The Philadelphia 76ers had themselves a tough last week as they took some bumps and bruises on their way to a 4-game losing skid. The team had a tough time trying to break through on the court while dealing with a lot of losses off of it.
Once Joel Embiid went down and entered the health and safety protocols, the team began this losing streak as they have had a tough time trying to figure it all out. Not only have they been playing without Embiid, but also Matisse Thybulle who is now of their top defensive players.
The bright spots are that they did get Tobias Harris and Isaiah Joe out of the protocols and the play of Tyrese Maxey has been a huge lift. Maxey has been terrific out on the floor as he is averaging a robust 29.3 points over the last three games while shooting 58.6% from the floor and also 50% from deep.
With the losses comes a little drop off in some weekly power rankings. After earning the top spot in ESPN’s Power Rankings in the previous week, they took an understandable tumble from that top spot all the way down to 10 in the latest rankings:
Philadelphia followed up an impressive 4-0 week with an 0-4 showing — which happened, in large part, because Joel Embiid was sidelined for all four games after testing positive for COVID-19. While Tyrese Maxey continues to provide 76ers fans plenty of reasons to get excited, and the team fought gamely while down several players, losses are losses. A five-game West swing looms.
The upcoming stretch of games will not be easy. The Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets will offer tough challenges especially in the thin air out there and then they will have to face the Portland Trail Blazers who are a tougher challenge at home than on they are on the road. They will have to hope they can get everybody back in order to get the job done.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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