Grading Philadelphia 76ers After Critical Weekend Matchups vs. Bulls and Heat

The Philadelphia 76ers, one of the most puzzling teams in the NBA, had a difficult weekend while everyone was tearing up their NCAA Tournament brackets.

The Sixers came into this weekend as the best defensive team in the NBA, and it showed for most of it, but yet, they left the weekend with two losses under their belt at the hands of the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls.

Philadelphia looked to use this as a chance to take it to the top-tier teams in the Eastern Conference and maybe put a bit of fear in them as the playoffs draw nearer. However, they limped out of the weekend with more questions to ask than ever before.

Certainly, on paper, this is one well-put together team. They have a player central to the team in Andre Iguodala, up-and-coming players in Lou Williams, Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday and two legitimate big men in Elton Brand and Spencer Hawes.

On top of that, they have everything you'd want in terms of the personality of each player, with Iggy as the cool head and Holiday as an irrational confidence guy, unafraid to take shots. Hawes can be a banger when he wants to, and Brand is an excellent veteran presence.

So why is it that this team is suddenly 25-20 after they looked so promising early on in the season? Let's take a look at the team and how they fared over the weekend to find out exactly what's going on in Philly.

Friday vs. Miami Heat: B-

What Went Right? In short, the second half. Down 57-30 at halftime Philly could have wilted and phoned in the rest of the game, but they stood strong, holding Miami to just 27 points over the course of the second half.

They got down early, as LeBron James had one of his patented offensive explosions (mostly in the first half) and he scorched them for 29 points.

Aside from that, Nikola Vucevic looked good in place of injured Spencer Hawes as the starting big man for Miami. He scored just 12 points.

They played well in the second half, but they dug such a hole early that a comeback would have been nearly a miracle.

However, if a few shots fall instead of rimming out, then we've got a different story today.

What Went Wrong? Too much Miami too early.

Looking at the game as a whole, Philly played a good game defensively, holding the league's most potent offense to just 84 points.

However, that first half was too much for any team to bear, getting down by 27 points that early.

A 6-0 run to start the game turned into a 19-5 run and eventually a 31-18 first quarter, from which Miami built on in the second. Philly's offense took too long to get into any kind of rhythm, and the Heat took advantage when they knew how.

Saturday vs. Chicago: C+

What Went Right? Basically the opposite of the Miami game, the first half saw them hold Chicago to 38 points, getting up by six at halftime.

Jrue Holiday had one of those games that he's capable of from time-to-time, scoring 30 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Meanwhile, Spencer Hawes came back from his injury, putting up 10 and grabbing seven rebounds in just 22 minutes.

The team showed why they are the best defensive team in the NBA, holding Chicago to just over 40 percent shooting and 28 percent from downtown.

What Went Wrong? Rebounds, rebounds, rebounds.

The Sixers big men, while holding Chicago to just 89 points (eight below their average), were dwarfed by the likes of Joakim Noah as the rest of Chicago worked harder and boxed out better for the boards. Outrebounded 53-39 and 17-9 on the defensive end, Philadelphia gave up far too many boards.

Beyond that, Chicago was without Derrick Rose but was still able to break down Philly with their guard play, as C.J. Watson scored 20 points himself.

Offense: D

Save the explosion for 30 points by Jrue Holiday on Saturday against the Bulls, Philadelphia's offense was ineffective.

Friday against the Heat, Philadelphia got 13 points from Evan Turner to lead the team, as he was the only one who was near efficient on offense, making six of his 13 shots. Otherwise, they shot 35 percent as a team, 28 percent for three.

It seems like they were having trouble all night getting open jumpers, as they were still able to get into the paint, scoring 38 points inside on Miami, a trend that continued on into Saturday.

The Sixers were able to score a whopping 40 points inside against the Bulls, but they still struggled, as only Jrue Holiday, Spencer Hawes and Thaddeus Young played with any kind of efficiency.

