The Philadelphia 76ers followed up a disappointing start to a promising season with arguably their worst effort yet.
Philadelphia blew a 19-point first half lead and then lost 106-89 to the Miami Heat on Monday.
After taking a 46-27 lead with 9:23 left in the second quarter, the Sixers were then outscored 61-26 over the next 14:37. By the end of the third quarter, Miami led 88-72.
It was 46-27 Philly in the second,
It’s now 88-72 Miami after 3.
That’s a 61-26 run.
– Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) November 19, 2024
Jimmy Butler returned to the Heat lineup on Monday after missing the team’s past four games with an ankle injury. He had his best game of the season, scoring 30 points with 10 rebounds and five assists. Butler shot 8-for-12 from the floor, hit his only 3-point attempt and went 13-for-13 on free throws.
Miami went 2-2 in Butler’s absence, but certainly benefited from the return of its third-leading scorer. Tyler Herro added 18 points with five assists and five rebounds, while Bam Adebayo grabbed 13 boards. With Monday’s victory, the Heat improved to 6-7, increasing them to fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, it’s early in the 2024-25 season but the 76ers fell to 2-11 with their fourth straight loss. That ties them worst in the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
Rookie Jared McCain led the Sixers with 20 points. Paul George followed with 18 points, shooting 5-for-13 (and 1-of-7 on 3s). Joel Embiid contributed 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
But more notable was that Embiid didn’t shoot any free throws in 31 minutes. That’s the first time in nearly seven years that he played in a game and didn’t get a single free throw, according to PhillyVoice’s Adam Aaronson.
Joel Embiid: 31 minutes, no free throws. It had been nearly seven years since he had gone an entire game without stepping to the free throw line. https://t.co/UD5vjzfECc
– Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) November 19, 2024
Also, Monday’s game was the first time that Embiid played 25 minutes or more and didn’t attempt any free throws. As a team, Philadelphia shot only 12 free throws, making nine of them. Miami got 23 bad shots, shooting 91%.
Earlier in the day, Embiid was listed as questionable the NBA injury report with illness. That could explain his performance. But in the three games he played this season after returning from a knee injury, Embiid averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse took an hour to come out for his postgame press conference and opened the session by saying the team had a meeting, according to John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Nurse did not reveal any details of the team meeting.
Whatever was said, the Sixers have two days to evaluate themselves before visiting the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
