The Philadelphia 76ers are not good, bad, terrible, abysmal to start this NBA season, having already dropped their 11th game just 13 games into the year. While the Sixers have certainly been the victim to the injury bug, their lack of success in this game, and this season, goes far deeper.
Despite looking competitive in the first quarter and in control for the first three minutes of the second, the Sixers would go on to get simply demolished by the Miami Heat.
There were several core issues that bogged down the team in this game, joined by once again, another pleasant performance from the team’s 2024 MVP, rookie Jared McCain.
“The Sensation” continues to impress
Before the negativity, how about a splash of positivity.
Once again, Jared McCain was the reason to watch for the Sixers. Scoring 20 points for the fifth consecutive game, McCain became the fifth Sixers rookie in franchise history to accomplish such a feat, joining Joel Embiid, Allen Iverson, Jerry Stackhouse, and Lee Shaffer—who accomplished this while playin for the Syracuse Nationals.
While McCain had his fair share of negatives tonight, mostly in the form of allowing players to blow by him as a defender and sloppy turn overs, in general, things were positive for the young guard.
The same, however, cannot be said for the rest of the team.
A failure from the top down
Joel Embiid is often one of the NBA’s curious cases. Not just because he’s a seven-plus-foot unicorn, but also due to other inexplicable occurrences that happen around the former MVP. One key example of this is the injury report which simply does not apply to Embiid.
Coming into the game marked as QUESTIONABLE due to an illness, Embiid would later be downgraded to DOUBTFUL, but would surprisingly wind up playing in the end. The biggest shock though was that a player who came into designated as doubtful not only played over 30 minutes, but played over 10 minutes in the fourth with the game arguably—and then certainly—well out of reach. Especially the fact that Embiid checked back in with five and a half minutes to play with the team down 20.
It’s too far to question if Embiid was truly sick, there is zero reason to doubt that, but it is fair to question the Sixers’ process when it comes to the alleged plan for Embiid. The team has mentioned the plan ad nauseam and yet it continues to be ill-defined.
Paul George, the Sixers healthy star, meanwhile dropped off tremendously after the first quarter. After an impressive start to the game scoring 12 points on 4/7 shooting, George was just 1/6 from the field over the final three quarters.
That effort from a prized offseason addition mean to be a veteran star will not cut it. To not only struggle as he did, which players simply do from time to time, but to regress from an aggressiveness standpoint the way he did is simply unacceptable.
That lack of aggression has not just been displayed by George, but also Joel Embiid at times, and it has trickled down the majority of the roster
Philadelphia needs more from their stars, both Embiid and George if they’re going to have a chance of righting the ship. They’ll also need a better sense of urgency across the board.
A lack of heart
Simply put, this Sixers team is not playing with the amount of heart, pride, urgency, call it what you will that a contender, or even a competitive team, needs.
Early into the second quarter, the team amassed an impressive 19-point lead over the Heat. However, over the final 33 minutes, the Sixers would not only see that lead evaporate, but they would see themselves dominated by Miami who would go on a 79-43 run.
Much of this came down to a lack of hustle and sound defensive principles that head coach Nick Nurse constantly preaches. Easy fouls sent Miami to the line time after time, but it was also the rebounding battle, something a smaller team like Philadelphia constantly struggles with, that led to their demise.
Philadelphia gave up seven more offensive boards than they pulled down, which admittedly doesn’t sound like much until you acknowledge the Sixers only gathered two and and went scoreless in second chance points while allowing the Heat to score 18. The level of effort, or lack thereof, simply cannot continue, and even the Sixers who objectively played better in this matchup, like Andre Drummond, simply did not do enough in this regard.
After the game, Nick Nurse did not speak with the media for an hour. Once he made himself available, he informed the media in attendance that the reason for the delay was a meeting held with the team following the frustrating loss, Ky Carlin of USA Today reported.
Up next for the Sixers
Philadelphia will next travel to Memphis where they will face Grizzlies for the second and final time this regular season. Grizzlies star Ja Morant will likely miss the game as may Marcus Smart and Zach Edey. While that would normally be positive news for a Sixers team that is in dire need of a win, Memphis has already once proven they don’t need to be healthy to beat the Philadelphia.
Hopefully, as Tyrese Maxey is set to be reevaluated tomorrow, there is a chance he can return for the matchup. Without him, well the team will simply have to give it their best go.
