Philadelphia 76ers: 0-3 and things don’t get any easier

Still winless three games into their 2017-18 season, the Philadelphia 76ers face a tough stretch as they attempt to break through for their maiden win.

After a couple of narrow losses in their opening two games of the season, the Philadelphia 76ers fell back down to earth with a thumping 128-94 loss at the hands of the Toronto Raptors.

While it wasn’t the ultimate deciding factor, the absence of center Joel Embiid was certainly felt as the Sixers were jumped by the Raptors 36-19 in the opening term on their way to a comprehensive 34-point loss.

Following the game, head coach Brett Brown detailed his thoughts on the loss:

"“I knew the first three games were going to be difficult. I knew coming into this building [on the second night of] a back-to-back was going to be difficult. But you are certainly not expecting it to be that margin of a deficit.”"

So while they were every chance to win their opening two games, their loss to the Raptors certainly highlighted a problem area that has plagued them in their start to the season. The Raptors made 37 trips to the free throw line, with All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan making 16 trips alone.

As coach Brown noted after the game in regards to the Sixers constantly falling for the up-fakes of the opposition:

"“Our inability to not get tricked, to not bite on multiple up-fakes and to look down and to see him take 16 free throws, is a discipline that we have to improve upon. It’s a thing that hurt us last night, we fouled four 3-point shooters, that’s 12 free throws. You’re not going to win any close game, or any game that matters, when you don’t have that discipline.And so this will continue to be a reminder of our guys, we call it second off the floor – you can’t be first off the floor, you’re a prisoner to the player and the referee, and we need to stay ground bound. We were poor tonight doing that.”"

During their opening night loss to the Washington Wizards, the Sixers allowed the Wizards to maker 38 trips to the free throw line, including 16 to Bradley Beal, and nine to backcourt partner John Wall. Whereas against the Boston Celtics, they sent rookie Jayson Tatum to the line nine times, and Kyrie Irving on seven occasions.

Overall, the Sixers are comfortably allowing the most free throw attempts in the league at 35.7 per game. Further compounding this is the fact that on the offensive end they are ranked third last in free throw percentage at  67.6 percent, and 26th in field goal percentage at a 41.0 percent return.

Although it was hardly worth celebrating, one bright spot from their loss to the Raptors was the play of center Jahlil Okafor. Having not stepped on the court in the first two games, Okafor posted 10 points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes of play, displaying a terrific level of energy and intensity during his time on the floor. But with Embiid returning in their next contest, Okafor’s playing time moving forward will again be uncertain.

Furthermore, there was another impressive display from rookie Ben Simmons, who notched his third double-double in as many games, going close to notching a triple-double with the line of 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. With such a young roster, while some performances will certainly be head-scratching, the overall outlook remains extremely bright.

And while the Sixers have faced a tough trio of teams to open the season, things certainly don’t get any easier moving forward. They now face the undefeated Houston Rockets in two of their next four games, before undertaking a five-game West Coast road trip in November.

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However, they can’t afford to look any further ahead than their next opponent, the Detroit Pistons. Winners of two of their first three games, the Pistons represent a challenge the Sixers should savor on the road.