PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 04: James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers talks to Tyrese Maxey #0 ... [+] and De'Anthony Melton #8 against the Indiana Pacers at the Wells Fargo Center on January 4, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesBetween early-season injuries to James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, the Philadelphia 76ers haven't been at full strength for most of the 2022-23 NBA campaign. But now that Harden and Maxey are both back in the fold, head coach Doc Rivers has begun to experiment with his starting lineups on a game-by-game basis.
"We told our team there's three lineups that we'll be using from this point on," Rivers told reporters after the Sixers’ 113-112 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. "… Some nights, it'll be to match up to them; some nights, it'll be to make them match up to us."
Rivers' willingness to experiment with the starting lineup isn't guaranteed to work, but it's the exact type of thing he should be doing at this stage of the season.
After their 120-110 win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, the Sixers are in third place in the Eastern Conference. They have a half-game lead over the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers. Barring another wave of injuries, they should comfortably finish in the top six of the East and avoid falling into the play-in tournament.
The Sixers should be vying to win as many regular-season games as possible to secure home-court advantage as long as possible. The Boston Celtics appear to be running away with the No. 1 seed in the East, but there's only one game separating the second-seeded Bucks from the Nets and the Cavaliers.
However, it's far more important for the Sixers to test out different lineup combinations ahead of the playoffs to see which groupings work best with one another. They need counterpunches when their initial lineups and schemes run into problems against certain opponents throughout a seven-game series.
Rivers didn't divulge which three lineups he had in mind as his potential starting units, but it's fairly easy to guess his three options. The first is what the Sixers headed into the season with: Maxey, Harden, Tobias Harris, P.J. Tucker and Joel Embiid. Another features De'Anthony Melton in place of Maxey—which the Sixers have used in each of their past two games—while the third would be a three-guard lineup with Melton in place of Tucker.
Of those three lineups, the Harden-Melton-Harris-Tucker-Embiid group has played the most time together this season. The Sixers have outscored opponents by 11.1 points per 100 possessions with that five-man unit on the floor in a 469-possession sample size, largely fueled by a sizzling offense (124.25 points per 100 possessions, 60.0 effective field-goal percentage).
The Harden-Maxey-Harris-Tucker-Embiid lineup has played 291 possessions together, and the Sixers have outscored their opponents by 12.0 points per 100 possessions with that quintet on the floor. This group's offense is slightly less effective than the Harden-Melton-Harris-Tucker-Embiid unit (117.5 points per 100 possessions, 56.7 effective field-goal percentage), but it's allowing opponents to score only 105.5 points per 100 possessions.
The three-guard lineup featuring Maxey, Harden and Melton alongside Harris and Embiid has gotten the least amount of run so far. The Sixers have outscored their opponents by 5.4 points per 100 possessions with this group on the floor, albeit in only 49 possessions. The three-guard lineup is allowing 117.0 points per 100 possessions—the worst of the three starting lineup options by far—although the sample size is still small enough that it's impossible to draw any grand conclusions about its efficacy.
The defensive concerns with a Maxey-Harden backcourt merit this kind of experimentation. Other top East teams such as the Celtics, Nets and Cavaliers won't give the Sixers two places to hide Maxey and Harden defensively, which could prove to be their undoing over a seven-game series. Melton is by far their best defensive weapon in the backcourt, and he's a good enough long-range shooter—he's hitting 39.3 percent of his career-high 5.9 three-point attempts per game this season—to keep opponents honest on the other end of the floor.
Melton is nowhere near as much of an off-the-dribble threat as Maxey, but the Sixers don't necessarily need that alongside Harden (who controls the offense on most possessions) and Embiid (whom the typically offense runs through). Maxey is a starting-caliber player, but putting him in a super-sub role might better optimize the Sixers' rotation.
"I'm a professional at the end of the day, and I feel like I am a starter in this league, but I feel like our team is so good that we could have multiple people starting," Maxey told reporters after the Lakers game.
Having six starting-caliber players is certainly a first-world problem for the Sixers. If Rivers does switch between starting lineups on a game-to-game basis, though, it could cause some locker room rifts unless everyone buys in.
"We don't know if it's gonna work for us," Rivers said after the Lakers game. "Maturity. That's the key. If we can handle it, it'll be really good for us. Because I think we have enough guys that we can do that with. But we may find out that it doesn't work well and go to one lineup. But I do think for the best of the team, it works."
Tucker, who signed a three-year, $33 million contract with the Sixers as a free agent this past offseason, might not be thrilled about bouncing in and out of the starting lineup. He reportedly had multiple other offers in free agency, but his relationship with Harden from their Houston days seemingly influenced his decision to come to Philadelphia.
Then again, the three-guard lineups could be a way to buy Tucker some regular-season rest. The 37-year-old has been playing through a pinched nerve—which he described as a "dead hand" right before Christmas—which perhaps explains his reticence to catch-and-fire on corner three-pointers like he did in Miami last year.
