Sixers know they are far from a “high ceiling” at 2-10 and with the NBA’s worst rated offense. originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
ORLANDO, Fla. — The picture on paper isn’t that bright right now for a Sixers team widely expected to be one of the best in the Eastern Conference heading into this season.
At 2-10 next Friday night’s NBA Cup loss to the Magicthe Sixers have the The NBA’s second-worst record. They rank 30th in offensive rating and 27th in online ranking.
The team is 0-2 with the duo Joel Embiid-Paul George. The pair totaled 33 points on 9-for-30 shooting and committed nine turnovers against Orlando. George missed his first eight field goals, Embiid his last eight. Jared McCain was again spectacular in defeat (29 points, four assists, no turnovers).
“It’s obviously frustrating,” George said. “Nobody here is happy or okay with the start of this season. But 15 seasons (in the NBA) … the season is long. This is not what we expected when we got together, but hopefully, this stretching happens now rather than in the middle of the season.
“We have nothing to do but work harder and stay calm, and pay attention to everyone in this locker room. We are all in this together. … We know we have to improve collectively. We know this team has a high ceiling. But we can’t expect that just with who’s on the roster. We have to work and wait for this thing to work.”
There are many explanations for the Sixers’ seriously disappointing start. George played in six regular-season games since returning from a left knee bone bruise. In his second game this season, Embiid’s level of play dipped after halftime on Friday. Tyrese Maxey is sidelined with a right hamstring strain. Along with George, Caleb Martin, Yabusele and exceptional rookie McCain is among the team’s new rotation pieces.
It has been very difficult for the Sixers to develop reliable rotations, go-to games and good habits. And they can’t afford a cascade of mistakes and missed jumpers. For more than six minutes Friday night, the team remained within 72 points.
“I think we just weren’t organized like we used to be,” Embiid said. “I thought our defense was good but, starting with me, we started turning the ball over. I had a couple. And offensively, we were just disorganized in terms of what to run — indecisive. There are things we can fix. It seems like every game has 30 good minutes.
“Especially since we’re not at full strength and I’m still not myself, it seems like you don’t have much margin for error. In time, I think we’ll be fine. But we just had a few turnovers, they came out in transition, and from there, our offense just stalled.”
Can Sixers head coach Nick Nurse find those fixes soon?
The 5-6 Heat wrap up next Monday night in Miami.
“I think it’s a little bit of what I told them after the game: We’ve got to dig in and get to work,” Nurse said. “We really need to get serious about the execution side of the offense. And we have to figure out what days we can do it – practice days, shooting days, all that stuff. … It’s not easy with a whole bunch of new guys and guys coming in and out, obviously, but that’s where we are. So we have to start working on it for sure.”
The 20-year-old McCain has been the best part of the Sixers’ season so far in a landslide. He started Friday in place of Kelly Oubre Jr. and gave Nurse no reason to second-guess that decision, playing another sweet-shooting, high-energy, no-nonsense game.
Over his past four contests, he averaged 28.3 points. For the season, McCain is up to 40.3 percent from three-point range and 27 for 27 at the foul line.
Almost everything seemed very natural for McCain except the loss. After going 27-9 in his one season at Duke, he reached double-digit NBA losses.
“I think just having a calm vibe throughout the team,” McCain said of the Sixers’ approach. “Just having a sense of giving each other grace that we’re going to have a period like this and we’re going to get back to it.
“So I think just learning from them and knowing that it’s going to be good. You can be in panic mode sometimes, but these players have been there, done that, so you just have to listen to them.”
