The Philadelphia 76ers continued their disappointing start to a promising season with perhaps their worst performance yet.
Philadelphia squandered a 19-point lead in the first half and ultimately lost 106-89 to the Miami Heat on Monday.
After taking a 46-27 lead with 9:23 left in the second quarter, the Sixers were outscored 61-26 over the next 14:37. By the end of the third quarter, Miami led 88-72.
It was 46-27 Philly in the second,
It’s now 88-72 Miami after 3.
That’s a 61-26 run.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) November 19, 2024
Jimmy Butler returned to the Heat lineup on Monday after missing the team’s past four games with an ankle injury. He had his best game of the season, scoring 30 points with 10 rebounds and five assists. Butler shot 8-for-12 from the floor, hit his only three-point attempt and went 13-for-13 on free throws.
Miami went 2-2 in Butler’s absence, but certainly benefited from the return of its third leading scorer. Tyler Herro added 18 points with five assists and five rebounds, while Bam Adebayo grabbed 13 boards. With Monday’s win, the Heat improved to 6-7, moving them into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, it’s early in the 2024-2025 season, but the 76ers fell to 2-11 with their fourth straight loss. That ties them for the worst in the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
Rookie Jared McCain led the Sixers with 20 points. Paul George followed with 18 points, shooting 5-for-13 (and 1-for-7 on 3s), and Joel Embiid contributed 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
But more strikingly, Embiid didn’t shoot any free throws in 31 minutes. That’s the first time in almost seven years that he played in a game and didn’t get a single free throw Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice.
Monday’s match was also the first time that Embiid played 25 minutes or more and did not attempt any free throws. As a team, Philadelphia shot just 12 free throws, including nine. Miami had 23 foul shots, making 91%.
Earlier in the day, Embiid was listed as questionable on the NBA injury report due to an illness. That could explain his performance. But in the three games he played this season after returning from a knee injury, Embiid averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse took an hour to come out for his post-game press conference and opened the session by saying the team had a meeting, according to John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia. The nurse did not reveal any details of the team meeting.
Whatever was said, the Sixers have two days to evaluate themselves before visiting the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
