The 76ers are winning now by playing big

After moving Jerryd Bayless to the bench, the Philadelphia 76ers have been bulling opposing starting lineups with their new big starting five.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been on a roll lately with three straight victories, including a statement win against a Chris Paul-less Houston Rockets squad, and much of that success can be directly attributed to their new-look starting five.

After losing shooting guard J.J. Reddick for the entirety of their Texas two-step with back spasms, head coach Brett Brown decided to go big, and start Dario Saric at power forward, and the results have been almost day and night.

After averaging only 100.4 points on offense over the first five games of the season, the new big starting five with Ben Simmons at point guard, Reddick at shooting guard (when healthy), Robert Covington at small forward, Saric at power forward, and Joel Embiid at center have averaged a much improved 115.4 points per game over their last three games, and look like a totally different team.

While Saric’s three-point shot isn’t nearly as deadly as Bayless’, he’s looked like a completely different player in the team’s starting five as opposed to coming off of the bench and has helped to establish a newfound toughness on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. The addition of Saric to the starting lineup has given Brown not only one of the biggest starting fives in the league, and quite possibly one of the biggest in NBA history. And the lynchpin of the entire system is the team’s young 6-foot-10 point guard.

While many wondered how the Aussie would fit in at the point guard position, Simmons has been an absolute revelation for the 76ers and looks like the clear-cut NBA Rookie of the Year. His ability to not only dish the ball out on the offensive side of the ball, but also play compelling defense and pull in rebounds has made the need for a point guard-sized Bayless-type in the starting lineup a moot point.

Related Story: Are 76ers considering a buyout for Jahlil Okafor?

Even when facing off against a world-class ball-handler like James Harden, Simmons has held his own in defensive coverage and has been able to switch off on tough assignments with the team’s defensive specialist Robert Covington.

And speaking of Covington, no player has been more crucial to this transition than the former undrafted free agent from Tennessee State. His ability to cover virtually any opposing player has allowed Coach Brown to deploy his unconventional lineup without fear of costly mismatches.

Even though a team like Washington could still very well end up being a poor matchup for the 76ers due to their speedy point guard John Wall, who gashed the team for 28-points in the season opener, the advantages the team receives from going big on the offensive side of the ball clearly outweigh any disadvantages they may experience defensively.

And even if they do struggle against smaller, shiftier guards so what? The team could always choose to adjust their starting five on a matchup-to-matchup basis, with a player like T.J. McConnell making an appearance at point guard for some matchups, or deploying an extra shooter like Bayless, or eventually Markelle Fultz, in games against high-flying offenses like the Golden State Warriors.

Next: Should the 76ers swap Jahlil Okafor for Nikola Mirotic?

But going forward, it looks like Coach Brown may have found a starting five that not only helps him win games now but can also grow together for the future.