While Philadelphia is preparing to host a parade to celebrate its Super Bowl-winning football team, the city’s basketball squad isn’t giving its fans much to cheer of late.
Losers of three in a row and 12 of their last 17 games, the 76ers will look to change their fortunes on Tuesday when they host the Toronto Raptors.
Tyrese Maxey scored 39 points and Joel Embiid had 27 to go along with 12 rebounds in Philadelphia’s 135-127 setback to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon.
Sure, the Eagles erased those bad vibes hours later with a lopsided victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, but the city’s hardwood enthusiasts have legitimate reason for concern given the plight of the 76ers.
Embiid acknowledged to reporters that another offseason surgery on his left knee is possible if he doesn’t experience any relief before the end of the campaign.
“No one knew it was going to be like this. After the surgery, I didn’t have enough time. I came back for the playoffs. And then after the Olympics, then right back to the regular season,” the 2023 NBA MVP said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“So I think at some point, I probably just need to just, especially when the summer comes around, we are going to get those few months and just recover for me. As I say, I don’t know what it is. But if that keeps being the same pattern, obviously you’ve got to try something else.”
The 76ers needed to try something else on Sunday, as they allowed the Bucks to make a robust 43.6 percent of their 3-point attempts while seizing 19 offensive rebounds.
“They obviously hit a super-high percentage. But they had a lot of good looks. A lot of them (on) consecutive possessions. And then, the other one is the offensive rebounding,” Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse said. “They just got a lot of second-chance opportunities. Some of those threes came off that.”
Embiid has been a spectator in 36 of the team’s 52 games this season, including the 76ers’ 115-107 setback in Toronto on Oct. 25. Maxey finished with 24 points in that game despite shooting 6-for-23 from the floor — including 2-of-12 from 3-point range.
Scottie Barnes, who led Toronto with 27 points in that contest, finished with 15 on Sunday as the Raptors saw their losing skid extend to four games with a 94-87 setback to the Houston Rockets. Barnes misfired on all eight of attempts from beyond the arc versus the Rockets.
Immanuel Quickley collected 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes on Sunday. Not too shabby considering he returned from groin and hip issues last week.
“That’s the whole purpose of building him up and having that minutes restriction, so he can go and play really hard for 16 minutes … for 20 minutes … for 24 minutes,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said, per the Toronto Star.
“And as he is increasing that, his conditioning is (coming) back, he’s finding the rhythm more there … He was very solid on the defensive end.”
RJ Barrett remains in the NBA’s concussion program and has yet to be cleared to play.
“There are a couple of hoops that he needs to go through,” Rajakovic said. “So it’s going to take a couple of days for him to be cleared.”
–Field Level Media