It's their streaky offensive play that has gotten them in trouble all year, and they'll have to figure out how to fix that in order to make waves in the playoffs.

Defense: A+

Philadelphia is a team as a whole that is the best defensive team in the NBA, but as individuals, they only have a few spectacular defenders. It seems to me that they are playing with a mentality that gets everyone involved in the defense, allowing them to hold down even the best teams.

Friday night, without Spencer Hawes down low, the Sixers were able to hold Miami to just 84 points, nearly 20 below their season average. That seems even more impressive when you see that they scored just 27 points in the second half. Miami shot well, but the pesky Sixers defense was able to force mistakes, as Miami turned the ball over 16 times.

Saturday saw the same old story, same old song and dance, my friends. Philadelphia gave up just 22 points in the paint while keeping Chicago honest from the outside as well, from where they shot just 28 percent.

It seems that Philadelphia can be a legitimate team come playoff time just because of what their defense is able to do. Three of the eight quarters of basketball over the course of those two days saw them hold two very potent offenses under 20 points.

Because of the slower pace of the playoffs, this is one team that's going to be very dangerous. Now let's take a look at some individual players.

Andre Iugodala: C-

Percentage-wise, Andre Iguodala is having his best offensive year ever, but he's scoring just 12 points a game. On one hand, I want to give the guy credit for realizing that he has teammates who know how to score, but on the other hand, I've got to get on him a bit as well.

Offensively, Philadelphia was horrendous this weekend. As the unquestioned leader of this team, Iggy has to do something about that.

He's not a good clutch offensive player, and that's one of the biggest criticisms from his past, so I'm glad to see him giving up shots at the end of the game to the likes of Holiday, Williams and even Turner, but the rest of the game he seems like an afterthought offensively.

I'm not saying I want to see him force something that's not there, but when he has the ball, he's become passive where he was once a very good assertive player.

Defensively, however, he was excellent this weekend. He had the task of guarding LeBron James, and while he did score 29 points, he buckled down on him in the second half, giving up just 11 points, three of which were free throws.

Saturday, he held Luol Deng to a paltry six points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Evan Turner: B-

I don't care much about the fact that Evan Turner scored just eight points on 2-of-8 shooting against the Bulls, but his late-game play against the Heat gave me hope for this kid yet.

Last year, the big complaint about the former No. 2 overall pick was that he wasn't assertive and he wasn't making himself a part of games. This year, that's completely changed.

Seven points, three rebounds and an assist in the fourth quarter of the game Friday against the Heat had Turner playing with a swagger that he's gotten quite a bit more often lately.

Of course, had he made the two free throws to bring the Sixers within four points with just two minutes left, the game could have ended differently, but that'll come with time.

Jrue Holiday: C+

Jrue Holiday is slowly turning into a little Jamal Crawford with better defense; he just needs to do a better job of knowing when he's got it and when he doesn't.

Friday against Miami was a perfect example of when he didn't have it, shooting the ball 16 times and just making it three times. That's unacceptable.

However, Saturday, he had a game that was the polar opposite. On 13-of-27 shooting, Holiday scored 30 points when nobody else on his team was stepping up to make the shots.

This is just the type of player that every team needs, a guy who isn't afraid to take shots, regardless of the situation. He's not quite a chucker, but he does have the confidence that he'll make any shot he ever takes. He just needs to realize when to tone it down a bit on nights where shots aren't falling.

Lou Williams: D+

For the past year or so, I've watched Lou Williams and liked his game, but he always seems to have streaks where he makes too many mistakes, one right after another. He's leading the Sixers in scoring, even though he's coming off the bench, which is quite impressive.

However, on this particular weekend, Williams was brutal.

He got his 15 points against the Heat, but it came on 4-of-15 shooting, with much of the same story coming the following evening. 3-of 9 shooting led to just nine points for Holiday, much of which you'll have to attribute to the defense that Chicago laid down on them.

Philly is depending on Williams to score, and he just didn't bring it this past weekend.

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