The 76ers have arguably the most talented starting five in the entire NBA. There's no doubt about that. But any first five, regardless of how talented, needs some support from the bench in terms of point production, especially a starting five that features a guy who is about to be 42 years old in LeBron James and another guy whose injury history is longer than a CVS receipt in Joel Embiid.

Unfortunately, the Sixers haven't been getting much help from the bench in the scoring department, and that was evident during Philadelphia's 123-101 loss to the rival Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.

76ers' have NBA's least-productive bench unit

Three weeks into the season, the 76ers have the lowest-scoring bench in the entire NBA, and it's not particularly close. As a unit, Philadelphia's bench is scoring just 22.6 points per game. The lowly Sacramento Kings have the second-lowest-scoring bench at 24.7 points per game. The Sixers are one of just four teams getting fewer than 30 points per game from their reserves. This obviously isn't ideal.

It's about more than just raw points, too. The Sixers have been going only about eight or nine players deep on a nightly basis, which limits the number of guys opponents have to worry about. That's a very slim rotation for the Sixers this early in the season, when it might be more beneficial to go a little deeper in order to empower players and allow them to carve out roles for themselves.

The difference between a deep, potent bench and whatever the Sixers have was on full display during the game between Philadelphia and Boston on Tuesday night. The Celtics have the fifth-highest-scoring bench in the league this season (44.1 ppg), and it was evident why. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was able to consistently bring guys in off of the bench who were able to make a major impact in the game.

Payton Pritchard led the way off of the pine for Boston with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Sam Hauser contributed 12 points and five rebounds of his own, while Hugo Gonzalez added 10 points. Even Baylor Scheierman chipped in with five points, three rebounds and two assists. When all was said and done, Boston's bench outscored Philadelphia's second unit 49-29. While it wasn't the only reason that the Celtics won the game, it was an enormous factor in the ultimate outcome.

Coaching and front office both to blame for Sixers' bench struggles

Philadelphia's lack of bench production can be blamed both on coaching and roster construction. The Sixers have a lack of reliable rotation pieces, especially in the frontcourt, and that falls on the front office. It's worth noting that most of Boston's key contributors off the bench are homegrown guys that the team drafted and developed.

Meanwhile, the only three rotation pieces that Sixers head coach Nick Nurse trusts are three guys that the team signed in free agency over the offseason: Anfernee Simons, Dean Wade and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. This points to an organizational failure when it comes to identifying and developing role players. This issue predates the new president of basketball operations, Mike Gansey, as the organization has consistently prioritized outside additions over internal development.

It's not all on the front office, though. Nurse's rotations and use of the roster are also at fault. Nurse is well-known for relying heavily on his starters, and he's done that this season to the detriment of the team, as guys like Justin Edwards and Labaron Philon Jr. have been completely out of the rotation so far. It's clear that Nurse doesn't trust them, but they'll never get an opportunity to earn his trust if they don't play.

The Sixers have three players—Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe—in the top 25 in the NBA in minutes per game this season, and two guys (Maxey and Brown) in the top 11. This is Nurse's M.O.: Run his top guys into the ground while employing a thin rotation.

While this approach might have worked for Nurse in the past, he's going to have to adjust his approach and strike a better balance moving forward if the Sixers are going to reach their lofty potential this season.