Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers failed to get a win in their home debut this season, as the Sixers lost to the visiting Brooklyn Nets Friday night, 114-109. Beating the Nets in front of the Philly crowd would have injected even more confidence into the Sixers' title chances even without Ben Simmons, but Embiid and company faded when it mattered the most.

The Sixers got outscored in the final quarter by the Nets, 29-18. Philadelphia simply lost steam, which paved the way for a Brooklyn comeback. Following the loss, Embiid commented on what he felt was a failure on the Sixers' part to finish strong, per Tom Moore of Bucks County Courier Times.

“We got to do better when it comes to execution,” said star center Joel Embiid, who missed all three of his final-period shots. “… We could've moved the ball a little better the last three or four minutes. We had a good first 44 minutes moving the ball.”

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Closing out games were a major problem for Philadelphia in the last playoffs when they couldn't seal the deal at home against the Atlanta Hawks. That series ended up bookmarking the start of a long-playing Ben Simmons saga that continues to this day.

Embiid and the Sixers will look to pick up the pieces on Sunday on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder.