The Philadelphia 76ers kicked off a season-long six-game road trip Tuesday night with a matchup against the Utah Jazz. Despite players slowly returning from health and safety protocols, they still find themselves without multiple key players. Utah took advantage of the depleted squad and won the game in blowout fashion, extending the Sixers' losing streak to five games. Here are some observations from the Sixers-Jazz matchup.
Philadelphia 76ers observations from Jazz loss
3) Maxey, Milton carry the offense
To put it nicely, Tuesday was a night to forget for most of this Philadelphia 76ers roster. For a team that has thrived off a balanced offensive attack, multiple players struggled shooting the ball. That said, there were still two standouts who did their best to carry the load.
Tyrese Maxey and Shake Milton have been on impressive runs late and continued their strong play against the Jazz. Milton started the game and scored a team-high 18 points, while Maxey was not far behind him with 16.
There wasn't much to positively take away from this game, but the scoring production from the pair of guards is good to see. Scoring will have to come from somewhere while the Sixers work their way back to full strength, and the duo continues to show they can do it in bunches when needed.
2) Fatigue starting to set in
When the roster was first hit due to the health and safety protocols, the 76ers found themselves incredibly undermanned. Because of the minimal players at his disposal, Doc Rivers was forced to play guys for extended minutes on a nightly basis.
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Rivers has received some reinforcements, but the damage has already been done. Fatigue has become a glaring concern for the Sixers in their recent stretch. Tired legs have led to shots falling short on offense and lackluster defense at times.
With minimal days of rest between games, the Sixers have to catch their breath on the fly. Having to roll guys out for over 40 minutes a night last week is already negatively impacting the team. Hopefully, there are no lasting long-term concerns.
1) Joel Embiid is greatly missed
Probably the most glaring observation from the 76ers is how bad they miss Joel Embiid in the lineup. This should go without saying, as he is a top-10 player in the league, but it still needs to be mentioned.
Because of outside circumstances, we have got to see an offense tailor-made for the All-Star center this season. While this was extremely successful early on, it has caused the team to flatline at times on that end of the floor in his absence. Not having a player you can dump the ball to when a basket is needed has led to some ugly scoring droughts in recent matchups.
It goes without saying how important Embiid is to the Sixers right now. The group has done their best to stay afloat, but it's becoming clear he is needed to get this team back on the right track. Philly is now down to 8-7 on the season and needs a boost as this road trip continues.
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