The Philadelphia 76ers are 25-15 after 40 games in a long NBA season. That’s a solid start for any team, but the Sixers weren’t built to be just solid, they were built to be NBA championship contenders. That still is the case for them, but there are some shortcomings this team is dealing with as the season continues.
One of those big issues is their struggles on the road. The team has lost five in a row on the road and they are 7-13 away from the Wells Fargo Center compared to 18-2 at home. There are some key numbers that explain why they struggle so much on the road and they are numbers that must be reversed in order to take that next step.
Defense
The Sixers are built to win games defensively. That’s why they went out and brought in Al Horford and Josh Richardson to join defensive stalwarts Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and for the most part, it has worked. The Sixers are sixth in the league in defensive rating with 106.1, but on the road, they struggle to figure it out.
Philadelphia gives up 109.8 points per game on the road compared to only 101.9 points at home. They also allow opponents to shoot 37.6% from deep on the road compared to just 33.9% at home. They also average 2.6 less rebounds on the road. It’s normal for teams to play better at home compared to on the road, but the Sixers turn into a below-average defensive team on the road and that can’t happen.
Shooting
This Sixers team will never be confused with the sharpshooting Golden State Warriors, but for the season they have shot 35.9% from deep which is good for 13th in the league. On the road, Philadelphia shoots 34.4% from deep compared to 37.6% at home. When one considers that the league average is 35.4%, they once again are putting up below-average numbers in a road situation.
Philly shoots just 34.4% from deep on the road compared to 37.6% from deep at home. The league 3-point shooting average is 35.4%. #Sixers
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) January 12, 2020
Mental toughness
This one cannot be measured by the numbers, but the Sixers have not nearly been tough on the road compared to being at home. One example was the loss to the Miami Heat on December 28 when they had the game in hand, but then committed a comedy of errors that cost them the game in overtime.
That was then followed by the New Year’s Eve debacle in Indiana against the Pacers when they were outscored 38-16 in the second quarter as they had no response. Then there was Saturday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks where they were outscored 68-41 in the second half. The Sixers need to have the mental fortitude to battle through those runs just like they do at home where they have proven they can bounce back and respond.
As of right now, Philadelphia is the 5 seed in the Eastern Conference which means they would not have home-court advantage in the playoffs. Now, obviously, a lot can change over the final 42 games of the season and they can move into the top 4 in the East, but they will eventually have to fix this road issue. What will happen in the playoffs when they have to win a critical road game to save their season? The evidence right now says they won’t be able to get it done. [lawrence-related id=23324,23317,23311]