JoJo a No Show as Sixers fall to Raptors on the road
The Philadelphia 76ers lost in epic Sixers fashion Monday night as another late-game collapse allowed the Toronto Raptors to steal the game, 101-96, right out from underneath them. Joel Embiid didn’t even bother showing up for the contest, as the 7’2” center had one of the worst games of his career, scoring 0 points on 0/11 shooting with 13 rebounds in 32 minutes. Embiid missed all four of his three-point attempts while bricking his three foul shot attempts to boot.
“Some nights you make shots, some nights you don’t.”
The Sixers (11-6) led by six with four minutes and thirty seconds remaining when Fred VanVleet found Norman Powell in the corner for a three which sparked a 13-2 run to close out the game for the Raptors (12-4). VanVleet finished with 24 points and eight assists while the 2018-2019 Most Improved Player, Pascal Siakam, put up 25 points and seven rebounds of his own.
After coming into the game fresh off a four-game win streak and an absolute drumming of the Miami Heat in Jimmy Butler’s return, you’d think the Sixers would have the advantage in a game that also featured Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka out due to injury. Throw in the fact that it was the Sixers first time in Toronto since Kawhi Leonard’s game-winning shot in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and you got the makings of a surefire, “mark it on your calendar” type revenge game.
However, that would not be the case, as the Sixers failed to get any production out of Embiid, who was unfortunately last seen in Scotiabank Arena crying in the tunnel and being consoled by Marc Gasol.
I get it. Gasol is a great defender. He won Defensive Player of the Year back in 2013 and seems to have taken the role of “Embiid’s kryptonite” now that Al Horford is on the Sixers. During the semifinals last year, Gasol held Embiid to 17.6 points per game on 37 percent shooting. That speaks volumes considering Embiid averaged 27.5 points per game on 48.4 percent shooting during the regular season.
Still, with the game having a little extra meaning considering the circumstances, you’d think Embiid would have played with a little chip on his shoulder. Countless times throughout the contest, Embiid can be seen on the perimeter and nowhere near the paint, as evidenced by his 0/4 shooting from three-point range. When he was down low, Embiid would try to do too much, forcing up contested shots or attempting to dribble out of double teams. Embiid was simply flustered the entire game.
Now, there are some positives we can take out of the night. Putting aside Embiid’s clunker and Ben Simmons’ disappointing clock awareness, the Sixers showed some promise.
Josh Richardson showed why he’s one of the NBA’s best steals from the recent offseason, as the 6’6” guard scored 25 points in a trying effort to keep the Sixers in the game. Coming off a 32-point homecoming game against his former Miami Heat team, Richardson continued to impress with his lights-out shooting from beyond the arc, making 11/16 threes in his last two games (68.8 percent). Josh’s production isn’t the only caveat to his “steal” status as the former Tennessee Volunteer is only making 10 million for the next two years with a player option for 2021. That’s a great bargain for a team with four max players on their payroll.
Also, excluding Embiid, everyone else on the team sort of played well. All four other starters had over 10 points as Tobias chipped in 18 points while Ben fell a rebound shy of a triple-double (10 pts, 14 asts, 9 rebs).
So for the Sixers to seemingly have played without their all-star center and still only lose by two possessions to the defending champions who are undefeated at home should at least instill some confidence in the squad. It’s a luxury to have four other starters who can each get you at least 10 points when others are slacking and I think this team is learning that.
Now, the Sixers fourth quarter struggles are still prominent. They shot 7/19 (36.8 percent) from the field and 2/9 (22.2 percent) from three in the quarter while being held scoreless for the final four minutes and two seconds of the game.
It’s frustrating to see how they just unravel at the end of the game as they seem to be a completely different team when the fourth quarter comes.
Through three quarters, the Sixers are seventh-best in the league in average score margin at +5.7, meaning most of the time, they’re winning by the end of the third.
But when that fourth quarter hits, their offense becomes completely stagnant and unable to score points. The Sixers are the third-worst team at scoring the ball in the fourth quarter (24.7 points), as only the New York Knicks (24.6) and Charlotte Hornets (24.5) have averaged fewer points in the fourth this season.
With the Sixers only scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter against the Raptors, there should now be a general cause for concern surrounding this team’s fourth-quarter woes.
(And Simmons turning the ball over and chucking up a heave with six seconds remaining on back-to-back possessions isn’t really helping.)
But I still think this is something that fixes with time.
That was only the seventh contest all season that the regular starting five all started and finished a game together (5-2), and it was the team’s fourth game played in the last six nights.
We all need to take a deep breath.
Embiid will never have a game like that again.
But, if he or somebody else struggles one night, at least we know we have the pieces to compensate for their production.
With this team getting a much needed day off on Tuesday, the Sixers will be back at it again on Wednesday night as they take on the Sacramento Kings at the Wells Fargo Center, a place where they’re still undefeated.
