Sixers running out of time to address injury woes: ‘That’s been a little bit of a puzzle’

The 76ers are running out of time to build chemistry.

Saturday’s 115-102 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse marked their 40th game, one shy of the halfway point of the season.

For Joel Embiid, it was the 27th game he’s missed. He wasn’t alone, as the Sixers also were without Paul George, Guerschon Yabusele, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, and KJ Martin. And that doesn’t include Jared McCain, who’s sidelined for the remainder of the season after last month’s left knee surgery.

So it’s far from suprising that they have a 15-25 record and five-game losing streak.

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The Sixers’ Big Three of Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and George has only started 10 games together and completed seven. And because of injuries, the team was forced to use 25 different starting lineups this season.

Building chemistry becomes a bigger problem with each passing game. It’s also tough to define roles at the end of the season. So the Sixers need to get healthy and need to play together. And the coaches need to find rotations.

If the Sixers do get healthy and have enough time to improve their chemistry, they’ll be a dangerous team.

They’re 6-1 in the games Embiid, Maxey, and George completed. That includes a 118-114 Christmas Day victory over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

Maxey had game highs of 33 points and 12 assists that night. Embiid added 27 points and nine rebounds, while George finished with 12 points and three steals.

The Big Three played in four of the next five games, and the Sixers went 3-1. But the last time the Sixers were semi-healthy was their Jan. 4 road victory over the Brooklyn Nets, which capped that stretch.

Embiid (left knee swelling, sprained left foot) and Lowry (sprained right hip) missed their seventh straight games on Saturday. Caleb Martin (sprained right hip) was sidelined for the fourth consecutive game. And KJ Martin (left foot stress reaction) missed his 13th game dating back to Christmas. George (left groin tightness) has missed two of the last three games. And Saturday marked the first game that Yabusele (right knee swelling) missed.

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Meanwhile, Andre Drummond (sprained left toe) returned Saturday after missing six games. And Maxey (sprained left hand) missed Tuesday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Embiid also will miss Sunday’s game at the Milwaukee Bucks and Tuesday’s tilt at the Denver Nuggets. On Friday, the Sixers said he would be reevaluated in seven to 10 days. So that should at least give the coaching staff some clarity for rotations in the near future.

But …

“I wish it was that simple, because, again, there’s still a lot of pieces coming in and out other than him, injury-related,” coach Nick Nurse said. “But at least it solves that part of it, yeah.

“We gotta just get a little healthier around a lot of positions right now to get to where we can get a little decent clarity.”

Until then, the Sixers will have a tough time building on-court chemistry.

And for the time being, it doesn’t make sense to think about big picture. Nurse knows that.

“For the most part, I have to micro-focus for what’s there, right?” he said. “And that’s been a little bit of a puzzle when you know that one big piece of it is going to be gone. But it’s been like the other pieces have been scattered so much. That’s been difficult enough.

“But I think there’s always been that part of me that’s always thinking big picture. That’s always in the back of your mind a little bit. But I think 90% of the time, I think about how in the hell are we going to win tomorrow night, right? What are we going to do tomorrow night? Who’s going to be available, and how are we going to play and give ourselves a chance to win?”