: Yahoo Sports: Your source for all things athletic

16 reflections on the 2024-25 Sixers at the halfway point of the season, as reported by NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers have finally reached the All-Star break.

As the NBA world takes a breath, let’s dive into 16 thoughts on the 20-34, All-Star-less Sixers:

1. We’ll start with head coach Nick Nurse’s perspective. He’s given a plethora of injury updates this year and used 33 starting lineups.

“At the top of my mind is getting as healthy as we can, obviously,” Nurse said Wednesday night after the Sixers’ loss to the Nets. “Getting back to maybe some Square 1 things … and getting to work. You’ve got to kind of not look back. It’s been as difficult a season as it can be on a lot of fronts, but we can’t focus on that.

“We have to focus on what’s in front of us, and what’s in front of us is trying to figure out how to play well together, play harder, play better (defense), play better (offense). Just try to get some focus back. Hopefully, the break will give us a chance to digest some things and understand we’ve still got a lot of basketball to play. And go from there.”

2. Every NBA team tries to play it somewhat safe when it comes to stars’ injury management and sitting out select back-to-backs.

For the Sixers, there’s been quite a few players who have aimed to get off the sidelines as soon as possible and then dealt with recurring injuries. That suggests excessive caution isn’t the core issue here. Players lacking desire or urgency to return to the floor is certainly not the problem either.

3. Joel Embiid’s played in 17 games and missed 37.

Health is inherently unpredictable, as the Sixers have shown us all, and the doctors who have treated Embiid are obviously the experts. Still, it’s valid to wonder whether Embiid’s situation would be brighter if he hadn’t pushed to come back last season following a procedure on his left lateral meniscus. Before his choice to play in the Olympics, that was an important decision.

“I had surgery in February … and I did come back early to fight for the team and to play, try to give us a chance,” Embiid said on Nov. 1.

4. If the Sixers were among the top teams in the Eastern Conference, it’s hard to imagine Tyrese Maxey would not be an All-Star. Even counting his five-point outing Tuesday vs. the Raptors, Maxey has averaged 29.6 points, 6.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals since Dec. 16.

5. Anyone who saw the Sixers’ first-round playoff loss to the Knicks last year knew they needed to improve at rebounding. According to Cleaning the Glass, the team ranks 24th in offensive rebounding rate and 28th in defensive rebounding rate.

Injuries are a giant factor, but the Sixers did begin the year with several small guards in the rotation. They also placed a decent chunk of hope in backup center Andre Drummond, whose season has been derailed by a left toe injury. He’s only played six times this calendar year.

6. The veteran-heavy composition of the Sixers’ roster has been a serious weakness. Eric Gordon found his game after a rough start, but everyone else over 30 years old had an injury-plagued, disappointing first half of the season. That includes Embiid, Drummond, Paul George and Kyle Lowry. The Sixers parted with 34-year-old Reggie Jackson at the trade deadline, too.

7. Any NBA player who’s 38 years old is an outlier. As far as being healthy and helpful in the playoffs, it doesn’t appear Lowry is going to defy the odds. He missed the Sixers’ final two games before the break because of his bothersome right hip.

“It’s been difficult for him,” Nurse said Monday. “He had a pretty bright spot in the middle there when he came back and we kind of went on that run where we played pretty well. … It’s difficult. I’m not sure there’s going to be much different than this, that he plays little stretches and then it flares up. We’ve got to try to treat it and get it a little better. Miss some time. What is it? Wash, rinse, repeat.”

8. On the youthful side, all three Sixers rookies have developed impressively. It didn’t take long for Jared McCain to produce a string of 20-point performances. Adem Bona still has plenty of overzealous moments, but he’s continued to flash great explosiveness, effort and shot blocking. And Justin Edwards has gone from undrafted to solid, consistent NBA rotation player over the last six weeks or so.

9. Along with the rookies, Guerschon Yabusele has been a massive bright spot. In 51 games, the “Dancing Bear” has averaged 11.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He’s also shot 40.1 percent from three-point range and been a dependable, smart, hustling player amid all the Sixers’ injuries.

“He’s somebody that really doesn’t make mistakes,” Embiid said on Feb. 5. “He just plays great basketball. High IQ. We certainly need those types of guys. We had one in Nico (Batum) last year. Guerschon has been amazing. Hopefully, that keeps going and hopefully he’s here for years to come with us.”

10. The KJ Martin trade is the Sixers’ easiest deadline move to criticize. Since the second year of Martin’s contract is non-guaranteed, it doesn’t appear there’s any real impact beyond this season. Prior to his foot injury, Martin was generally playing well and seemed to make sense for the Sixers as a younger (24), extremely athletic, defensively versatile role player. The Sixers ultimately gave away Martin and two second-round draft picks in exchange for cash considerations.

11. Deadline additions Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler have started nicely with the Sixers. Watching Butler score a career-high 26 points against the Sixers on Jan. 8, it felt a bit strange that he was on a two-way contract. The Sixers logically changed that Thursday by converting him to a standard NBA deal.

12. George and the Sixers have talked frequently about the team’s struggles to discover rhythm and chemistry. Given the Sixers’ slew of injuries, the point is absolutely fair. However, George has sometimes been too deferential offensively to Maxey and/or Embiid, allowing himself to wait on the edge of the action. He’s attempted 15.6 field goals per 36 minutes, which would be the lowest number of George’s career since his third NBA season.

13. George’s free throw rate thus far (.173) would be the worst of his career. His rim attempt rate (16 percent) would also be a career low, per Cleaning the Glass. Everything would presumably be smoother if the Sixers’ Big 3 was constantly together, but that hasn’t been close to the case and George hasn’t been good at creating relatively easy points for himself.

14. To his credit, George has tended to play hard and well defensively, all things considered. A lot of frustrated stars would not have three blocks and two steals on a night where they scored two points and played through nagging injuries, as George did Wednesday in Brooklyn.

15. Basketball Reference’s playoff probabilities report says the Sixers have an approximately 41 percent chance to make the play-in tournament. It says they have a zero percent chance of climbing to a top-six seed.

While Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey’s optimism level at his post-deadline press conference sounded much higher than those odds, it’s worth keeping in mind that even a play-in spot is now very far from a lock. At the break, the Sixers are 1.5 games behind the 10th-seeded Bulls.

16. Outside of decisions related to legitimate injuries like Embiid’s left knee, the topic of whether it would be sensible for the Sixers to “tank” doesn’t seem that pertinent right now. They’re on a five-game losing streak, including three defeats with all stars available. They’ve been trying to win this season and have already lost 34 times.