Maxey might be the key to this three-lineup strategy, though. The 22-year-old was averaging nearly 23 points per game on 46.2 percent shooting prior to his foot injury in mid-November, and he becomes eligible for a lucrative extension this offseason. Putting up huge numbers as a starter could help him secure a max or near-max deal.
After the Lakers game, Maxey demonstrated maturity far beyond his years while discussing his move to the bench.
"You've gotta be a professional at the end of the day," he said. "If that's what they decide the best option is for the team, then you have to accept that. You have to go out there and be a star in whatever role that they give you. I've said that since I was a rookie. At the end of the day, you've gotta be a star in the role that they give you."
Maxey lived up to that words Tuesday against the Clippers, knocking down three triples early in the fourth quarter to help the Sixers stretch their lead and regain momentum with both Harden and Embiid off the floor.
“After the game, I told Georges [Niang], I was like, 'We might not win that game if he doesn't go on that stretch there,” Harris told reporters afterward.
It’s easy to buy in to changes when they lead to wins. The real test will come if losses begin piling up at any point.
"At the end of the day, we've all gotta have the same ultimate goal, and that's to win,” Maxey said after the Lakers game. “It's not to start or it's not to be out there or to hear your name called. But you've gotta be mature about it, though. It's a tough decision. It's a tough pill to swallow because it's a pride thing, probably. At the end of the day, the only score that matters, the only time that matters is we're winning at the end when there's all zeroes and they're not."
If the Sixers can get Maxey, Melton and Tucker to stay bought in, it should only get them more ready for the playoffs, when game-to-game adjustments often help decide a series.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac or RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
Bryan Toporek, Senior Contributor
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryantoporek/2023/01/18/sixers-starting-lineup-experimentation-bodes-well-for-their-playoff-outlook/
By: Bryan Toporek, Senior Contributor
Title: Sixers’ Starting Lineup Experimentation Bodes Well For Their Playoff Outlook
Sourced From: www.forbes.com/sites/bryantoporek/2023/01/18/sixers-starting-lineup-experimentation-bodes-well-for-their-playoff-outlook/
Published Date: 01-18-2023
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the NBA salary limit?
The NBA salary cap limits the total salary each team can earn. This limit is determined by the league each year. It is designed to ensure parity between teams by preventing teams from signing multiple high-priced players and creating an unfair advantage. The cap must be kept below the teams' level in order to trade or sign free agents. They may exceed it if they make certain exceptions like signing Bird rights players or offering players a contract that includes a portion of their salary being counted against the cap, and the rest paid out as bonuses. The league's salary cap is an integral component and helps ensure that there is a fair balance between the teams.
Who made the first basket for the NBA?
Ossie Schectman (American professional basketball player) was the one who scored the first basket for the Basketball Association of America (BAA), later becoming the National Basketball Association (NBA). The basket was scored on November 1, 1946, in a game between the Toronto Huskies and New York Knickerbockers. Schectman's historic inaugural basket opened up the BAA’s inaugural season.
Which NBA player has the most blocked shots in one season?
Mark Eaton set the all-time records for blocks (456) and blocks per game (5.56) in a season during 1984-85. Eaton's total that year is the highest single-season number ever recorded in NBA history.
Hakeem Olajuwon holds the NBA record for most consecutive blocks with 3,830. Olajuwon was averaging 21.8 points per game, 11.1rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 3.0 blocks over his 18-year professional career.
Which NBA team has been the most successful?
The question of "What is the best way to answer this question?" is subjective. It will be debated by fans for years. The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics have the most NBA championships, with 17 titles. The Chicago Bulls had their heyday in the 1990s when they won six titles under Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson. Five championships have been won by the San Antonio Spurs since 1999. The Golden State Warriors have won four of the last ten. Other notable teams from throughout NBA history include the Philadelphia 76ers of the early 1980s, the Kobe-Shaq Lakers of the 2000s, and LeBron James's Miami Heat team that won back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013.
Which rivalry is the largest in the NBA basketball?
The NBA's greatest rivalry is between the Boston Celtics (the Boston Celtics) and Los Angeles Lakers (the Los Angeles Lakers).
The NBA Finals has seen 12 meetings between the Boston Celtics (with 9 wins) and the Los Angeles Lakers (12 wins). Nine of these meetings have been won by the Celtics. Their first meeting was in 1959, but they both continued to excel in the following years, especially during the 1960s and 1980s, when they would face each other six times and three, respectively. Even though 2000 was the new millennium in many ways, they still met twice each year.
What is the greatest NBA dynasty of all time?
This hotly contested topic has been discussed for decades. The "showtime Lakers of 80-1989" dominated this league for almost a decade, winning five championships. During this time, the Lakers had stars like James Worthy and Byron Scott. Kurt Rambis was also in their lineup.
