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You’re lying if you thought the Philadelphia Sixers would be leading the Atlantic Division a quarter of the way through the season. The smart bet was the New York Knicks with the addition of Tyson Chandler, they seemed ready to break through from relevant to successful. Perhaps if you fancied the old guard, you’d take the Boston Celtics, and hope that Rajon Rondo could inspire his geriatric crew for one last run. But you were not taking the Sixers. Heck, you likely considered choosing Prokhorov’s mystery men before even pondering Philadelphia. And I don’t blame you. In hindsight, the Sixers had the perfect recipe for a shortened, dense schedule: depth, a healthy mix of seasoned veterans and young legs, and an excellent coach.

What’s become very apparent so far this season is that you need a deep rotation. Teams that lean heavily on a star or two, namely the Knicks and the Heat, have quickly learned their vulnerability. Both have had trouble winning with their best players sitting out (to be fair, the Knicks have struggled much more mightily than the Heat) and both also understand they need healthy squads entering the postseason. So their regular season record suffers.

The Sixers’ curse, the lack of a compelling superstar, has become their blessing.

Not having a “star” has been an advantage for deep squads like the Sixers, Nuggets, Hawks, and Pacers (I don’t consider Danny Granger and Joe Johnson stars). The Sixers have seven players averaging double-digit points. Each of these guys (with the possible exception of Spencer Hawes) is capable of putting up 20 points on any given night. What’s more, the Sixers have 8 players averaging 24 minutes a night, yet none of these guys play more than 36 minutes. Who knew “above average” was the new “superstar”? Yet, in this shortened season, I’d rather take an above average starting five and bench than a superstar and some scrubs. The Sixers’ curse, the lack of a compelling superstar, has become their blessing.

Philadelphia also boasts an ideal mix of veterans and up-and-comers. Older teams have struggled with the condensed schedule; the Dallas Mavericks (average age of their starting five: 32.8) and the Celtics (average age of their starting five: Methuselah times five) have underperformed, undoubtedly suffering from a bad case of back-to-backs with bad, aged backs. The Sixers possess leadership and experience in Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand. Iguodala has been particularly impressive after an less-than-impassioned 2010-11 season, and after hearing his name mentioned in many trade rumors, he’s grabbing more rebounds (6.5 this year compared to 5.8 last year), taking smarter shots (46.4 FG% to 44.5 FG%), playing better defense (2.1 SPG, 0.7 BPG to 1.5 SPG, 0.6 BPG), and simply playing more efficiently (20.47 to 17.30). In fact, Iguodala is fourth in player efficiency rating (PER) among small forwards, trailing only LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony. That’s not bad company.

Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

While Iguodala and Brand do receive significant minutes, Philadelphia’s core is young: Jrue Holliday (21), Thaddeus Young (23), Evan Turner (23), Spencer Hawes (23), Jodie Meeks (24), and Lou Williams (25). And lest we forget, Iguodala is only 27. Moreover, these Sixers seem to be perfectly content in their roles. Lou Williams is sixth in PER among point guards, ahead of Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo and Stephen Curry. Spencer Hawes is sixth in PER among centers, ahead of Andrew Bynum and Marc Gasol. And Evan Turner, well, he’s Evan Turner. But that doesn’t mean he’s not progressing; he’s scoring more effectively (10.8 points on 47.1 FG% compared to 7.2 points on 42.5 FG%), rebounding more ferociously (6.4 to 3.9), and playing more efficiently (16.20 PER to 10.87 PER). He may never develop into the superstar the Sixers thought they drafted with the second pick, but he seems to be developing into a solid role player.

The argument consistently made against the Sixers is that their schedule has been relatively easy thus far. This fact is true. But good teams take advantage of what is bestowed upon them. The Sixers have done exactly that, with the largest average point differential in the league (13.6); to give context to this figure, the Bulls are second in average point differential with 9.3. While this statistic is certainly surprising, perhaps it shouldn’t be. Philly has a collection of guys that can do a number of things pretty well. Such eclecticism and range are the keys to Philadelphia’s strong offense (101.0, 3rd in the league) and defense (87.4, 2nd in the league).

The cherry on the sundae is the presence of Doug Collins. Collins took over a pretty undesirable Sixers team last year, led them to the playoffs, and did not roll over in the presence of a more talented Miami squad. Essentially, Collins put together a squad of underachievers and has them playing to their potential. This year, they have been the definition of a team, an entity that is greater than the sum of its parts. They are not the league’s most compelling team and they do not have star power, but they are winning. You’re not going to hear many complaints about that.