Nick Nurse is an easy scapegoat. But it’d be wrong to lay this dismal Sixers season at his feet.

HOUSTON — Nick Nurse’s message was clear: It was at least Eastern Conference finals or bust for the 76ers.

That’s what the coach relayed to the media on June 1, 2023, during his introductory news conference.

“We know we’re judged on how we play in the playoffs,” said Nurse, who coached the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA title. “It was the same in Toronto. We hadn’t played that well, and certain players hadn’t played that [well]. … So the reality is that’s the truth.

“So I would imagine from Day 1 we are going to talk about that, and that we’re going to try to attack that. We’re going to have to face it, and we’re going to have to rise above it.”

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Tuesday marks 656 days since that news conference. And the Sixers are further away from advancing to the conference finals than they were before Nurse arrived. The conference-championship-or-bust squad of a season ago was eliminated in the first two rounds. And this season has been a huge disaster, so much so that the Sixers are tanking.

With that in mind, Monday night was a success.

The Sixers suffered a tank-friendly 144-137 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center. The setback dropped them to 23-45 and marked their 18th loss in 22 games. But most importantly, it pulled the Sixers into a tie with the Brooklyn Nets for the NBA’s fifth-worst record with 14 games remaining.

The team is tanking to keep its top-six protected first-round pick in June’s NBA draft, which goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it lands outside that range.

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This turn of events has had an affect on Nurse, whose record has been a subpar, 70-80 since arriving in Philly. That’s not the kind of result expected from a coach with an annual salary of $8.5 million, according to Sportico.

For that record and this dismal season, some believe he should lose his job.

They point to his out-of-the-box coaching style and head-scratching lineups as reasons for the Sixers’ struggles. And they’re tired of seeing him argue with officials after what appears to be every missed call.

But this is the coach Nurse has always been.

Remember the exchange Joel Embiid and Nurse, then the Raptors coach, had during the 2022 first-round playoff series between Toronto and the Sixers?

In the closing seconds of Game 2, Embiid told Nurse to “stop [expletive] about calls.”

The Sixers’ franchise player was referring to Nurse’s Game 1 postgame comments, when he said Embiid should have been called for more fouls. Nurse doubled down on that before Game 2, saying he hoped the refs would have “enough guts” to stop the game and review physical plays.

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As far as his coaching tactics, Nurse was praised two summers ago for being a level above the Sixers’ other coaching candidates because of his creativity.

That unconventional coaching style created excitement as fans and analysts were intrigued about how he would use Embiid and Tyrese Maxey unconventionally. Many said the Sixers needed an inventive coach to keep Embiid engaged and placed in the right situations.

And if we’re honest, Nurse has been in a less-than-ideal situation for a new coach since the beginning of his tenure.

When he accepted the job, the expectation was that the Sixers would trade James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers that summer. But they suspended trade talks that August. That led to the disgruntled point guard calling team president of basketball operations Daryl Morey “a liar.”

Harden also vowed to never play for an organization that includes Morey. He did, however, report to training camp after missing media day in Camden and the first training camp practice at Colorado State University.

Harden then went absent following a team practice in Camden and came back several days later. Upon his return, he expected to accompany his teammates on the season-opening road trip. Even after the Sixers instructed him to stay behind to “ramp up” his conditioning, Harden still tried to board the team flight to Milwaukee.

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Harden was eventually traded on Nov. 1, 2023, ending what was a major distraction for Nurse and the Sixers. After that, the team had to manage Embiid’s ailing left knee before he eventually suffered a torn meniscus on Jan. 31, 2024. Knee problems limited Embiid’s 2023-24 regular season to 39 games.

He returned with seven games remaining, but the Sixers lost to the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.

Expectations were again high this season after the free-agency acquisition of Paul George. However, the Big Three of George, Embiid, and Maxey played only 15 games together.

Embiid (left knee injury management) was shut down for the remainder of the season on Feb. 28. The Sixers did the same thing to George on Monday after he received injections in his groin and left knee. Meanwhile, Maxey has missed the last eight games with a lower-back sprain.

Two other players — Jared McCain (left knee meniscus surgery), and Eric Gordon (right wrist surgery) — are also shut down. In total, the Sixers were without 11 players against the Rockets. And due to injuries, the Sixers have unveiled 44 different starting lineups this season.

Hall of Fame coaches Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach, who have a combined 20 titles, would have a tough time winning under these circumstances.

Nurse isn’t the problem.

Distractions, injuries, and an aging roster made the Sixers the league’s biggest disappointment. That’s more of a front-office problem. And it’s hard to judge his nonconventional coaching tactics when his best players are sidelined.

Nurse shouldn’t be the scapegoat for this mess.