I don't think many of us woke up yesterday expecting last night's home game to be any kind of historic for the Philadelphia 76ers. The team had already clinched their first playoff appearance in six years and their first 82-game winning record in far longer -- although there was still playoff position to be fought for, it seemed like most of the season's legitimate intrigue had already been settled. But then, last night, it happened: a game that Sixers fans had long been waiting for, and one that no Process Truster is likely to forget anytime soon.
That's right: The Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 112-106, bumping the Lakers up in the tanking rankings and greatly increasing the odds of the Sixers landing a top ten pick with L.A.'s first-round selection in the upcoming draft.
And also Markelle Fultz returned to the Sixers' lineup. It says something about how good the Sixers are doing currently, and how much is still going on with the team in general, that scanning through my Twitter TL last night, I'm not sure I saw a single fan commenting on the Detroit-L.A. game. You may recall there was a time not all that long ago where this portion of the NBA season was reserved almost exclusively for crappy game scoreboard-watching, with a showdown like Detroit-L.A. creating Golden State-Cleveland-type buzz in the greater Philadelphia era. This year, hell, we might give the Lakers their first-round pick back if they caught us on the right day and asked nicely.
So yeah, Fultz Back. Simply put, he looked good. Maybe not as good as his raw numbers would imply -- 10 points, eight assists, four boards (all career highs) in 13 minutes -- but good. Solid. You essentially saw everything you'd want to see from Fultz: He competed on defense, he made smart reads as a point guard, and he looked scary when attacking. And just as every Sixers writer was preparing their Well He Doesn't Really Need a Jumper to Be Effective arguments/rationalizations, he even did them the favor of hitting a couple pull-ups -- undoubtedly a King Kong-sized monkey off the rookie's back.
The one thing we didn't really get to see from Fultz is him playing off the ball. Brett Brown is currently using him as Ben Simmons' backup, which probably makes sense -- it gives the Sixers a credible offensive initiator for their second unit, especially while T.J. McConnell continues slumping from the field, and still lets him steal a few minutes with Joel Embiid here and there to begin building some pick-and-roll chemistry there, all while keeping the pressure on Markelle relatively low. But of course, Simmons is the team's true, unquestioned PG -- something he proved again last night with his 11-assist, one-TO performance, many of his dimes coming on seemingly nonexistent advantages that he basically created out of thin air in transition -- so Fultz will have to learn to be a Kyrie-in-Cleveland-like off-ball threat as a secondary creator.
But if that part doesn't come until next season? Totally fine. The crazy thing about adding Fultz to this lineup is that this lineup is already so goddamn loaded. I mean, do you remember how a couple months ago, the team was giving heavy minutes to Jeryd Bayless, Timothe Luwau-Cabarrot and Trevor Booker? All those guys are currently either off the team or on the bench, and now the Sixers have an offensive rotation like the 2009 Phillies; just bats, up and down the lineup. Its depth and balance is almost Spurs-y. Even without Fultz, this team is as dangerous right now as it's been in the post-Iverson era.
You can see it in the third quarters. The third quarters are, traditionally, where the good, professional, experienced team comes out and really takes care of business against a lesser opponent -- and Sixers fans know this, because it was the quarter where they'd give countless games away to older, better teams earlier in the season. But now the Sixers themselves are the older, better team, and once they start jetting into the stratosphere after halftime -- like they did last night against the Denver Nuggets, to the tune of a 17-2 run early in the quarter -- it's almost impossible to drag 'em back down to earth. (Oh yeah, the Sixers won the game 123-104, despite trailing by eight at the half.)
NBA
It's not an exaggeration to say that right now, the Philadelphia 76ers are one of the best teams in the NBA. They're still just fourth in the East, but with the third-best scoring differential; they've won seven in a row, they've gone 27-12 since the New Year (and 18-1 at the WFC), and they have the easiest schedule from here, with only two games remaining against +.500 NBA squads. Most importantly, they just feel like they've fully self-actualized: the team is playing its best ball, with its fullest (and healthiest) roster, going into the postseason. This team is now ending games -- and is going to end the entire season -- stronger than they began. When was the last time you could say that about the Sixers?