PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are ranked 15th in the league in offensive rating at 112.8 as they try to figure everything out on the floor. They have a very talented group of players, but they have dealt with numerous injuries. Players being in and out of the lineup has caused issues.
To begin the current homestand, the Sixers have been much better on the offensive end of the floor. They have scored 133, 131 and 123 points in the homestand’s first three games, respectively.
A little wrinkle Philadelphia has added to its offense is having James Harden operate out of the post. There were a few instances when they posted him up in Tuesday’s win over the Sacramento Kings, and he made a pass out to a wide-open Georges Niang for easy 3s because the Kings had to double Harden.
“That’s something we’ve worked on,” said coach Doc Rivers. “It can be really good for us. The post up to the pick-and-roll, that tight pick-and-roll is a hard play to guard, and James, we talked about it this summer, now that he’s doing it, and Joel (Embiid) and him have a pretty good rhythm, that’s something that can really be a great down the stretch play for us.”
The benefit of having Harden close to the basket is he is already a great scorer who gets to the free-throw line often. Adding this layer to this offense allows him to see the defense from a different spot on the floor and his teammates can play off him from there. He has such a high basketball IQ he understands what he has to do for the team to succeed.
“Just trying to find ways to be aggressive,” said Harden. “Whether it’s for myself or my teammates. Just try to bait the defense or be aggressive and score the basketball. Georges shot the ball well, just trying to find a different element to be aggressive in.”
This appears to be another wrinkle that they will lean on to have offensive success.
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