The Philadelphia 76ers are in a bit of slump in case you haven’t noticed. Let’s be honest, COVID-19 and the Omicron variant have reset their roster to training camp status. The team was forced to give meaningful minutes to Tyler Johnson, a guy signed off the scrap heap 24 hours prior to tip-off against the Atlanta Hawks.
It would be easy to blame the global pandemic for a 98-96 loss to Atlanta on Thursday night. Or for a 5-5 record in the month of December. That would be the perfect excuse if every other team in the NBA wasn’t dealing with the same issue. Atlanta came into the matchup with six players out due to COVID-19 protocols; Philadelphia listed four out for the same reason.
“You’ve [Atlanta] got guys out, so do we. The whole thing has been kind of an anomaly of a scenario,” said Sixers forward Tobias Harris (16 points, 5-of-14). “Just to be honest between us, every other team in the NBA that’s going through these type of things right now. Protocols and whatever. I don’t think we’re overlooking them or not with the guys they have out.
“The way that we started the game it’s hard to really believe that. I know personally going into the game, they’re coming off a back-to-back, we needed to have more energy to start this game. More pop to us, and we didn’t.”
that 20-22 vision.🕶️
(Editor’s note: Danny Green, Andre Drummond, Shake Milton, Georges Niang all missed the game for Philly due to COVID-19. Atlanta was down Trae Young, Clint Capela, Kevin Huerter, Lou Williams, Danilo Gallinari, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot).
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Tobias Harris Dunks on Own Basket
If you wanted to pick one play that encapsulated the Sixers’ 2021-22 season so far, look no further than Harris’ tip-in at his own basket. That’s right. The 6-foot-8 star forward watched a rebound opportunity turn into two points for the Hawks with 2:05 left in the first quarter.
Gorgui Dieng got credit for the bucket, but Harris tipped it in. It was the kind of play that happened so fast that it didn’t seem real. That is, until Twitter crushed the fairy tale.
Tobias Harris tipping the ball in his own basket is a good summary of the first 10 minutes of this game
Tobias Harris just tipped the ball into the Hawks’ basket, a new one for one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA.
The Sixers trail 26-13 to a team that lost to a very shorthanded Orlando at home last night. Plenty of boos. Good stuff all around.
Tobias Harris tipped the ball into his own basket, giving him 2 pts for the 76ers & 2 for the Hawks.
Did Tobias Harris really just tip the ball back into our own basket?
Harris didn’t comment on his epic fail, although he was quick to assess what went wrong in general. The Sixers’ inability to stay with their men on defense – Ben Simmons anyone? – and get back in transition has thwarted their offensive output. As good as Matisse Thybulle has been for them, it’s been tough to get stops and force fast breaks down the other end.
“I think the overall theme for us through the year is basically when our offense execution lacks when our defense is not up to par,” Harris said. “Stops us from getting out and running in the open floor. When we have to take the ball out every time, it forces the other team to be set defensively in the half-court and kind of pick how they want to play their half-court defense vs our offense.”
Sixers Fall to Seventh in Eastern Conference
Philadelphia fell to seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 16-16 record. It’s definitely not the way Doc Rivers and company envisioned it to go. And Simmons doesn’t appear to be walking through that door anytime soon as trade rumors continue to swirl. Head coach Doc Rivers seemed to indicated that the Sixers missed Simmons’ presence as the pace-setter for the team.
They need to find ways to move the ball better and hit open shots, especially when Joel Embiid (23 points, 6-of-17 from the field) is struggling – well, by his lofty standards. The Sixers shot 41.3% (33-of-80) from the field against Atlanta, including 22.2% (6-of-27) from three-point land.
“The shots were there, the energy wasn’t,” Rivers said. “The pace wasn’t, the speed wasn’t, the passing wasn’t, we didn’t play the two-man game at all tonight. again, we didn’t deserve to win the game.”
Embiid’s “bad game” still was good enough for a team-high 23 points versus Atlanta. Tyrese Maxey scored 17 points in 34 minutes despite coming off the bench. Harris tallied 16 points and Seth Curry added 12 points in the losing effort.
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Sixers Star Reveals Reason for Offensive Woes After Hawks Loss