PHILADELPHIA — Long before opening tipoff against the Mavericks Monday, Sixers coach Nick Nurse provided a glimpse of his workaround minus the services of superstar Joel Embiid, out indefinitely and slated to undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
Embiid was sidelined with an ankle injury for a four-game road trip right around Christmas. The Sixers lost a tight game to the Heat, defeated the Magic and Rockets and lost to the Bulls. Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, De’Anthony Melton and Kelly Oubre took care of the scoring, Maxey dropping 42 points on Houston. Paul Reed started at the pivot then.
That will be the plan most nights, though without Melton, it didn’t work out in a 118-102 loss to Dallas. Oubre led the Sixers with 19 points. Harris added 17, Maxey 15. After leading by six points at the half, the Sixers scored a season-low 17 points in the third quarter.
“That’s pretty much the story of the game right there,” Nurse said. “They started hitting shots, and we just couldn’t score.”
If the Sixers believe Embiid could return for the postseason, they might consider dealing for a natural center like Andre Drummond (6-11, 279) of the Pistons, whose contract expires at the end of the season, or Daniel Gafford (6-10, 234) and Kyle Kuzma (6-9, 221) of the Wizards. All are on losing teams and could be on the block. Kuzma would be an interesting fit.
The trade deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. It’s hard to believe the Sixers could survive the loss of Embiid, averaging a league-best 35.3 point along with 11.3 rebounds, without help.
Once the medical team repairs Embiid’s knee, the Sixers will have a better idea of his availability. It’s likely the big guy could sit out the last 33 games of the regular season for the Sixers (30-19). If the Sixers stumble, management almost certainly will shut down Embiid. The Sixers are 4-11 this season without him.
“There’s still a lot of games to get through here and we’ve got to try to salvage a dub somewhere along the way,” Nurse said. “With him gone and everybody else here, I’m really comfortable with going out there and competing. But with four starters out and three bench guys out it’s tough. It’s really tough. Picking one off anywhere we can, will be a bonus, right?”
Dressed in civilian clothes, Embiid showed up late to watch his teammates at Wells Fargo Center.
Embiid sat at the far end of the bench. He couldn’t have been happy watching the Sixers make just four of 23 shots in the third quarter.
• • •
Harris returned to action Monday after being sidelined due to illness. Melton (lumbar) was scratched again.
Starter Nicolas Batum (hamstring) was scratched along with Robert Covington (knee). The Sixers’ starting lineup was Maxey, Harris, Oubre, Paul Reed and Daniel House Jr.
• • •
Maxey will hand out $500 gift certificates to a group of 10 youths Tuesday and help them shop at SNIPES shoes and apparel.
At least one of those kids is going to ask how in the world he committed three fouls in the first seven minutes Monday.
• • •
Derrick Jones, the product of Archbishop Carroll, started for the Mavericks. The 6-6 Jones, who turns 27 this month, averaged 10.1 points and 6.3 boards.
Kyrie Irving led the Mavs with 23 points and eight assists. Luka Doncic added 19 points and eight boards.
Source: Berkshire mont