Philadelphia 76ers: Never start DeAndre Jordan ever again

It was always going to be hard for the Philadelphia 76ers to take down the Miami Heat – even a Miami Heat team down Kyle Lowry – without Joel Embiid.

Embiid is the team’s focal point at both ends of the court, by far their best rebounder, and the Sixers’ heart and soul who is capable of changing the tenner of a contest and galvanizing his troops when the shots aren’t falling. With no clear answer for Embiid’s size and power, defending “The Process” would have been a tricky task for Erik Spoelstra’s squad, but in his absence, the team was able to do what they do and force Doc Rivers to empty his bag of tricks – and eventually, his bench – on the way to a losing effort in South Beach.

Outside of Tobias Harris, who balled out to the tune of 27 points in 37 minutes, the Sixers’ offense was a misfiring mess, with Georges Niang specifically going 0-7 from deep to record a goose egg in 22 minutes of action.

But what can the Philadelphia 76ers do to keep things competitive until Joel Embiid comes back like Gandolf the White and the end of The Two Towers? Well, for one thing, they can retire DeAndre Jordan for the season, as his play was downright ugly in a contest that was largely decided when he was on the court.

The Philadelphia 76ers can’t overcome DeAndre Jordan’s +/-.

DeAndre Jordan is a good lob threat. When a player like James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, or Tobias Harris heaves the ball into the air just above the bucket, Jordan can more or less throw it down into the cylinder.

Unfortunately, that’s about all Jordan does well at the NBA-level anymore, as he can’t really defend, moves slowly in transition, and is either incapable or unwilling to box out for rebounds at either end of the court. Jordan finished off the Philadelphia 76ers’ 106-92 loss to the Miami Heat with a +/- of -22, which is pretty darn bad when you consider he only played 17 minutes over the course of the game, and the team only lost by 14.

The Sixers’ offense looked stagnant, their pick-and-roll offense was beyond forgettable, and they routinely came up short against a Heat squad that can score in a hurry.

And yet, when Jordan left the court and was replaced with G-League MVP Paul Reed, everything magically got better. Reed provided good energy at both ends of the court, rebounded whenever the ball came his way, and even ran the fast break, which I’m sure Doc Rivers would prefer not to incorporate into the team’s regular game plan but was effective for a single drive nonetheless.

What did the Sixers do differently when it was Reed at the five alongside Harden and company instead of Jordan? Honestly, not much at all: The difference was largely personnel-based.

Reed is just a better all-around player at this point in their respective careers; he’s a better rebounder, a better defender, and provides that unquantifiable X-Factor that won’t show up on the stats sheet but can serve as a multiplying force for the players around him. In a way, Reed and Embiid actually have a similar, shall we say, hardwood je ne sais quoi, and while the latter is out, the former needs to provide that sizzle for as many minutes as possible.

Would the Philadelphia 76ers have beat the Miami Heat had Paul Reed played 30 minutes, and DeAndre Jordan played zero, instead of the duo splitting center duties 13-17? No, I don’t think they would have; the shots just weren’t falling in the third quarter, and the momentum was just too far in Miami’s favor when there was still time to field a comeback. But now, Doc Rivers and company have 48 minutes of game film to comb over and dissect heading into Game 2. Some of that will involve James Harden and Tyrese Maxey taking more shots, sure, but the biggest takeaway is that DeAndre Jordan – and Paul Millsap – just isn’t an NBA player at this stage of the game, and it would be wise to accept that moving forward instead of trying to squeezing the last bit of life out of his basketball career.