The Philadelphia 76ers suffered an ugly loss on Tuesday, but they won’t have much time to dwell on the defeat.
The Sixers will be right back on the court Wednesday when they try to pick up the pieces against the visiting Utah Jazz, who are dealing with plenty of problems of their own.
Philadelphia trailed by as many as 49 points Tuesday in a 131-91 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The Sixers played without Joel Embiid (oblique), Kelly Oubre Jr. (illness) and Paul George (suspension), while standout rookie VJ Edgecombe (back) sat out the second half.
“You gotta focus on the people in this building,” said Tyrese Maxey, who led Philadelphia with 21 points. “These are the people that you’re going to be with for the rest of the season. If you want to make a run at doing something special, then you’ve got to focus on (the available players).”
Still, the Sixers’ issues went much deeper than player absences. The team shot just 34.7% from the field and 23.8% from 3-point range.
Defense was the main problem in the second quarter as San Antonio scored 46 points, while Philadelphia’s offense came up small in an 11-point third quarter.
“I thought we were doing a decent job of finding shots,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “I think it was taking a while, and I kept saying that in the timeouts. The open shots aren’t coming as fast as they did the other night, but you just got to be a little bit more patient and continue to kick out.”
Utah comes into this one looking to end a six-game losing streak. The team has surrendered at least 115 points in every game during that skid, including a 128-125 setback against the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
The Jazz continued to play without many of their rotation regulars, including Lauri Markkanen (hip), and they will be shorthanded throughout the duration of this three-game road trip.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the team’s effort,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said after the loss to Denver. “I thought we were super active on both sides of the ball.”
Keyonte George registered 36 points to pace Utah. He missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer late in the contest but still finished with strong shooting percentages from the field (14 of 22) and the 3-point arc (4 of 9).
“He’s been making a lot of plays downhill,” Hardy said of George. “His reads all season have continued to show all the work he’s put in. Development is not all physical. There’s an elite understanding to be a top player in this league.”
The Jazz clearly are in rebuilding mode, but they are getting an extended look at potential foundational pieces such as George, Kyle Filipowski (19 points) and Ace Bailey (18).
“Coach Will even said it when he came in the locker room,” Filipowski said. “If we keep playing hard like this, keep playing together, then we’re gonna get where we want to in the future.”
This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. They will square off again March 21 in Salt Lake City.
Philadelphia posted a pair of tight wins against Utah a season ago.
