Philadelphia 76ers Fall To Miami Heat After Blowing 19-Point Lead

Everything seemed to be going well for the Sixers in South Beach.

After getting news that center Joel Embiid was doubtful, the big man was able to play, and the team found themselves up by as many as 19 against the Heat.

However, things would take an ominous turn in the third quarter.

Miami's Duncan Robinson would hit a 3-point shot with 7:15 left in the third, taking the lead and extending it to 16 points entering the fourth quarter.

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Miami won the third quarter 35-16 and outscored Philadelphia 53-33 in the second half to win the game 106-89. How does a team go from having a 19-point advantage to losing by 17?

It's the same story that has plagued them throughout the start of the season.  The Sixers are the worst-scoring team in the NBA, netting just 104 points per game, and on the defensive end of the floor, Philadelphia allows teams to shoot almost 50% from the floor per night.

Simply put, through 13 games, Philadelphia is a bad offensive team and a bad defensive team.

The latest loss led to a closed-door meeting.

The team sat behind closed doors, with head coach finally coming out to talk to reporters after about an hour because of what he called a meeting, one in which he would not give the specifics on what was discussed.

Will the meeting help get the 2-11 Sixers season on track?

"We can only ever find out until we play another game, til we get to practice," Nurse suggested. See what the level of focus and energy is like and then we get to our next game."

Nurse suggested the players were very attentive, and very communicative during the meeting.

Can Joel Embiid Return to Form?

One of the issues during this young season has been the play of Embiid, who clearly hasn't been himself during the three games he has appeared in.  He missed multiple games with knee management, and three other games serving a suspension for shoving a reporter.

"He's obviously not in rhythm and really rusty," Nurse explained. I just feel he has a ways to go to get in rhythm.  I think he's not that comfortable out there.  He's got a bunch of new guys out there to try and figure out what's going on. That's going to take some time."

Nurse said the silver lining was when he removed Embiid from the game, the big man suggested that he wanted to reenter the game to try and get more rhythm and more conditioning.

"Hopefully it will come along here soon," Nurse added.

Embiid ended the game with just 11 points (5-11), eight rebounds, and five assists in 31 minutes.

It appears in these first three games that Embiid is lacking the explosion in his legs, the rhythm in his shot, and not having the full complement of talent on the floor isn't helping either.

Will getting Tyrese Maxey back, and Embiid in rhythm, and more comfortable help?  Sure.  However, it might be too late.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Sixers are 1 of 108 teams to start a season 2-11 or worse. Only eight of those teams ended up making the playoffs, (0.7%), and all of those teams lost in the first round of the playoffs. 

The Sixers return to the floor on Wednesday night in Memphis, you can listen to the game on 97.3 ESPN, coverage begins at 8pm.