The Philadelphia 76ers obviously cannot replace what Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid bring to the basketball court, but with the amount of money invested in this roster, they should be able to beat a bad team like the Cleveland Cavaliers.
After already missing Simmons, the Sixers then lost Embiid after just 7:36 of playing time and they could not recover. They never held a lead in this one and trailed by as many as 20 on their way to a 108-94 loss.
Without their two leaders, the Sixers had to lean more on Al Horford, Tobias Harris, and Josh Richardson. None of them stepped up in a way the team needed as Horford only had 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting, Harris shot 4-for-13 for 11 points, and Richardson had nine points on 4-for-12 from the floor.
That is not what the team expected considering the amount of money invested, especially in Horford and Harris.
“That’s why you have a team,” said a frustrated coach Brett Brown. “That’s why you try to accumulate depth and talent. With the group that we had, we just defensively didn’t get it done. You felt it tremendously in the paint. I think they had 52 points in the paint, it was probably that area of defense that you felt the most.”
With Simmons already expected to be out for an extended period of time and Embiid’s status up in the air, but scheduled for an MRI which is never good, it is imperative that Philadelphia gets more out of those guys. They need to give the team what they expected after they acquired them.
“We didn’t quite know how to play,” said Horford. “I know that we tried to figure it out…but we have to figure out a way to play without them. Our plan has always been those two guys leading us and now we have to find another way.”
They had better figure it out soon. They do not have much time left before the playoffs begin and when it does arrive, their warts will be really exposed and then what? Things are not looking good in Philadelphia at the moment. [lawrence-related id=26580,26548,26532]