PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have lost their second straight game after falling to the Boston Celtics. The game being the second one of a back-to-back be darned, the Sixers losing the way they did was disconcerting against a Boston team without Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis. Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey were not on their best performances but neither was Nick Nurse.

Nurse staggers Embiid and Maxey so that one can always be on the floor at all times for the Sixers. It’s smart to ensure they will always have a star to run things through. But what Philly has to improve at is how to construct the Maxey-less lineup around Embiid. The team has enough depth and should be able to perform well enough to at least get by in those minutes. Instead, those minutes have been dreadful as of late.

When their lead guard goes to the bench, the Sixers' offense looks far too clunky for a lineup featuring the reigning MVP. Philly struggles to get him the ball and the shots the lineup ends up with are often not very good. The looks come late in the shot clock and from guys who struggle to get separation from defenders or make contested shots.

“I'll say it’s been bad the whole season,” Embiid said of his Maxey-less units. “Usually, we've had a good run, especially in those minutes with me on the floor with any four guys. But lately, I don’t know what, it's been a problem.”

While it has indeed been a problem lately, the numbers show that lineups with Embiid and without Maxey used to be very good on the season as a whole. But since some key absences have thrust Marcus Morris Sr. into a bigger role in the absence of Nicolas Batum, the Embiid-on-Maxey-off lineups now have a net rating of just 1.95. When Embiid doesn’t have the surefire play of Batum to help him navigate the Maxey-kess minutes, the going gets tough. Morris being ineffective to start his Philly tenure hasn’t helped and neither has Patrick Beverley's shortcomings on offense compounding those of Morris.

The Sixers failing against good teams without a surefire ball-handler is something to note. While the eventual returns of Batum and Kelly Oubre Jr. will help, it's a weakness that Nurse is going to have to work around until the right trade comes around. Maxey, at least, has been very good this season and that includes in the minutes without Embiid, where Nurse plays him with Paul Reed and a few other starters.

Embiid said that the Sixers continue to work hard and pointed out that they are down two of their better players. In the end, though, he believes they have what they need to execute their offense well.

“It's not an excuse, we just got to be better,” Embiid said. “We just got to figure it out. A lot of teams, they just decide to just double me and obviously the game plan is just double and make everybody else beat them. But we just gotta take advantage of it. I got to make better reads and we just gotta take advantage of it.”