{"id":903871,"date":"2026-11-03T01:50:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T01:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/903871\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T01:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T01:50:19","slug":"defense-emerges-as-sixers-early-calling-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/903871\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense emerges as Sixers\u2019 early calling card"},"content":{"rendered":"

First, a disclaimer: It\u2019s early. Ty Jerome<\/a>, briefly a Sixer on draft night seven years ago, is among the NBA\u2019s leading scorers. Quentin Grimes<\/a> and Matisse Thybulle<\/a> are playing regular minutes for the Lakers. Another old friend, De\u2019Anthony Melton<\/a>, is shooting better from the arc than his Golden State teammate, Stephen Curry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The point is, nobody knows nothin\u2019. Not yet.<\/p>\n

That said, it looks like the Sixers can really defend. Time and again they have shown a willingness to dig in on that end of the floor, often at the most critical moments. The want-to is there. The effort is there. The connection is there.<\/p>\n

Through seven games, six of them victories, they are third in the league in defensive rating (105.4) and fifth in halfcourt rating (105.0).<\/p>\n

As LeBron James<\/a> said after Friday\u2019s victory over the Knicks, \u201cWe definitely hang our hats on the defensive end so far this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The caveats are many. Joel Embiid<\/a>\u2019s health. LeBron\u2019s age. The lack of an adequate backup center (again). The many newcomers, besides James. And, as mentioned, the fact that we\u2019re not quite two weeks into the season; seven games in October don\u2019t carry nearly the same weight as seven games in May or June.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s clear the foundation is in place. The Sixers have four standout defenders in VJ Edgecombe<\/a> and newcomers Jaylen Brown<\/a>, Dean Wade<\/a> and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope<\/a>. Embiid, before his current foot problems<\/a>, seemed to be approaching the rim-protector form he showed a few years back, and James, two months shy of his 42nd birthday, appears to have recommitted himself on the defensive end, after showing some slippage in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

Even guys who are not known for their defense, like Tyrese Maxey<\/a> and Anfernee Simons<\/a>, are putting their best feet forward \u2013 Maxey because he\u2019s Maxey, Simons because he knows he will be out there in big moments, given what an offensive weapon he has shown himself to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are just willing to guard, and that\u2019s important,\u201d Edgecombe said. \u201cWe\u2019re connected. In training camp, we obviously worked on our standard, our principles. And I say we just kind of execute from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The payoff is considerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know,\u201d he added, \u201cif we get some stops, we get out and have fun from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In James\u2019 mind, it is easier for a team featuring so many new pieces to coalesce on the defensive end.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe offense usually comes after that,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause guys are just kind of figuring it out and being on the floor with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

And indeed, the Sixers are just 23rd in offensive rating (109.3), despite Maxey\u2019s sizzling start; he\u2019s averaging just under 30 points a game, on .486\/.352\/.830 shooting splits.<\/p>\n

He generated 38 in Saturday\u2019s 109-104 victory in Charlotte, a game that was in doubt until the Sixers reeled off 13 straight points to erase a seven-point deficit late in the fourth quarter. As had been the case in the 98-93 home victory over the Knicks the night before, Edgecombe provided the dagger three-pointer in the final minute. But when you zoom out you again see that ultimately D was the difference: The Sixers limited Charlotte to 34.8 percent shooting while outscoring them 32-21 in the fourth. And they did that, even though Embiid and James were held out of the game.<\/p>\n

On Friday, they led the defending champs most of the night \u2013 at a couple points by as many as 14 \u2013 despite Brown\u2019s absence with a sore knee. And again there were moments of defensive brilliance, notably by Edgecombe and KCP, who tag-teamed Knicks star Jalen Brunson<\/a>, and Wade, who jousted with OG Anunoby<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wade started but did not squeeze off a shot while going scoreless in nearly 27 minutes of action. Still, he made a difference, and he was particularly stout during a second-quarter stretch that saw him register two of his three steals and contest an Anunoby miss. His efforts hardly went unnoticed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stat sheet doesn\u2019t always determine winning plays and the things he was doing tonight defensively, and the things that he was doing offensively, giving us extra shots and things of that nature,\u201d James said, adding that the 6-foot-9 Wade is the \u201cperfect player for every team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd,\u201d James said, \u201che\u2019s always going to make the winning plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, let us consider the work of Edgecombe, who at age 21 seems to make such plays nightly. He and Caldwell-Pope limited Brunson to 24 points on 8-for-22 shooting \u2013 no easy task, considering his herky-jerky old-man game. As Edgecombe put it, Brunson \u201cuses the fundamentals of the game well\u201d while repeatedly knocking down difficult shots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just try my best to just be there, just make sure I\u2019m contesting every shot,\u201d Edgecombe said.<\/p>\n

The Knicks, as is their wont, kept coming, and finally took the lead at 90-89 on Brunson\u2019s right-corner three-pointer over Edgecombe with 1:32 remaining.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are really great players throughout this league,\u201d Edgecombe said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to make tough shots, but I said I can\u2019t hang my head down and get mad because he made a tough shot. He shot it over me. I kind of did my job, but like I say, it\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

James put the Sixers back in front with a foul-line fadeaway, and on the next Knicks possession Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> screened for Brunson as he advanced the ball over midcourt. Embiid hedged and Edgecombe recovered, tracking Brunson as he kept his dribble and moved to his right.<\/p>\n

The moment of truth came when the Knicks star drove down the right side of the lane. There defenders are often easy pickings for his array of step-throughs, up-and-unders and fadeaways, but Edgecombe met the moment, forcing Brunson into a miss from eight feet.<\/p>\n

Then, at the other end, Edgecombe nailed his enormous three-ball. That proved decisive, despite the fact that he was whistled for a foul on Brunson (apparently with his pinky toe) next time down \u2013 a call upheld after replay review.<\/p>\n

Brunson made the first free throw, then had a ball-don\u2019t-lie miss, and the Sixers closed it out.<\/p>\n

Again, miles to go. The Sixers are hardly fully formed. But their defense \u2013 \u201cthe physicality, the communication, the keeping the ball in front, the really not quitting on plays,\u201d as Nick Nurse said \u2013 is at present their calling card. If that proves to be sustainable, it\u2019s not hard to believe that they will be in this for the long haul \u2013 that they will be playing far more meaningful games next spring than they are right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First, a disclaimer: It\u2019s early. Ty Jerome, briefly a Sixer on draft night seven years ago, is among…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":903872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,89288,378309,99],"class_list":["post-903871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sixers-analysis","tag-sixers-features","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/903872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}