The first month of the 2022-23 season for the Philadelphia 76ers was a bumpy ride. An 0-3 start that featured three brutal defeats has now been masked by a solid stretch of basketball, some of which has come amid Joel Embiid absences from the roster.
The Sixers are 4-4 heading into November. They will have a lot more to prove after a few weeks' worths of games together and some momentum heading into the month. Let's dish out a grade for each of the key Sixers players and head coach Doc Rivers.
Joel Embiid: B-
After a horrible start to the season, Embiid bounced back with some big performances. He missed two of the last three games with knee soreness and a non-COVID-19 illness (that still impacts his status in the Sixers' first November contest). His per-game averages of 27.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists are right at home with Embiid's past production, and his 53.2 field goal percentage is a career-high mark. But there are some areas he has to get better at.
Embiid's defense has not been all that great. He's still impactful, yes, but has yet to show the profound level of intensity that he said he wanted to achieve. Additionally, he's averaging 3.7 turnovers per game and has not drawn nearly as many fouls as he usually does. Although he can be cut some slack as he continues to build his conditioning back up after suffering from plantar fasciitis in the offseason, the expectations for Embiid are massive. His start to the season has been solid, but he has plenty of room to be better.
James Harden: A
Harden has been mostly tremendous to start the season, posting some incredible games. Even as his numbers have begun to fall back down, he remains very impactful. Through eight games, he has averaged 21.8 points, 10.0 assists and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from deep.
23 PTS | 7 REB | 17 AST (ties a career-high)@JHarden13 was firing on all cylinders tonight.
pres. by @PALottery pic.twitter.com/YiC7b0jbn0
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 1, 2022
The most surprising thing about Harden so far this season is his uptick in midrange shots. His attempts at the rim are way down and his midrange attempts (especially long middies) are way up. Strong defense has yet to be seen out of Harden, but no one was expecting that anyway. His scoring has been very good, his playmaking has been instrumental for the Sixers' offense and he looks like he can truly be one of the best players on a top team.
Tyrese Maxey: A
Many basketball fans (myself included) saw this season as Maxey's breakout year. A career-high 44 points helped punctate his stellar start to the season. The soon-to-be-22-year-old is averaging 23.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists. He's shooting — get ready — 51.1 percent from the field and 45.3 percent from deep on 6.6 3-point attempts per game!
Maxey is showing serious improvement as a shooter. His confidence knows no bounds whether it's a spot-up look or a deep pull-up, and he still leaves defenders in the dust with his speed. Although Maxey leaves lots of room for improvement as a defender and is still in the process of becoming a consistently good playmaker, the growth in his scoring abilities makes up for it. The buzz he generated with a phenomenal preseason is only getting stronger.
P.J. Tucker: B
With averages of 6.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and shooting percentages of 57.1 percent from the field and a clean 50.0 percent from 3, Tucker has been as solid as advertised for the Sixers so far. His defense and leadership have been very important and will continue to be for the rest of the season.
When Embiid sits, Rivers turns to Tucker to play center. His ability to space the floor and hit floaters as a roller makes him a nice option. Although some of his matchups went off for big scoring nights (namely Pascal Siakam), it's not a significant reason to worry just yet. The veteran is leading vocally and by example while making the most of his limited touches.
Tobias Harris: B+
Tobias Harris' 13.1 points per game are the fewest he has posted since his second season in the league. That is a great sign for both him and the Sixers. Although that's not something great to hear about a guy with a max contract, the current version of Harris has been very beneficial for Philly. In his more limited offensive role, he is still bringing it on defense and adjusting his game to become more catch-and-shoot-centric.
Harris has embraced his catch-and-shoot 3-point work, and the results are showing so far. Not only do 52.4 percent of his shots come from deep — a level of 3-point frequency he has never come close to throughout his career — but he is shooting 40.9 percent from 3-point land, which ranks second-best among all 12 of his seasons. His willingness to change his game for the betterment of the team (and doing it very well) deserves recognition.
De'Anthony Melton: B+
Melton got off to a slow start to the season but has been very good lately. He has emerged as one of the Sixers' key players thanks to his well-rounded skill set. Already, Melton has shown how impactful he can be along the margins with his great defense, passing, shooting and decision-making. Rivers trusts him to start and guard a variety of players for good reason.
Danuel House Jr.: C
House has been one of Rivers' regular bench players. His defense has been lively and somewhat effective, but his 3-point shooting has not been. With only three makes from deep on 11 attempts this season, House has not lived up to half of the 3-and-D archetype he has proven to be in the past. This absolutely doesn't mean he's now a bad shooter overall, but it has limited his ability to help the Sixers.
Montrezl Harrell: C
Harrell has emerged as the key off-the-bench center for the Sixers. However, he has yet to be a key difference-maker. His production is down across the board (except, strangely, for his blocks). Part of this is because Rivers doesn't look to get Harrell going on offense all that much, but part of it is that he doesn't offer much value when he isn't being fed the ball as a roller or in face-up situations.
Georges Niang: B-
Niang has hit 15 triples out of 31 attempts and, like most members of the Sixer's bench, has started to contribute more after a slow start. His contributions elsewhere are somewhat negligible but, overall, he is mainly here to shoot from deep and has done just that at a very efficient rate.
Matisse Thybulle: B-
After playing scarcely to start the season, Thybulle now seems to have a more solidified spot off the bench. He hasn't contributed anything different than his usual defensive chaos creation and offensive inconsistency, though.
Paul Reed, Shake Milton, Furkan Korkmaz, Jaden Springer: N/A
None of these guys have played enough to warrant a grade. Reed and Milton could get more playing time as the season goes on, but so far have only played here and there. Springer was just sent down to the G League.
Doc Rivers: C+
Rivers lives in a cloud of resentment from Sixers fans, and his firing is requested daily. They do have some weaknesses in the team to point to, such as the inability to play more uptempo and the continuing trend of stalling on offense. Using space-centric, small-ball lineups has proven to be beneficial, though, and he has leaned more into Maxey as a creator as the season goes on.
The Sixers have begun to fix some of their issues, not all of which are the coach's fault, but Rivers still has something to prove.
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