These numbers don't lie: Sixers' offense struggling

ORLANDO - The 76ers won 12 of their first 17 games of the season. During that span, they scored 100 or more points nine times and they averaged 99.9 points a game.

During their past 17 games, the Sixers have gone 8-9, including five straight losses. They haven't scored more than 100 points in any of those games and are averaging 88.1 points.

You can see where this is headed.

Sometimes, numbers do tell the whole story, and, in this case, the story is that the Sixers' offense right now is pathetic, putrid, horrendous and stagnant. It is the main, maybe sole, reason the team can't seem to find a win, can't turn around a losing pattern that has cost it to lose seven of its last nine.

Here are some more numbers:

* Starting center Lavoy Allen has not gone to the foul line in the last seven games, in more than 129 minutes.

* Sub swingman Evan Turner hasn't scored in double figures in 10 straight games, with only 47 points during that time. He has shot 32.3 percent from the floor.

* In 424 minutes of play this season, backup center Nikola Vucevic has gone to the foul line 11 times.

* Lou Williams has shot 15-for-53 (28.3 percent) over the past four games.

* Over the past five games, Thaddeus Young has made only 26 of his 62 shots for 41.9 percent. For the season, he is shooting 50.4 percent.

* Over the past five games, the Sixers are averaging 18.6 points in the first quarter and only 17.6 in the final quarter.

That the team is 20-14 at the break and atop the Atlantic Division by 3 1/2 games over the New York Knicks cannot be overlooked. Their terrific beginning of the season, in which they won 18 of their first 25 games, was a product of the terrific defense that they've continued to play, even through this losing stretch. But it also was due in large part to an offense that was in constant motion, that probably averaged close to five exchanges of the ball in a possession, that found open cutters to the basket and that got the ball to the basket not by overdribbling. And they made jump shots. They made their open jumpers much more consistently than now, because the outside shots earlier in the season were much more open than the ones they take now. Now, it seems shots are much more contested.

But what's the reason for the sudden inefficiency at the offensive end?

There isn't only one answer. The first of many is that the team truly misses Spencer Hawes and his offensive diversity. Hawes has missed more than half the season with a strained Achillies' that is now in a boot and probably will cost him at least a couple of more weeks. Coach Doug Collins' offense was designed to use Hawes as a facilitator, to get the ball at the high post and hit guys with the backdoor pass. If the defense sagged, Hawes would hit the open jumper and, on the occasion he was overplayed, he could take one hard dribble to the basket and convert. He forced defenses into decisions.

None of that is happening now. Vucevic and Allen have done their best to plug the huge hole created by Hawes' absence, but inexperience and inability have worked against the two rookies. For as promising as they have been at times, they are not close to being the offensive threat Hawes brings.

This isn't to say that Hawes is the next coming of Wilt Chamberlain or anything like that. Please, keep those emails to yourselves. It's just that for Collins' offense, Hawes, when playing as he was at the beginning of the season, is the perfect fit. And the results showed that.

Now, the offense is a mess.

Too much of the time, the team is settling for jumpers, as nothing else is working. Problem is, this isn't a jump-shooting team. Williams and Jodie Meeks are their best snipers, but if you check the numbers above, that hasn't been going well.

So, what to do? Collins said after the Houston loss on Wednesday, "Get healthy." That would be a start. Fans want another big man or a shooter to be brought in via trade. Problem there is, with the crazy scheduling and all the injuries throughout the NBA, teams are reluctant to part with any type of talent.

If Hawes can return and somehow get close to the form he showed at the beginning of the season, and if Elton Brand's sprained thumb can get strong enough to allow him to do his dirty work down low, then a second half of more wins than losses could be a possibility.

If not, then this Sixers team might be where it's been for so many years recently - fighting for a playoff spot and probably getting bounced in the first round.