Lots of reasons to believe in the Sixers even as Joel Embiid struggles in his debut
It’s only a matter of time before they get there, assuming Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and Embiid stay healthy.
The Sixers are going to be just fine. I know that’s a strange takeaway from a 111-99 loss to the team that knocked them out of last season’s playoffs. But these are the Sixers. Strange is the brand, baby. They entered Wednesday 2-8, and they are three games out of third place in the East, and by the All-Star break nobody is going to remember October. Against the Knicks, you saw the makings of a team that is going to have a real chance.
Forget about the loss. In fact, the loss is the point. In his first game of the season, Joel Embiid played as poorly as you’ll ever see him play. He was timid, tentative, unsteady on his feet, a convenient foil for Karl-Anthony Towns to exorcise a decade’s worth of frustration. Embiid shot 2-for-11 from the field, missed four of his five threes, grabbed three rebounds, and committed three fouls while playing little more than half the game.
» READ MORE: Paul George's big scoring night, Sixers' shooting woes highlight loss to Knicks
Yet, if Embiid had played 34 minutes instead of 26, if he’d remained in the game for crunch time instead of checking out for good with six minutes left, if he’d played those minutes alongside Tyrese Maxey and not Jeff Dowtin Jr., the Sixers might have won this game. If Embiid had played at even 75% of his usual level, the Sixers almost certainly would have won. Instead, Embiid was closer to 50%, Maxey was on the sideline in a sweat suit, and the Sixers suffered a 12-point loss in a game they trailed by two after one quarter, by four after two, and by three after three. But they already are much closer to the team that was promised than the haters hoped was possible after such a dispiriting month. It is only a matter of time before they get there, assuming Embiid and Paul George remain healthy.
“Once we’re all on the floor, we’re going to have a pretty good chance to win some games,” Embiid said.
I’m going to pause here to remind you that I am nothing more than a humble messenger. I totally understand if you’d rather not participate in hypotheticals. The Sixers have spent the last decade building a kingdom on a foundation of ifs and just-you-wait-and-sees. This is not an argument in which they deserve the benefit of the doubt or one that you are a fool for refusing to grant it to them. They have left themselves little margin for error by losing eight of their first 10 games. Embiid has already used up a month of his annual budgeted absence. If they’d started last season 2-8 instead of 8-2, they would have needed to win two play-in games instead of one before losing to the Celtics instead of the Knicks. Father Time has no ramp-up period. He marches on.
And yet …
Health was always going to be the question mark with this team. It would blare just as loudly if the Sixers were in first place instead of last. The more relevant question is just how good this team will be in however many games Embiid plays alongside George and in however many of those games Maxey plays alongside them. The answer: plenty good. In fact, they might be better than anybody has even dreamed.
A few big takeaways from the loss to the Knicks on Tuesday:
Even a nonfunctioning Embiid created all kinds of space for George to be the best version of his offensive self. You saw it on the first play of the game: Embiid with the ball on the right wing, George on the left baseline. Instead of floating out to the corner, George cuts backdoor and takes an easy pass from Embiid. George finished the first quarter with 11 points en route to a season-high 29 on 10-of-19 shooting, including 7-for-11 from three-point range. “You just see how much he demands eyes and attention on him,” George said. “For me, a lot of it was just kind of learning. He’s a force out there. You’ve got to find him. You’ve got to see him.”
The Sixers’ rotation officially has a new member in rookie Jared McCain. He played 30-plus minutes for the third straight game and was the only guy on the team with a positive plus-minus. He is strong, smart, aggressive, fearless, and hasn’t even begun to stroke threes up to his potential. He scored 23 points, and it easily could have been 30, against one of the toughest defenses in the league. “A really big bright spot,” said coach Nick Nurse. This is pure house money, mind you. Same goes for big man Guerschon Yabusele, who, in spite of an awful offensive night, showed that he could contribute on defense, even with Embiid in the fold. The Sixers’ supporting cast is deeper and more sensible than it ever has been. And it has plenty of room to grow.
Nurse has himself the makings of an excellent defense. Size and length on the wings, physicality one through five. The Sixers actually outrebounded the Knicks on the offensive glass. They held Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges to a combined 32 points on 12-of-28 shooting. It needs to translate into wins at some point.
The Sixers can’t afford anything less than a steady linear progression from Embiid as he works himself back into recognizable form after a delayed start to the season. But, look, the Sixers are going to be every bit the team we thought they would be, for however long that team is together.