PHILADELPHIA (AP) \u2014 Joel Embiid got benched and the 76ers got beat at the horn.<\/p>\n
A season full of championship hopes has turned into a debacle for the 76ers, the latest blight came against Brooklyn on Saturday night when they lost their seventh straight game, this one on a buzzer-beating tip-in \u2014 and with Embiid on the bench.<\/p>\n
A two-time NBA scoring champion, the oft-injured Embiid sat out the entire fourth quarter in the 105-102 loss after a rough three quarters. Embiid scored just 14 points in 31 minutes, missed all six 3-point attempts and was a bystander in the fourth when the 76ers rallied from 17 down to take the lead late, until they were finished off by Nic Claxton\u2019s winner<\/a> at the horn.<\/p>\n Embiid, who signed a 3-year, $193 million contract extension<\/a> in September, declined to comment.<\/p>\n Embiid has been hobbled by injuries all season and was slow to get up late in the third when he lost the ball and hit the court. Embiid said earlier this week that he needed to \u201cfix the problem\u201d in his left knee to return to his dominant All-Star form.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way I was playing a year ago is not the way I\u2019m playing right now,\u201d Embiid said Thursday after the 76ers lost to Boston. \u201cI probably need to fix the problem, and then I\u2019ll be back at that level. But it\u2019s hard to have trust when you\u2019re not yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n He has played in just 19 of 56 games for the Sixers, who fell to 20-36 and are grasping at the fading shot of earning a berth in the NBA play-in tournament.<\/p>\n Coach Nick Nurse said he benched Embiid in the fourth simply because the lineup on the court \u2014 that included big man Guerschon Yabusele \u2014 was playing well in the quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had a good feel for the game at that point,\u201d Nurse said. \u201cJust wanted to let them roll with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Embiid played just 39 games last season due to a torn meniscus in his left knee. The 76ers announced in early February of that season that he had undergone surgery.<\/a> Embiid came back in early April, was part of the 76ers\u2019 playoff run<\/a> and then won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic team<\/a> last summer.<\/p>\n Embiid acknowledged earlier this month that he didn\u2019t have enough time to fully recover after undergoing surgery last year.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s giving us what he can. He\u2019s not himself, we all know that,\u201d Nurse said. \u201cHe\u2019s not certainly the guy we\u2019re used to seeing play at a super-high level. I commend him for giving us what he can.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n