PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are fast approaching a crossroads, one that will permanently define who they are this season.
Are they the team capable of going out West and beating three playoff contenders in four games? Or are they the team that started their post-All-Star-break schedule with Thursday night’s 117-107 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks? Are they the team that went into New York twice and beat the Knicks? Or are they the team that got shellacked twice by that same Knicks team at Xfinity Mobile Arena?
Are they the team that looks like one of the most talented groups in the Eastern Conference at times? Or are they the team that can’t seem to play well enough on its own floor to call it a home-court advantage? Are they the team capable of flying around and playing with unabashed joy? Or are they the team that’s looked absolutely spent physically over the last three games?
We keep waiting for the Philadelphia 76ers to define themselves. They keep making us guess. On one hand, the Sixers have regained the services of Joel Embiid. They’ve gotten an All-NBA level season out of Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe is a strong candidate in the Rookie of the Year race. On the other hand, the Sixers have at times looked starved for depth, they’ve lost Paul George until late March and they have had players meant for the edges of their roster accruing important roles.
Through the muck and the mixed signals, Thursday’s loss to the Hawks leaves them at 30-25 on the season. Sure, it’s good for the sixth spot in the East. But they are now just a half-game ahead of the Orlando Magic for the seventh spot, which means Play-In land.
“Every person in that locker room wants to win,” Edgecombe said. “We all want to win, and we all want to play well and put some games together. We know that we have to be better, and we’re going to be better. I know for sure that we’re going to be better.”
As a long season rounds into a sprint to the finish, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the Sixers have lost their grip on the games played without Embiid. The superstar center’s return to his previous form has presented a double-edged sword. He’s back to being a walking 30 points a night. He’s returned to the player who creates gravity with every step on the floor. His ability to score at three levels as a 7-footer gives the Sixers arguably one of the best offenses in the NBA, when he’s healthy and available.
The problem is, all that gravity goes away when he’s not available, which was the case Thursday. When he doesn’t play, the other Sixers have had to fend for themselves offensively in a way that hasn’t lately translated to wins. And the hard copy results are ugly. Philadelphia has lost seven of its last eight games that Embiid has missed. This wasn’t nearly as much of an issue early in the season, because this was a group that clearly mentally prepared itself to play on the aggregate without Embiid.
But as Embiid has played more and more, as he has become more and more reliable offensively, he’s become more and more relied upon by his teammates. And now, when Embiid doesn’t play, Philadelphia looks like Linus without his security blanket. The Hawks relentlessly pressured Maxey on the perimeter and dared others to beat them, knowing that Embiid’s proverbial big brother presence wouldn’t be around to make rent come due. It resulted in the Sixers struggling to score for a good portion of the night. And it resulted in missed shots and turnovers at inopportune times.
“You could see that our spacing was a little off,” Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said. “I thought we needed to play a little faster. We turned the ball over some, and we missed some shots. Atlanta was a physical team, and we had to deal with their physicality. At times, they were overly physical. They were fast, long and athletic. That’s a good defensive team.”
On paper, the easy solution is to get Embiid back on the floor. As Edgecombe said Thursday, Embiid solves a bunch of issues. He’s been the best player on the floor in most of the games he’s played since the turn of the calendar year. And when he’s on the floor, everyone can return to their natural spots in the rotation of offensive responsibility.
But it’s not that simple. Yes, he’s played more often than not this season. But his injury history is so pronounced, and his knee issues are so delicate, that the medical staff doesn’t want him on the floor if there is even the slightest hint of soreness in his knee, or in this specific case, his shin.
Nurse said that Embiid probably would have played had Thursday been a postseason game. So clearly there is optimism and hope that this blip is just that — a blip. Embiid practiced on Wednesday. The Sixers will get him on the court Friday before the team takes off for a road trip that starts Saturday night against the New Orleans Pelicans. And then they will assess him. Even if he plays this weekend, he will miss at least one game of the trip, because of a back-to-back that culminates Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But if one thing is for certain, this is a team that needs its best player to play. The 76ers have been short-handed on and off, nearly all season. A constant in the current three-game losing streak is that this team is clearly fatigued. Common sense dictates that legs should have been fresher on Thursday following the All-Star break. But this is a team that has clawed and scratched and fought so hard to win games without Embiid and George. Over an 82-game schedule, at some point, the heavy minutes were bound to catch up to the key players.
Philadelphia is going to have to fight through that fatigue. It has no choice. Otherwise, the consequence of losses piling up could prove significant.
“We miss Joel,” Edgecombe said. “I think that’s obvious. It’s that simple.”