Welcome to the season's final installment of monthly rankings from The Committee (of One) ... with Phoenix maintaining its stranglehold on No. 1 in 2022
Re: the Sixers...for the record, "a mere 13-7 record" is a .650 winning percentage, which is better than all NBA teams currently except the Suns (.795) and Grizzlies(.705). That's a 53-29 team projected over the entire season. The only teams who have (or can possibly) hit 53 wins this season are: Suns and Grizzles (already done it), and the Heat (have to go 2-1 in their final 3 games) and Warriors (have to go 3-0 in their final 3 games). Also, what suggests that Embiid's pairing with Harden was "lukewarm" to start? They've paired pretty seamlessly in the pick-and-roll game and have genuinely seemed very happy to play with one another the entire time (I've watched every single Sixers game this year). It hasn't been perfect, but they're still learning to play together. Also, despite his poor shooting, Harden still has a true shooting percentage of 61.2% thanks to his free throws.
Re: the Sixers...for the record, "a mere 13-7 record" is a .650 winning percentage, which is better than all NBA teams currently except the Suns (.795) and Grizzlies(.705). That's a 53-29 team projected over the entire season. The only teams who have (or can possibly) hit 53 wins this season are: Suns and Grizzles (already done it), and the Heat (have to go 2-1 in their final 3 games) and Warriors (have to go 3-0 in their final 3 games). Also, what suggests that Embiid's pairing with Harden was "lukewarm" to start? They've paired pretty seamlessly in the pick-and-roll game and have genuinely seemed very happy to play with one another the entire time (I've watched every single Sixers game this year). It hasn't been perfect, but they're still learning to play together. Also, despite his poor shooting, Harden still has a true shooting percentage of 61.2% thanks to his free throws.