The Philadelphia 76ers enter their Wednesday road game against the Memphis Grizzlies hoping to find solutions to reversing a four-game losing streak and a 2-11 start that led to a team meeting following their latest defeat.
The 76ers were unable to hold onto a 19-point lead in a 106-89 road loss to the Miami Heat, and the collapse prompted a team meeting that delayed coach Nick Nurse’s postgame media conference for nearly an hour on Monday.
“Offense lets us down and puts our defense in a bind,” Nurse said.
He added, “The defense, there’s a lot of good things happening out there … even considering we’re playing at such a disadvantage.”
Multiple issues have contributed to the disappointing results.
Guard Tyrese Maxey has missed six consecutive games with a strained right hamstring. He possibly could return against Memphis.
Nine-time all-star Paul George has played in only seven of the team’s 13 games as he recovers from a left knee injury.
Joel Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP, missed the first six games of the season due to knee injury management. He has appeared in only three games and is producing just 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. In addition, ESPN reported that Maxey called out Embiid in the postgame meeting regarding chronic tardiness to team activities.
Maxey, George and Embiid have not played together in a game this season.
Despite those developments, Nurse is seeing encouraging signs. He said the 76ers “generated some of the best shots we’ve had all year. … We got to the rim some (and) we were totally open for threes.”
Unfortunately for Philadelphia, those 3-pointers weren’t falling against Miami.
“I’m just trying to reiterate some of the things we need to improve on (like) moving the ball, staying with execution and getting guys to believe they are better shooters and better scorers than they are showing right now,” Nurse said. “We need them to step up and see that.”
Embiid finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes against the Heat after being listed as questionable due to an illness. In the three games he has played, the 76ers are 0-3.
Memphis has encountered some injury difficulties of its own.
Two-time All-Star guard Ja Morant has been out the past six games due to a right hip injury. Rookie big man Zach Edey tweaked his left ankle on two occasions Sunday in a home win over the Nuggets, then missed a game for the first time as a pro in the Tuesday rematch vs. Denver.
Marcus Smart missed both games against the Nuggets with an illness, and key reserve Vince Williams Jr. left the Tuesday game with an ankle injury and didn’t return.
With that abundance of absences, the Grizzlies lost 122-110 on Tuesday and trailed by as many as 25 in the second half.
Grizzlies reserve forward Santi Aldama did his best to keep the depleted team in the game. He tied his career high with 28 points in a fast-paced offense that the team is acclimating itself to, plus contributed 11 rebounds.
“I think we’re learning this, and now it’s like we’re seeing different ways in which teams are guarding it,” Aldama said. “On paper, it’s all good.
“We just got to get together. We’ve had different lineups, different guys in and out. I think it’s a matter of getting used to it. We’re trying to play the right way, and that’s going to pay off in the long run.”
