists to knock off the defending champions and MVP rival Nikola Jokić. The Sixers defense also locked down in the fourth quarter, holding the high-powered Nuggets to 17 points.

Good news: A quick rematch arrives Saturday in Denver.

Other contenders for this nod include a Dec. 20 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, when Embiid dropped 51 points on the NBA’s top defense; a Nov. 25 win at the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder, when Embiid was one assist sky of a 35-point triple-double; and a Nov. 12 victory against the Indiana Pacers, when Maxey exploded for 50 points and announced he was ready for this season’s star turn.

A 36-point drubbing, at home, on national television, was the worst the full-strength Sixers have looked all season.

Even more disastrous, this was when Embiid — who remained in the game in the fourth quarter even after the score got out of hand, at least partially to keep his streak of 30-point, 10-rebound games alive — twisted his knee. That caused inflammation that kept him sidelined for three consecutive games, and continues to be monitored.

The Sixers will host the Knicks again on Feb. 22, before two consecutive games at Madison Square Garden on March 10 and 12.

The Sixers remain one of the NBA’s more intriguing teams entering the Feb. 8 trade deadline. They have expiring contracts and draft capital available to move, plus possible max salary-cap space this summer.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid praises Victor Wembanyama on verge of first matchup: ‘He has the potential’

Two significant leaguewide deals — 3-and-D wing OG Anunoby to the Knicks, and versatile All-Star forward Pascal Siakam to the Pacers — have already occurred. And at this point, it appears more likely that the Sixers pull off a smaller trade for a complementary player, rather than go star hunting for a high-profile name such as Zach LaVine or Dejounte Murray.

He is certainly putting up worthy numbers while brilliantly handling his increased role, averaging 26 points, 6.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.1 steals while shooting 44.8% from the floor and 37.8% from three-point range.

Maxey, though, remains fifth among Eastern Conference guards in the most recent fan voting released last week. So depending on who is selected alongside Tyrese Haliburton as a starter — which comes from a blend of fan, player, and media votes — Maxey will be competing against some combination of Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, and Jalen Brunson for a reserve spot chosen by the league’s coaches.

When asked to reflect on his first Toronto Raptors team — which won the 2019 NBA championship — Nurse said that group had not solidified its identity until February or March.

He feels similarly about these Sixers — hence, the “halfway there” evaluation. The coach did, however, add that he was pleased with the progress made by the staff in knowing how to best use players within the Sixers’ systems, and how to roll out the rotation when the players are healthy and when to plug injury holes.

It’s reasonable to expect Nurse to continue schematically tinkering with these Sixers for the immediate future. Then it will be fascinating to see what they look like heading into the playoffs.