Not a ton of action this week leading up to the All-Star Break, but the Sixers made the most of it. They came out on top in both games they played, home dates with the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz.

At the unofficial midpoint of the season, your Philadelphia 76ers continue to lord over the Eastern Conference with a 24-12 record. No time to take their foot off the gas, though--the Brooklyn Nets trail them by just a half-game (24-13), and the Milwaukee Bucks (22-14) are firmly in the mix themselves.

But that's a problem for another day. How did they look in the two victories?

Monday, 3/1/21: Won v. Indiana Pacers 130-114

--How about that bench though with the 67 points?? They outscored the Pacers second-unit by 20. Shake Milton with 26? Furkan Korkmaz (!) with 19 points and six triples and two...blocks(!?)? Tyrese Maxey with five dimes? Terrance Ferguson (!!!) even scored his first points of the season on a powerful two-handed slam to put an exclamation on things for the Sixers' final points of the night. Just an all around excellent performance. No starter had to play even 28 minutes in this one, something I love to see.

--Now for something I don't love to see...19 turnovers. To be fair, there are a few caveats to that number. First, The starters only totaled nine numbers, which, given their collective time on the court is perfectly reasonable. Framed that way, despite the bench's terrific performance overall as mentioned above, the team still lacks any true plus second-unit ballhandlers, so their ten turnovers shouldn't be too surprising. Also, the Pacers coughed it up 19 times too, so it was a wash. But if I sound like a broken record, it's because I am. Ball security is something I'd love this team to fix in the second half of the season. They average the fourth most giveaways at 15.6 per game and have the fifth highest turnover rate at 13.6%. Plenty of great teams turn the ball over--the Lakers sit two spots behind them in the former category and are directly in their review in the latter--but again, this team has less of a margin for error than others with the lack of shot creation.

--Three pointers! Yay! 15 makes on 35 attempts (42.9%) both excellent figures for this team! I don't expect Korkmaz (6-for-13 from deep) to channel his inner JJ Redick again any time soon, but Milton going 3-for-5 shouldn't be as much of an aberration as it is. He's at 31.3% for the year after entering the season a career 40.2% sniper. Maybe this is the beginning of a hot streak for him. And a Mike Scott sighting! 3-for-3! Sorry, 3-pointer make me happy, especially when this team takes and makes a bunch, because it doesn't happen often enough.

--Myles Turner is a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year Candidate. He is blocking shots at a ludicrous rate (3.4 per game, highest average in NBA since 2015-2016) and has more perimeter wiggle than you'd expect. And Joel Embiid snatched his soul. The Sixers' big man went for 24 and 13 with five assists in just 27 minutes and finished a +22 on the night and that performance ranks among his more pedestrian outings this season. Turner had 11 and 3 and was a -17. Embiid is truly on another level this year.

--Pacers' backup point guard TJ McConnell had 7 points and 5 assists off the bench in 24 minutes. In four years in Philadelphia, McConnell averaged 6.4 points and 4.7 assists in 22.0 minutes. It's truly impressive how effective and consistent a player the former undrafted free agent has turned himself into. He doesn't boast impressive size, strength, length, athleticism, or even an average outside shot, and yet he continues to provide impact play through sheer will and competitiveness. His contract expires after this season, and I can't say I wouldn't love a reunion.

Wednesday, 3/3/21: Won v. Utah Jazz 131-123 (OT)

--Great come from behind win. The Sixers trailed by as many as 13 points and Utah controlled the play for the majority of regulation. They even closed the game on a 9-0 run over the last 2:35. All credit to Tobias Harris. After sitting out the previous two games with a banged up knee and largely struggling through the bulk of the game, the 6'8" forward came alive in overtime, pouring in 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. He also continued to crash the glass at a high level, collecting 10 rebounds. In 15 games leading up to the break, Harris averaged 8.6 rebounds. Julius Randle has been terrific for the Knicks, but it's a shame his spot couldn't go to Harris for All-Star Game given the latter's impact on a contending team.

--Remember what I said earlier about Joel Embiid against Myles Turner? I could virtually copy and paste that here. He went front for 40 points on 27 shots and hauled in 19 board; Rudy Gobert--who already has 2 DPoYs--scored just 12 points on 40% shooting and grabbed 9 rebounds. Embiid only played about a minute and a half more than his counterpart. I'm not here to belabor the point, but...Joel is good.

--Big improvement game-over-game in the turnovers. I was harsh on them earlier, so I'll commend the Sixers for coughing it up only 11 times this time. I could point out that the Jazz force the fewest turnovers in the league, but that's no fun. Further, they forced 16 turnovers and scored 25 points off of them, so they're absolved. Some luck came into play in the bigger picture, though--it's difficult to win when you allow your opponent to can 21 threes at a 47.7% clip AND get outrebounded (52 to 50), but nearly doubling the Jazz up at the free throw line (27 makes to 14) certainly played a part.

--Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points...but he took 34 shots. Jordan Clarkson, who dropped 40-burger on the Sixers just a couple of weeks prior, scored just 10 points on 10 shots. Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic scored 18 apiece, but were a -15 and -14, respectively. Many times before in this space, I have criticized the Sixers struggles containing offensive-minded guards, but I have no such complaints here. Solid job on a team with great backcourt talent and depth.

--Quin Snyder's Team Lebron drubbed Doc Rivers' Team Durant in this year's All-Star game, giving Snyder a 2-1 record against Doc this year. Oh well. If these teams meet in the Finals...we'll see who comes out on top.

What's Next?

After the All-Star Break, the Sixers hit the ground running. A road back-to-back at the Chicago Bulls (16-18) and Washington Wizards (14-20) kicks off a stretch of five games in 7 nights beginning Thursday, March 11. Both games will be at 8:00 p.m. Philadelphia is 3-0 against those teams so far this year, with all three victories coming at home. Joel Embiid should be particularly excited to face Chicago again--he put up a career-high 50 points in the lone meeting. He's had his fair share of success against Washington as well, averaging 33.5 points through two meetings.

The Sixers will then return home for a Sunday evening matchup with the San Antonio Spurs (18-14) at 6:30 p.m. The two teams have not faced each other yet this season. These Spurs aren't the same dominant force they were for two decades, as they missed the playoffs last year for the first time since the 1996-1997 season. They are no pushover, however, as young talents like Dejounte Murray and Keldon Johnson are being led by venerable veterans DeMar DeRozan and Patty Mills back into postseason position.