The NBA season is currently on hiatus due to coronavirus after 65 games for the Philadelphia 76ers and it has been an interesting season for them to say the least. They are an NBA best 29-2 at home while struggling on the road at 10-24 which leaves them as the 6 seed in the East.
The two guys who have received the most criticism for their struggles are Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Despite being All-Stars together for the second consecutive season, the two of them get the brunt of the blame and that just comes with being the centerpieces.
Bleacher Report has ranked the top 30 duos–one for each team–at this point of the season and the Embiid and Simmons duo comes in ranked just 14th in the league.
Bleacher Report explained their ranking:
For those who may have expected to see Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in the top 10, there are a few issues here. First, both players dealt with injuries this season. Embiid alone missed 21 games.
The bigger problem, though, was that the duo’s net rating hit a new low. The Philadelphia 76ers were still a plus with both on the floor, but not by much.
That may have a lot to do with how much these two played with Al Horford (the net rating is far better when both are on without Horford), but that won’t be talked about as much as the fit between Simmons and Embiid.
The Sixers are going to have to figure out what’s next for this group whenever basketball does return. The Simmons and Embiid duo have proven they can succeed together in the past, but the issues are the pieces around them. [lawrence-related id=28499,28493,28481]