From 200 to 2004, the Los Angeles Lakers, later called the Shaw and Kobe Lakers became a force to reckon with. Defended by the dynamic duo of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant - both Hall of Famers - they won three championships in a row from 2000 to 2002.
The Chicago Bulls of the 1990s were also a dominant force in their era, winning six championships under iconic head coach Phil Jackson and led by Michael Jordan, who is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time. The Chico Bulls of 1995-1996 is among one of the most legendary teams in NBA history as they completed the first of three consecutive NBA championships and posted a then-record 72 wins that season. In 2015-2016, the Bulls' regular season record of 72-10 was broken by the Golden State Warriors.
The Boston Celtics of the 1960s are perhaps the most famed dynasty in the history of the NBA, winning eight consecutive championships and 11 titles in 13 years under Hall of Fame head coach Red Auerbach. Legendary players such as Sam Jones, Bob Cousysy, John Havlicek, John Cousysy and John Havlicek created a winning culture for the Celtics that has endured for decades.
The San Antonio Spurs are another contender for the title of best NBA dynasty. From 1999 to 2007 the Spurs won four league championships and had one among the most impressive runs in league history. Gregg Popovich, Tony Parker, Manu and Manu Ginobili, all future Hall of Famers, helped improve the team's basketball style, emphasizing a team first mentality that led to their success.
With four NBA Championships in the past decade, the Golden State Warriors have been one of the most successful basketball teams. They are led by superstar players Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and head coach Steve Kerr. The Warriors are a thrilling brand of basketball that has delighted fans around the world and is also considered the greatest NBA dynasty.
In conclusion, picking one team as the greatest NBA dynasty of all time isn't easy. Each team had its unique group of players and coaches that made them successful, but some stood out more than others due to their dominance. It would be hard to argue for the greatest NBA dynasty without the Bulls Bulls Bulls Celtics Spurs Warriors and Celtics.
What is a trade exemption in NBA?
A trade exception in the NBA is an allowance for teams to trade away a player. This exception allows teams and players to be acquired whose salaries are greater than the ones they trade away. The exception is available to a team over multiple seasons. It does not count against their salary cap, luxury tax threshold, or other restrictions. Trade exceptions are a valuable way for teams to adjust their rosters without having to shed salaries or change their roster composition during the season if they need to adjust. This helps to keep the teams in competition and avoid unfair advantage situations due to financial circumstances.
It helps the league stay financially stable and allows teams to make changes without worrying about not being able to pay. Trade exceptions are an integral part roster construction in NBA. They can be used to help teams fight for championships.
Statistics
- An estimated 800 million viewers watched the [105]2017–18 season. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Williams would 'likely' accept a deal worth $14-15M/year; Celtics are 'unlikely' to offer such a deal (HoopsHype) (bleacherreport.com)
- Meanwhile, the opening night rosters include a record-setting 234 players with some G League experience, according to the NBA ( Twitter link ). (hoopsrumors.com)
- The 2013–14 season opened with 92 international players on the opening night rosters, representing 39 countries and over 20 percent of the league. (en.wikipedia.org)
- "NBA first-round ratings drop 27 percent, 40 percent since 2017–18". (en.wikipedia.org)
External Links
basketball-reference.com
- Thomas Bryant Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more | Basketball-Reference.com
- Dennis Schroder Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more | Basketball-Reference.com
sbnation.com
twitter.com
- Tweet / Twitter
- Sam Amico on Twitter: "Timberwolves Waive PJ Dozier, CJ Elleby and AJ Lawson - Hoops Wire https://t.co/xKu1ZTuQZN" / Twitter
sports.yahoo.com
- Yahoo Mail, Weather and Search. Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos.
- NBA Finals Game 1 receives the lowest audience in recorded ratings history
How To
What compensation is offered to NBA players for being injured?
NBA players with guaranteed contracts get their money in full, even if they are unable or injured to play. Some even have made millions playing basketball without ever having to play a single game. However, they may lose out on bonus payments and their contract might not be renewed. Players with non-guaranteed contracts will not usually receive any payment until they become healthy enough to return to the NBA. However, the NBA can help with payments for disability or a lump amount settlement for those who meet the criteria. There is no guarantee that you will get paid if you are injured. Additional assistance may be offered by the league or teams on a case-by–case basis.
A team can also offer some assistance through the Injury Disability Plan. It ultimately depends on the individual and their team's circumstances. In some cases, players may be allowed to bargain with their teams for some compensation during an injury absence. Players need to understand that there are no guarantees when receiving payment when injured, but the team and the league can provide some assistance. Each situation should be considered as an individual. The NBA has detailed rules for injuries and payment during injury absences. Knowing these rules can help players make agreements with their teams, or to make informed financial decisions about the future. It is essential to consult with a professional if any questions or concerns arise.
