The Shorthanded 76ers Are Now 2-7 On The Season, With Joel Embiid Expected to Debut On Tuesday vs New York

Corey Chmara

This season has gone terribly wrong for the 76ers so far, as they currently sit at 2-7, 13th in the Eastern Conference standings. Paul George made his Sixers debut last Monday in Phoenix, putting up a stat line of 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in 31 minutes. The Sixers were in control most of the game, but ultimately came up short, as Kevin Durant took over late, giving the Suns the advantage, 118-116.

On Wednesday, the Sixers played the Clippers, as Paul George made his return to Los Angeles. This was another game where the Sixers looked solid early but their offense eventually stalled completely. Norman Powell couldn't miss, and the Sixers couldn't make a shot. The biggest headline from this game was that Tyrese Maxey suffered a hamstring injury, which will keep him out for roughly a couple of weeks. The injury didn't look awful, but Maxey had a hard time walking to the locker room after suffering the injury. The Sixers ended up falling short 110-98. 

AP Photo/Matt Slocum



The Sixers stayed in LA and took on the Lakers Friday night. The Lakers controlled the game pretty much the whole time and won by a score of 116-106. Essentially everybody on the Sixers played poorly against the Lakers, except Jared McCain who has been extremely fun to watch so far. Jared McCain scored 18 vs the Lakers and has recently been playing over 30 minutes a night since Tyrese Maxey went down. 

To close out the week, the Sixers finally had a game at home, which felt like they hadn't for an extremely long period of time. Charlotte came to town, where they would be defeated by a score of 107-105 in overtime. The Sixers won (yes, you read that right) from key contributions from Jared McCain and Guerschon Yabusele. Jared McCain played 30 minutes and scored a career-high 27 points. As for Yabusele, he came in clutch, scoring 20 points in 30 minutes of action.

Two players that have really impressed me through the first nine games of the season are Jared McCain and Guerschon Yabusele. Jared McCain has looked extremely good when he's had the chance to see the floor. I really like McCain's spark off the bench, as he can come in and provide scoring, something the Sixers haven't really had off the bench in recent years. McCain is also very confident, which is a part of why he's been playing so well for this team. Jared McCain is averaging 10.2 points per game on 34.5% from three and was a key contributor on offense vs Charlotte. As for Yabusele, he's looked really good as well, averaging 10.3 points per game on 43.2% from three. I wasn't sure how much he was going to play before the season but he's been really impressive so far this season.

Paul George hasn't looked all that great for the Sixers yet, but thats warranted given many factors. For one, he's been getting double-teamed a ton since he's currently really the only offensive threat the Sixers have, but he hasn't played in over 5 months, so there's gonna be some rust. Paul George is averaging 14.3 ppg, 4.8 rebounds per game, and 5.8 assists per game, all while shooting a putrid 16% from beyond the arc. Still have to be patient with him and this team, because the trio of Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and Joel Embiid has yet to play a game together.

This Tuesday, the Sixers open up play vs the New York Knicks (7:30 pm, TNT) for the first NBA Cup game of the season. The main headline for this game is that Joel Embiid is expected to make his season debut, after serving his three-game suspension for shoving a columnist. Getting Joel Embiid back is huge for this team, but he will most likely miss Wednesday's game vs the Cleveland Cavaliers in Philly, who are currently 11-0. It's been reported that Joel Embiid will not play in back-to-back games, so I'd expect him to sit that game out on Wednesday. 

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Following games against the Knicks on Tuesday and the Cavaliers on Wednesday, the Sixers then fly to Orlando to play the Orlando Magic on Friday night. This is another NBA Cup game for the Sixers and I would expect Joel Embiid to be good to go for this game as it's not a back-to-back. The key for the Sixers this week is to just get Joel Embiid on the court and to start getting some wins. 

I really hope this injury situation with the Sixers doesn't turn into a Durant, Harden, Irving situation in Brooklyn, where that big three only played 16 total games together. It seems that the Sixers big three of Maxey, George, and Embiid could be going down that path of when one guy comes back, another goes down. 

Only time will tell how good or bad this team actually is, but they have to start winning basketball games at some point.

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