The Philadelphia 76ers (29-16) road trip may have already featured its toughest competition but the squad now faced a crunch of games. Their first of three in four days came against the Portland Trail Blazers (14-33). The Sixers put up a flat performance in a 130-104 loss.

Let's break down a Hospital Sixers loss that wasn’t very fun.

76ers player notes:

Tobias Harris: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-9 FG shooting

Harris had a poor showing in his first game of the road trip, failing to get most of his shots to fall. He at least got his legs back under him for the rest of the trip.

Patrick Beverley: 14 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 5-10 FG shooting

Beverley never seems to be shaken when the 76ers need him to step outside of his role and lead the offense for long stretches at a time. His ability to change his pace is impressive, even if his top speed isn’t blazing fast. Similar to the last game, though, he spent most of his XP in the first half.

Kelly Oubre Jr.: 25 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 11-20 FG shooting

Oubre picked up the scoring load with an efficient night despite not being able to get a three-pointer to go. He soared into the paint with gusto and the Blazers didn’t have many answers for him.

Blazers player notes

Malcolm Brogdon: 24 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 9-13 FG shooting

Brogdon auditioned very nicely for a team that could target him for his ability to create on offense. His ability to get downhill powered a strong performance and his playmaking away from that was pivotal for Portland. There are questions about how well he can really hold up in the playoffs but Philly might want to consider trading for him.

Jerami Grant: 27 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 7-13 FG shooting

The former Sixer had it going in the first half, scoring from all over the court and tying his season-high of 20 points in the half. He made his way to the free-throw line and took care of business before tailing off in the second half.

Game recap:

1st half

Fresh off of a great performance against the Denver Nuggets, the Hospital Sixers got some help with the return of Tobias Harris, who missed the start of this road trip due to an illness. Plus, the Blazers were on the second night of a back-to-back and are already not a very good team. But without Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey again, Philly would need another batch of guys stepping up.

Marcus Morris Sr. was moved back to the bench in place of Harris. Batum guarded Anfernee Simons while Portland stuck Jerami Grant on Harris. The 76ers ran sets to get a smaller defender on Harris but didn’t come away from those early chances with points. They also went back to the Patrick Beverley-Paul Reed pick-and-roll, with a wrinkle of turning Reed into an early pindown that got Harris an open look for three that he took right away but did not convert on.

Harris was subbed out pretty early as a way to ease him back up to speed. Morris subbed in less than five minutes in with Furkan Korkmaz, who took Beverley's spot. The Blazers turned to a zone defense that flustered the 76ers and scored through Deandre Ayton in the pick-and-roll often. Malcolm Brogdon took it right to the hoop for a few buckets of his own, too. Of Portland's first 16 shots, 10 came within three feet of the hoop.

Mo Bamba returned after seven absences and immediately made an impact with his size at the basket, swatting a Scoot Henderson layup, easily dunking a lob from PatBev and detering a shot attempt at the rim from Brogdon. Beverley took it right to Henderson, who gave him a taste of his own medicine with aggressive defense all the way up the court. The veteran told the rookie to back off by driving right at him for an and-one, his third foul of the game.

Jerami Grant and Beverley exchanged points with the veteran point guard going up for a dunk down the lane. To balance the ball-handling when Beverley sat but to get a different answer than Korkmaz, who didn’t have a particularly good first stint, Batum took the point-guard duties. It was a lineup reminiscent of Nick Nurse's Toronto Raptors, where every player was between 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-9.

As Brogdon continued to chisel his way to the rim and Jerami Grant started to percolate with a second-quarter scoring outburst, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Reed did a strong job of finishing close shots. The former stayed aggressive with the ball and the latter was attentive on the boards and as a dump-off option.

The 76ers stayed in the game despite poor shooting from beyond the arc (just 3-18) and struggling to keep Portland away from the hoop, both in its initial shots and on the glass. Sticking with drop coverage really only works with someone who can impact a lot of shots at the rim, like Embiid or even the long-armed Bamba. With Reed, it allowed guys like Brogdon to get easier paths to the paint.

At the half, the 76ers trailed 58-55.

2nd half

The Blazers fed Ayton at the rim repeatedly to start the half. The 76ers couldn’t stop the ball and Reed positioned himself in no-man's land, leading to lobs for Portland's big man. Timely cuts off the ball, including Ayton slipping a pindown screen and Jabari Walker making a quick slot cut, helped the Blazers go up by double-digits. Walker also hunted offensive rebounds, scoring a second-chance layup to reach 10 rebounds and make the lead 10 points.

Things weren’t much better on offense for the 76ers. They were slow and stagnant far too often, with Harris wasting shot-clock seconds just standing in space and sizing up his defender with the ball. And yet, he was one of the few Sixers able to score via cuts into the paint for close shots.

Near the end of the third quarter, the broadcast went kaput for minutes at a time, leaving viewers with a scrambled picture and then a radio-like voiceover from the commentators. The 76ers didn’t do anything of note with the cover of a still picture of their logo blanketing TV screens across the Delaware Valley.

Jaden Springer was the lone non-two-way-contract Sixer not to get meaningful minutes in this game. The 76ers' best on-ball defender to not get a chance when the perimeter defense is as bad as it was is unwise, offensive shortcomings be darned. Especially in a quarter when Philly is outscored 38-22 and down four key players, what’s the worst that could have happened? In all honesty, though, the difference wouldn’t have been much. No one was going to pull a win out of this teamwide effort.

As the broadcast continued to sputter, the Blazers kept scoring at will and building the lead higher. Terquavion Smith and Ricky Council IV were subbed in with roughly nine minutes to go. Springer followed shortly thereafter. Portland even dominated in garbage time, with Henderson scoring 20 points in the period. This Council dunk was sick, though.

Philly took another defeat with the two teams behind them in the standings making up ground. Regardless of when Embiid and Maxey are back, Philly needs to get it together.

Random tidbits:

  • Why did Nick Nurse sub Morris in for Reed on a defensive possession to end the half? Predictably, he guarded Ayton and the Blazers ran a pick-and-roll and scored. He was in a fine position on the play but with Portland dominating at the rim, it was a puzzling decision.
  • No more NBC Sports Philly broadcast nonsense, PLEASE.

The 76ers are back in action tomorrow night against the Golden State Warriors.