After rough start, it’s OK to ask: Are the Sixers banged-up or just bad?

Their ability to get out of this funk relies heavily on the Big Three — Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey — finally getting on the court together and playing well.

by Keith Pompey

Published Nov. 17, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

Tired legs. Injuries. Poor effort in games.

This isn’t the way the 76ers wanted to start the regular season. But it’s as real as the retired jersey numbers and NBA championship banners hanging in the far end of their practice facility.

Great franchises aren’t always good, and the Sixers are struggling because of — pick any or all — their medical report, increased ages, scoring droughts, lack of continuity, and shockingly lackluster execution.

With Friday’s 98-86 loss to the Orlando Magic at Kia Center, they have an NBA second-worst record of 2-10.

The Sixers are ranked last in the league in scoring (104.5 points per game), rebounding (39.5), assists (20.9), and field-goal percentage (.428).

Yet, this is supposed to be a championship-contending team. Instead, the Sixers resemble a squad jockeying to secure a NBA draft lottery position for the presumptive 2025 top overall draft pick, Duke freshman Cooper Flagg.

“We really got to get serious about the execution side of the offense, right?” coach Nick Nurse said. “And we’ve got to figure out when we can do it. [With] practice days, shootaround, all those things that we can get ourselves to a [higher] level.

“It’s not easy with a whole bunch of new guys and guys coming in and out, obviously. But that’s what we are. So we got to get to work on it for sure.”

Back in August, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey was praised for winning the offseason.

He signed perennial All-Star Paul George to maximum salary contract to complement the team’s other max players, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Morey also re-signed Kelly Oubre Jr., Kyle Lowry, and KJ Martin and added Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson, and Guerschon Yabusele as role players.

The problem is that George, Embiid, and Maxey have yet to play together. And even when they do play together, it won’t be as simple as just rolling the ball out.

Maxey, an All-Star point guard, missed the last five games with a strained right hamstring. He’ll be reevaluated in the coming days. But don’t be surprised if he sits out Monday’s game at the Miami Heat and Wednesday’s tilt at the Memphis Grizzlies.

Once Maxey does return, the speedster must regain the shooting touch he played with last season. So far, Maxey averaged 27.6 points on 23.6 attempts while shooting just 28.6% on three-pointers in seven games, the last two matchups he played with George.

Meanwhile, George, who missed the first five games with a left knee bone bruise, has been somewhat of a disappointment as a Sixer.

He’s averaging 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.3 steals but shooting 39.8% from the field, including 31.1% on three-pointers.

The nine-time All-Star has only two solid shooting performances.

He scored 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, while making 2 of 3 three-pointers, in his return to Los Angeles to face his former team, the Clippers, on Nov. 6. Then George took advantage of the attention Embiid received while making his season debut against the New York Knicks last Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center. Roaming freely, the 34-year-old scored a season-high 29 points while making 7 of 11 three-pointers and shooting 10-for-19 overall.

But in the other four games, George averaged 13 points on a combined 18-for-60 shooting, including 5 of 31 on three-pointers.

Meanwhile, Embiid also hasn’t played to his elite standard after missing the first six games with left knee injury management and serving a three-game suspension.

He’s averaging 16.5 points while shooting 26.9% and has made just 1 of 10 three-pointers. His lack of being in game shape was evident from the start against the Knicks. Embiid played well in the first half against the Magic before seemingly running out of gas after intermission. That’s when he went 0-for-7 from the field and shot two airballs.

“It felt like my legs were a little tight,” Embiid said of the second half. “And I felt like every shot I was taking was short. So I have to just keep building on and then get to a point where I’m myself.”

But how quickly can he do that? And how quickly can Maxey and George erase their shooting woes?

One has to assume that they’ll get easier shot selections once they’re finally on the court together. And they must take advantage of that, because the Sixers' ability to get out of this funk relies heavily on the Big Three meshing and playing well together.

But their supporting cast also has to help them.

Outside of Jared McCain, that hasn’t always been the case.

The Sixers are finding out that Lowry, 38, Gordon, 35, and Jackson, 34, because of their ages and NBA mileage, aren’t as dependable as in seasons past. Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, and Oubre have had their share of highs and lows. Yabusele was one of the team’s more impactful players before his current three-game shooting slump from three.

So even with Embiid and George available, the Sixers had no chance of defeating the Magic on Friday night once McCain fouled out with 4 minutes, 56 seconds remaining. Without the rookie guard, who had a team-high 29 points, Orlando outscored the Sixers, 14-6, the rest of the way.

This came in a fourth quarter where Philly made just 4 of 15 shots and committed three turnovers while scoring just 14 points.

But none of that was surprising, as the Sixers have dealt with scoring droughts in every game this season.

And their biggest one on Friday came after Caleb Martin hit a three-pointer to give the Sixers a 72-64 lead with 2:12 remaining in the third. The Sixers didn’t score another point until Embiid made a technical foul shot with 7:54 left to play to snap a 16-0 run. Philly missed nine consecutive shots and committed three turnovers during the 6:18 scoring drought.

“It seems like it’s every game,” Embiid said, “we have a very good 30 good minutes. ... [then fall apart] ... especially, because we’re not at full strength and [I’m] not myself yet. So it feels like you don’t have a lot of margin for error.

“I think, over time, I think we’ll be fine.”

The Sixers keep banking on improving as the season progresses. But as of right now, they’re undoubtedly a bad team.