Embiid, Curry Left Brooklyn Frustrated After Missed Opportunity

Last month, the Philadelphia 76ers often found themselves with the short end of the stick. As they battled through injuries and COVID-19 cases within their
Embiid, Curry Left Brooklyn Frustrated After Missed Opportunity
Embiid, Curry Left Brooklyn Frustrated After Missed Opportunity /

Last month, the Philadelphia 76ers often found themselves with the short end of the stick. As they battled through injuries and COVID-19 cases within their roster, they went into a lot of games shorthanded, which resulted in them coming up short.

This month, more teams across the league are facing a similar situation as the Sixers. Meanwhile, the 76ers have been relatively healthy lately. Last week, they took advantage of having most of their key players on board as they went 3-1 with wins over Charlotte and Golden State. 

This week, nothing has gone according to plan. On Monday, two late scratches left the Sixers scrambling in Memphis and eventually taking on a significant loss to the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies.

Then on Wednesday, the Sixers faced the Miami Heat without Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and more on the floor for them. Despite having their entire starting lineup healthy, the 76ers dropped their second-straight game.

The 76ers went to Brooklyn to face the Nets on Thursday with no time to rest. While Brooklyn had Kevin Durant available, a large chunk of their roster missed Thursday's game. However, the Sixers failed to take advantage. 

Led by Durant's 34-point effort, the Nets defeated the Sixers 114-105. With that defeat, the Sixers took on their third-straight loss in a game they were favored to win. After the matchup, Sixers center Joel Embiid acknowledged that the 76ers surely missed a prime opportunity to issue losses to two Eastern Conference playoff contenders while they were missing notable players from their roster.

"For sure," said Embiid when asked if the Sixers missed a notable opportunity over the last two days. "Miami missing their best players. Tonight, Brooklyn obviously, they still had KD, but they're missing a bunch of players. It does suck losing. It's frustrating."

As for Seth Curry, he sees it the same way. "Every game we lose is a missed opportunity," Curry explained. "These two teams played good basketball. They had Kevin Durant on their team tonight. Last night, [the Heat] are a good team, a good system. They help each other out, and they play well."

While the Sixers understand they should've been able to take down several shorthanded teams this week since they had the advantage over their opponents, Curry also made it clear that in the NBA, you can't count on winning games by default.

"It's the NBA," Curry finished. "Anybody can beat anybody. We beat teams undermanned this year, too. You gotta come in with that right mindset and beat whoever's on the floor."

Unfortunately for the Sixers, they've failed to do that this week. With games against Memphis, Miami, and Brooklyn, the Sixers have gone 0-3 over the last four days. Now, they are looking to fall out of their mini-slump this Sunday as they are set to take on the New Orleans Pelicans at home.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.


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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA