‘It’s not just one thing:’ An inside look at the Sixers’ biggest obstacles this season
While health has been an issue, the Sixers have also struggled to make shots and integrate new players.
ATLANTA — Four weeks into the season, all of the hype surrounding the 76ers is already gone.
The championship-or-bust team put that frustration on full display during Thursday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. It was the latest game where ball movement was nonexistent, defense was noticeably poor and hustle was missing.
Name the opponent: Whether it was the Hawks, San Antonio Spurs, Washington Wizards, or New York Knicks, it doesn’t matter. The Sixers have consistently lost games in the same fashion as if they were following a script.
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That has led the Sixers to a 5-7 record and 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings.
So what has been the Sixers’ biggest obstacle?
“Well, health,” coach Doc Rivers said. “But now we got James out. We know that. But if we can keep everyone else healthy, we can make a run.”
The coach was referring to All-Star point guard James Harden being sidelined a month with a right foot tendon strain. Thursday marked the third game he missed since suffering the injury on Nov. 2 against the Wizards. Joel Embiid, the Sixers’ other All-Star, has played in two games against the Hawks and Phoenix Suns after missing the three previous contests with the flu. He also missed the Oct. 28 game at the Toronto Raptors to rest his right knee.
Meanwhile, Danuel House Jr. returned Thursday after being sidelined two games with the flu.
“Having one guy out, even though it’s James, hurt us, right?” Rivers said. “But we just need the continuity of guys together. And we have a stretch here where we have some games, we have some practices. We have a chance to put something together.”
The Sixers will entertain the Hawks (8-4) Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center and host the Utah Jazz on Sunday night. They’ll have Monday off, followed by three days of practice heading into Friday’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
But as much as player availability has been an issue the past two weeks, the Sixers also struggled when everyone played. They opened the season with consecutive losses to the Boston Celtics, Bucks and Spurs with Embiid and Harden both available.
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So has health been the biggest roadblock this season?
“It’s some of that,” said P.J. Tucker, who is playing with a bruised left hip. “It’s not just one thing. It’s a lot of things, but that’s definitely one of them.”
So what are the only things?
“A new team, players,” said Tucker, one of four offseason acquisitions. “I feel like I say the same thing every time I talk about this because it’s really what it is. It’s the familiarity, it’s the understanding of each other. You know, kind of learning how to play with each other.”
The Sixers garnered attention for being ranked 29th in the NBA in pace (96.92), made field goals (38.2 per game) and rebounds (39.7); 28th in rebounding percentage (.476); 27th in scoring (107.8), offensive rebounds (7.9), and field-goal attempts (82.9) and 25th in assists (23.4).
They were also toward the bottom of the league in a lot of hustle stats, the lowlights being last in offensive loose-ball recovery percentage (.347) and contested shots (41.8), tied for last in offensive-loose balls recovered (1.4) and 29th in contested two-point shots (24.0).
Meanwhile, Embiid was tied with Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard for the league lead in turnovers at 4.1.
“We are not making shots,” Embiid said of team’s biggest roadblock following Thursday’s game. “Our defense has been great tonight. It’s just turnovers started with me and then, offensively, we could have made a few extra passes but we just didn’t make shots.”
The Sixers shot 38.6% in the loss, while missing 24 of 30 three-point attempts. Embiid had 26 points and 13 rebounds, but added eight turnovers and five fouls.
“We got to find ways to win these games,” Tyrese Maxey said. “I mean, we’ve been in a lot of close ones that [should] have been Ws. Those come back to haunt you. I think the Spurs [loss] is one, the Knicks is one, Washington is one, maybe Milwaukee is one. ... Coach keeps saying, ‘We are right there. We just got to break through.’
“We have to break through and start winning those games, the ones that are right there in front of us.”