This is not how things were supposed to go for the Philadelphia 76ers.

At 23-13, the Sixers' chances of earning a top seed in the Eastern Conference are fading fast, as they are eight losses behind the first-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and five losses behind the second-seeded Boston Celtics.

Philadelphia has lost three games in a row going into their pivotal Friday night matchup with the Houston Rockets, and players are not happy.

Joel Embiid says he isn't having fun. Al Horford is not thrilled with his role. Josh Richardson says that the locker room lacks accountability, and Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris basically agreed.

Essentially, Philadelphia's five best players are concerned, and that should be enough to also cause head coach Brett Brown to worry about his job security.

Remember: there were some calling for Brown's job last spring after the Sixers were eliminated by the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the playoffs, but the 76ers decided to give him another chance.

Thus far, it hasn't worked out, but is Brown really at fault for the Sixers' disappointing season?

Yes and no.

If the players are tuning Brown out (which is what it kind of sounds like), then that is definitely a problem, but general manager Elton Brand also deserves some culpability for putting together a clearly flawed roster.

As talented as Philly is on paper, anyone who has watched basketball for a few years could see the potential issues brewing.

No floor spacing. Limited depth. A slow, prodding frontcourt that could have difficulty defending the pick-and-roll. A whole lot of mouths to feed.

What could possibly go wrong?

We don't need to look any further than last year's Celtics to see that the most talented roster doesn't always win, and when problems arise in the locker room, it is typically a death sentence.

The difference is, Brad Stevens was never in any danger of being canned last season, as he has a solid track record. Brown is another story.

If the 76ers don't turn things around rather promptly, it would not be hard to envision Brown being dismissed before the All-Star break.

Philadelphia was supposed to be battling for Eastern Conference supremacy; not fighting for a top-5 seed.

And right now, with the Bucks looking incredible, the Celtics playing much better than anyone expected, the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat representing legitimate threats and and Victor Oladipo's return for a very impressive Indiana Pacers team looming, the Sixers are in a whole lot of trouble.

Of course, there is plenty of time for the 76ers to turn things around. It's only January, after all, but we have seen this movie with talented clubs before, and when the team doesn't have a whole lot of playoff experience, it makes matters even tougher.

Let's remember that Philadelphia has never made it past the second round of the playoffs with this core, so the Sixers don't have a whole lot of experience dealing with adversity.

And when teams underachieve, who gets the majority of the blame? The head coach.

Brown should be very concerned about the temperature of his seat, even if the 76ers' worse are hardly all his fault.