Despite top 10 status, the Sixers still see room for improvement on defense: ‘It’s little things’

MIAMI — When asked recently about the state of the 76ers’ defense, P.J. Tucker provided a blunt assessment.

“It’s still pretty [expletive],” the veteran forward said last Thursday, after his team had rallied to beat the Memphis Grizzlies. “It’s not great. We have glimpses where we’re really good. We’re really bad a lot. But we don’t stop. And that’s the beauty of it — the relentless not stopping.”

Statistically, Tucker’s viewpoint is a bit harsh. Now with a 60-game sample size, the 39-21 Sixers entered Tuesday ranked seventh in the NBA in defensive efficiency, with 111.7 points allowed per 100 possessions. Boasting a top-10 unit is a common barometer when evaluating championship contenders. Yet star Joel Embiid had publicly set a preseason goal for the Sixers to be the league’s best defense following notable offseason upgrades, and their past three games against quality competition have revealed cracks they will attempt to fill down the stretch.

“It’s little things, and it kind of triggers everybody,” Tucker said. “And when everybody gets involved, the more we can do that later in the year and going into the playoffs, the easier our lives will be.”

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A deeper dive unveils how the Sixers’ defense has ebbed and flowed throughout the season.

They were the league’s best unit in November (106.4 points allowed per 100 possessions), but went 8-6 during that stretch while navigating significant foot injuries to standout guards James Harden and Tyrese Maxey (whose offensive abilities far outweigh their defense). In January, meanwhile, the Sixers torpedoed to 24th in that category (118 points allowed per 100 possessions) but went 11-3 while riding an offense that was second in the league in efficiency during that span (121.3 points per 100 possessions). They ranked ninth in defensive efficiency in February, matching their season average with 111.7 points allowed per 100 possessions.

The Sixers recently took two-time NBA All-Defensive wing Matisse Thybulle off the roster via a deadline trade to the Portland Trail Blazers, but added athletic wing Jalen McDaniels. De’Anthony Melton, who has remained in the starting lineup even after Maxey returned and has spent much of the season near the top of the league in steals and deflections, is now being asked to begin and close games guarding the league’s elite perimeter players. Tucker most demonstrated his value on that end of the floor in a late-January victory against the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets, when he effectively guarded back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic in the second half. Tobias Harris has embraced, and regularly succeeded in, taking on tougher individual assignments.

But the Sixers’ primary defensive weaknesses remain.

They entered Tuesday ranked 28th in the NBA in fastbreak points allowed (16.2 per game) and rebounding (40.6 per game). More intangibly, Tucker said his team needs to be more physical, and that it occasionally falls into mental and effort lapses because “we’re so good on offense at times that, I think, the defensive part, it kind of goes out the window.” Lack of in-game communication — an area Tucker said is difficult to force when it does not come naturally for teammates — has also been a common theme throughout the season.

“Jo doesn’t talk a lot. Tobias doesn’t talk a lot. Tyrese don’t talk a lot,” Tucker said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that don’t talk a lot. But it’s just in those important moments and those spots to be able to be on the same page will be a difference-maker for us — especially because we’ve got guys that can really be good defensively.”

The Sixers were poor in the first quarter of last Thursday’s win over Memphis, allowing the Grizzlies to shoot 52% and Desmond Bane to explode for 19 points. Then Embiid unleashed his dominant rim protection, swatting six blocks including a highlight rejection of dazzling All-Star Ja Morant (who finished 3-of-13 from the floor). Reaching that elite level consistently can separate Embiid in the discussion of the NBA’s best players — and is a reasonable expectation down the stretch, even with the heavy offensive load he shoulders nightly, Rivers said.

“When he does it like that, obviously, it’s extraordinary,” Rivers said. “When you have a guy that literally becomes a goaltender … very few teams have that, and we’re one of the teams that do.”

Before Celtics star Jayson Tatum erased a 6-of-16 shooting night by drilling a game-winning three-pointer over Melton, Al Horford’s barrage of four three-pointers in less than three minutes of game time pushed Boston ahead late in the third quarter. Two of those makes came in transition, and were open because of Sixers personnel mixups Rivers said “should have been preventable.”

“It’s not a game of perfect, but we have to get better in that,” Rivers said, adding that stretch was the game-changer after the Sixers built a 15-point lead.

Added Embiid: “You’ve got to stick to your concepts and be as forceful as possible.”

In Monday’s loss to Miami, meanwhile, the Heat put up 18 more shots than the Sixers in the first half because of a 10-2 offensive rebounding advantage that yielded 11 second-chance points. Those extra possessions before the break, plus 20 Sixers turnovers, allowed a Heat team that entered the game ranked 28th in the NBA in three-point percentage (33.1%) to go 15-of-37 from deep. Gabe Vincent stuck his tongue out in celebration after collecting the ball off a Jimmy Butler steal and burying a deep shot to give the Heat a 66-57 lead about four minutes into the third quarter. And after Maxey ignited the home crowd by elevating for a dunk to slice the Heat’s advantage to four late in the period, Max Strus immediately answered with a long ball.

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As the Sixers enter a grueling March, Tucker said he will not be checking daily to see where the Sixers stack up defensively. For the record, the Milwaukee Bucks, Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, Celtics, Heat and Chicago Bulls (the only outlier of this group) were ahead of the Sixers in efficiency entering Tuesday.

Yet Tucker does recognize that mark is often a championship barometer, and that the Sixers have areas to clean up down the stretch.

“The one, two, three defensive teams are usually [playing] at the end,” Tucker said. “When it’s all said and done, they’re usually the ones that make it to the conference finals and to the Finals.”