The Sixers-Knicks game proves adding new pieces to a roster takes time to gel: ‘You have to fine tune it’

Joel Embiid is finally back for the Sixers. But keeping the team healthy feels more like a game of Whack-a-Mole — get Paul George and Embiid back, and lose Tyrese Maxey.

The first game of the Sixers’ new Big Three will have to wait, but Embiid and George playing together for the first time on Tuesday in a 111-99 loss to the New York Knicks was a step forward. Outside of Embiid, the Sixers haven’t had much roster consistency since The Process began. Philadelphia cycled through stars like Jimmy Butler, James Harden, and now George. The second-longest-tenured rotation piece, Tobias Harris, left in free agency this offseason.

It takes time for teams to find their groove early in the year, especially when you have a new group of stars. Just ask the Knicks, who added Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns to its roster and started with a 4-5 record.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid is rusty, noticeably fatigued in season debut as the Sixers drop NBA Cup opener to Knicks

“Identity is there,” Josh Hart said. “You do have to fine tune it, and it takes time. It’s not going to happen in 10 games. I’m not going to sit here and say we’ve found it. So far, no, we haven’t, but we’re going to find it. Our goal isn’t to be the best we’re going to be at game four. It’s to be the best we can be at game 82.”

Communication is key, especially with new additions, Hart said. The Knicks are focusing on keeping the game simple and sticking to their core identity — being physical and keeping the energy high.

On Tuesday, the new additions went back and forth in the first quarter, with Bridges assisting Towns on his first three-pointer and Embiid assisting George for the highly-anticipated tandem’s first bucket together. With both Embiid and George still on a minutes restriction, per Sixers coach Nick Nurse, the two played just 14 minutes, 59 seconds together, but George put together his best game as a Sixer so far, scoring a team-high 29 points with 10 rebounds and three assists.

“We want to see some two-man action with them,” coach Nick Nurse said. “What are they, I don’t know, we’ll probably start testing them, if it’s pick and roll, if it’s post ups, if it’s pin downs. We’ll [probably] use all of them to see which one looks like they’ve got a good feel with each other to do that stuff.”

The Eastern Conference’s two best teams to start the year, the Cleveland Cavaliers and reigning champion Boston Celtics, both returned all of their core players. Cleveland brought in a new coach to work with the same roster, but the Celtics kept their entire starting lineup intact.

“Consistency, that’s really all I demand,” Embiid said at the Sixers’ preseason media day. “If you keep switching guys every one year, two years, I don’t think that takes you anywhere. If you look at some of the teams that have won, most of those guys have been together for a while … You can go back through the years, especially when we actually started getting better, the Jimmy [Butler] year, we had him for half a year, and then the next summer he was gone, and then we had James [Harden] for one and a half years, and then gone.”

» READ MORE: Paul George's big scoring night, Sixers' shooting woes highlight loss to Knicks

With George, Embiid, and Maxey all signing long-term contracts in the offseason, Embiid may finally get the consistency he craves. But how long will it take for the Sixers’ new rotation to click into place?

Without Embiid, Nurse has gotten a significant look at the rest of the roster. Rookie Jared McCain has scored over 20 points in the last two games, becoming a focal point of the second unit on offense.

“One thing, if you want to count it as a positive, this has been a pretty extensive evaluation of the other guys,” Nurse said. “It does change quite a bit now, because now you’ve gotten to see how they fit alongside these guys. Hopefully some of that evaluation has helped us.”

Embiid was “rusty” in his return, he said, as he expected, with 13 points and three rebounds in 26:25 of playing time. But amid a 2-8 start, the Sixers are relying on the trio of Embiid, George, and Maxey to click and elevate the group back into the playoffs. Embiid is confident that when the group is healthy, they’re going to win a lot of games.

“I’m still trying to figure out the best way to help,” Embiid said postgame. “When I came into the season, I really wanted to let everybody just play, and make sure everybody gets open, but then again, I can also adjust. If I have to do what I did last year, then I’m going to do it. It’s all about us getting on the floor together, learning how to play with each other.”