PHILADELPHIA —The 76ers are 52 games into their latest Big 3 experiment, and one permutation of the three remains lagging.
As much as Nick Nurse is grateful to finally have Paul George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey all healthy simultaneously for a change, the chemistry between George and Embiid remains a drag.
Tuesday’s game against Toronto was just the 13th all season that the three have started together. They’re 7-5 in those games and 6-3 when all three have managed to finish a game without injury or ejection.
Embiid, available for just his 17th game of the season, has had time to grow with Maxey in years past. George and Maxey got a tranche of games in the fall between their respective injuries to develop recognition on the court.
But Embiid and George remain occasionally unsure around each other – Nurse used the phrase “lost in the shuffle” about George’s offensive opportunities when Maxey and Embiid are out there together.
“At this stage, it’s something we would like to see some improvement in, for sure,” Nurse said Tuesday. “I think that Tyrese and Joel have played a lot of games together and obviously have a lot of reps together. We’re trying to get some more reps with Paul and Joel. I think there was a stretch where the Tyrese-Paul thing looked pretty good. So we’re trying to get some more reps with Paul and Joel.”
Embiid and George have played a combined 337 minutes together. The team is shooting 42.9 percent from the field when they’re out there and are a minus-14.
George’s numbers look different if Embiid is out there. In January, around the pinkie injury he is managing, George averaged 19.9 ppg in seven games without Embiid. In December, he averaged 13.4 points in nine games with Embiid and 24.7 in three without him. He shot 51 percent in December without Embiid and 39 with him, including just 27 percent from 3-point range. More glaring is the usage: 12.7 attempts in games with Embiid in December, 17.3 without.
The 76ers haven’t played well with Embiid recently. Despite his triple-double against Dallas, he was a minus-12 in a win. He was minus-19 in a loss to a Cade Cunningham-less Detroit team and minus-6 in a loss to a Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks team. The Sixers started in a 17-4 hole against Toronto Tuesday night.
The dearth of connection between George and Embiid has Nurse tilting his rotations.
“There hasn’t been a ton of games, but trying to when Tyrese is out, leave those two guys in, try to see if they can create a little bit more synergy there,” he said. “Just being able to get a feel for each other, timing, rhythm.”
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Kyle Lowry (hip) played just 5:43 in Milwaukee and was out Tuesday night. It’s the same issue that cost him 10 games in January, and it’s not going away.
“I think it’s like something again that he’s got that, it’s not going to be day-to-day, considering where we’re at right now,” Nurse said. “It gets back to feeling pretty good. And then it’s a matter of what happens when he plays on it. But it’s going to be there.”
The Sixers were without Eric Gordon due to a sore right wrist that will likely keep him out of Wednesday’s trip to Brooklyn, the Sixers’ last game before the All-Star Break. Gordon missed two games last week due to knee soreness. He returned to shoot 2-for-13 from the field, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range, in three games, playing just 10:21 in Detroit and 8:55 in Milwaukee. He had been excellent in January, shooting 55.2 percent from 3-point range over a 13-game stretch.
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Among all the ins and outs, the Sixers’ defense has taken a hit in recent weeks. They have allowed 108 or more points in each of the last six games, winning just once. They average 113.3 points allowed per game, which is 15th in the NBA.
Much of that is shifting responsibilities. Just when the 76ers had adjusted to fill the rim-protection void left by the absences of Embiid and second-string center Andre Drummond, those guys came back, changing rotations on the defensive side.
Transition defense has been a particular challenge, especially against teams that want to speed them up – which, given that the Sixers are 28th in pace, is everyone. They are 13th in the league in fastbreak points allowed at 15.3 per game, though that’s in part because they commit the sixth-fewest turnovers in the league.
“The pieces change a little bit,” Nurse said. “It changes a lot of the rhythm of the offense, the crash responsibilities and probably most importantly, the communication back. Those guys are getting used to the group that’s together and figuring out who’s going where and some of that stuff needs some work.”
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The 76ers signed David Roddy to a 10-day contract Tuesday, then promptly shipped him to Delaware.
The 23-year-old out of Colorado State played 27 games with Atlanta this year, including three starts, averaging averaged 12.8 minutes, 4.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
Originally drafted 23rd overall by the 76ers in 2022, he was shipped on draft night with Danny Green to Memphis for De’Anthony Melton. Roddy has played 162 games in three seasons with the Grizzlies, Phoenix and Atlanta, averaging 6.3 points and 17.2 minutes. He joins Chuma Okeke on 10-day deals.
That extends the 76ers’ latitude to use game-days of two-way players in the NBA, in particular newly acquired Jared Butler. Butler and Jeff Dowtin remain on two-way deals after Justin Edwards was converted to a standard contract on Sunday.
Source: Berkshire mont
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