The Philadelphia 76ers continued a disappointing start to a promising season with arguably their worst effort yet.
Philadelphia blew a 19-point first half lead and eventually lost 106-89 to the Miami Heat on Monday.
After taking a 46-27 lead with 9:23 remaining in the second quarter, the Sixers were then outscored 61-26 over the next 14:37. By the end of the third quarter, Miami led 88-72.
Jimmy Butler returned to the Heat lineup on Monday after missing the team’s past four games with an ankle injury. He had his best game of the season, scoring 30 points with 10 rebounds and five assists. Butler shot 8-for-12 from the floor, hit his lone 3-point attempt and went 13-for-13 on free throws.
Miami went 2-2 in Butler’s absence, but certainly benefited from the return of its third-leading scorer. Tyler Herro added 18 points with five assists and five rebounds, while Bam Adebayo grabbed 13 boards. With Monday’s win, the Heat improved to 6-7, boosting them to fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, it’s early in the 2024-25 season but the 76ers dropped to 2-11 with their fourth consecutive loss. That ties them for worst in the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
Rookie Jared McCain led the Sixers with 20 points. Paul George followed with 18 points, shooting 5-for-13 (and 1-of-7 on 3s), and Joel Embiid contributed 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
But more notable was that Embiid didn’t shoot any free throws in 31 minutes. That’s the first time in nearly seven years that he played in a game and didn’t get one free throw, according to PhillyVoice’s Adam Aaronson.
Also, Monday’s game was the first time that Embiid played 25 minutes or more and didn’t attempt any free throws. As a team, Philadelphia shot only 12 free throws, making nine of them. Miami got 23 foul shots, shooting 91%.
Earlier in the day, Embiid was listed as doubtful on the NBA injury report with an illness. That could explain his performance. But in the three games he’s played this season after returning from a knee injury, Embiid has averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse took an hour to come out for his postgame news conference and opened the session by saying the team had a meeting, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark. Nurse didn’t reveal any specifics from the team meeting.
Whatever was said, the Sixers have two days to evaluate themselves before visiting the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.