NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers have blown a 21-point lead twice in their last four games. After allowing the Orlando Magic to come back against them at home, they surrendered a big lead to the New York Knicks on the road. Despite their recent stretch of great play, this is a worrisome trend for Joel Embiid and the Sixers.

Blowing leads, especially those that build up early in the game, is a more common occurrence in an ultra-high-scoring NBA but it is still something the Sixers have to stop doing. Embiid made it clear after the game that they have to figure out ways to hold onto these big leads and stay tough when teams start chipping away at them.

“That's why we got to stay mentally tough to be able to regroup ourselves and get back into it,” Embiid said. “But we just didn't do that tonight, obviously, after giving up the lead.”

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The Sixers allowed the Knicks to cut their 21-point advantage to just a one-point lead in roughly seven minutes of game time. New York led the game for the final nine minutes of game time.

“This starts with all of us,” Embiid said of the Sixers’ need to improve their levels of mental toughness. “First of all, we can't put ourselves in those positions again, and give up those type of leads.” P.J. Tucker interestingly said that he prefers not to have such big leads because it can allow the Sixers to lose their edge. Regardless, they have to figure out how to maintain such leads and figure things out when it isn't going their way.

Joel Embiid previously said that the Sixers still have a long way to go. Losses like this prove that he's right.