The Philadelphia 76ers are suddenly struggling mightily. After winning 13 of 15 games and running a perfect 14-0 home record, the Sixers have now lost three-straight games and two in a row at home after a troubling 117-98 at the hands of the Luka Doncic-less Dallas Mavericks.
Philadelphia opened an early eight-point lead and then proceeded to disappear at both ends of the court. After taking that lead, the Sixers were outscored 30-15 over the remainder of the first quarter, finding themselves down seven after one.
The Mavs would build the lead as high as 17 in the second quarter before the team finally showed some life and cut the deficit to six at the half.
The Sixers pulled within one early in the third quarter, and there was hope that they had woken up and would handle business. Instead, the uneven effort and offensive struggles continued and Dallas restored the lead to 11 heading into the fourth. The Sixers never truly threatened again and were handed a discouraging loss.
Philadelphia again struggled to exploit a zone defense, shooting 42.2% from the field and just 29.4% from 3. There’s no way around it, this team is going to have to figure out how to beat a zone defense. Whether it’s a tactical change from Brett Brown or a roster move from Elton Brand, something has to be done.
Making matters worse, the Sixers did nothing on the defensive end. Dallas shot 51.8% from the floor and 42.4% from 3. The Mavs continually generated good looks and got to the rim with ease. For a team that was touted as a defensive juggernaut, it was truly concerning.
The defense is particularly concerning for several reasons. First, a team with the defensive expectations that the Sixers have should be able to ride the defense through tough offensive stretches. Second, a team with the defensive makeup of the Sixers should be able to use defense to generate offense. Neither of those things happened Friday night.
Perhaps most concerning of all, the team appears to let offensive struggles affect the focus and intensity at the other end of the court and that is not a sign of a team with a healthy mentality.
It’s also fair to question the overall focus and effort from the team over the past week, starting with last Sunday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets. For a team that did its fair share of talking in the offseason and that shoulders championship aspirations, that is simply unacceptable.
We still need to remember that it’s an 82 game season, and a three-game stretch in December is fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The sky is not falling. But the way the team has been playing, and responding, is concerning. There are issues that need to be addressed if this team plans to meet expectations. Fortunately, they have four months to figure it out.
Ending on a positive note, Joel Embiid was a lone bright spot for the Sixers with 33 points and 17 rebounds.
The Sixers will have the opportunity to quickly put Friday’s game behind them as they host the Washington Wizards on Saturday at 7:00 PM.