Nick Nurse names 76ers NBA Playoffs X Factor, it's not Tyrese Maxey
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Nick Nurse names 76ers NBA Playoffs X Factor, it's not Tyrese Maxey originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia 76ers had quite a rollercoaster of a season. They found a nice gem in V.J. Edgecombe at the draft, had to let go of Jared McCain, played games without Paul George due to a suspension, and saw Tyrese Maxey fully rise into stardom. On paper, the depth should be there for Coach Nick Nurse but the wins are not just coming in. With the NBA Playoffs nearing, the head coach is looking at guys like Andre Drummond to keep them alive.
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Drummond will become 76ers' NBA Playoffs X Factor
The 76ers may have scorers like Joel Embiid, Maxey, and Edgecombe but they still have a huge problem. Their rebounding ranks low when compared to other teams who plan on making a deep NBA Playoffs run. They only grab about 52.5 rebounds on average which is 17th in the whole league. What's bogging them down specifically? Well, it's the fact that they cannot close out defensive possessions well by notching rebounds and their Achilles heel is allowing too much second-chance possessions.
This is why Coach Nurse wants Drummond to step up in the games leading up to the NBA Playoffs. He did well alongside Embiid against the Charlotte Hornets and got nothing but praise from the 76ers head coach, via Tony Jones of The Athletic.
"I thought we did a good job of just being there, and we did a great job of playing. They didn’t get any offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, and that was a problem in the first three quarters. Andre Drummond came off the bench and gave us a big lift. I thought Paul stuck his nose in there and grabbed some big rebounds, and that helped us. We were just resilient tonight," Nurse declared.
To put into perspective how much of an X Factor Drummond is, the 76ers are currently one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the NBA. They rank 20th in that stat category because the Nurse-led team only gets 31.6 of them per game. Through Drummond's efforts in cleaning the glass, they now get about 34 rebounds in the past three games which is good for 12th in the association.
Perceived depth is nothing in the NBA Playoffs if there is a lot of failure in executing. Hopefully, the 76ers are able to scheme Drummond and Embiid in a way that they are able to get more rebounds to stay competitive.