Sixers fall to 2-10 on season, but no need to panic with Eastern Conference scuffling

Jared McCain is the only Sixer generating offense right now, but there’s no need to panic with the track record of the team’s star and the state of the East.

The Philadelphia 76ers fell to 2-10 on the season after losing to the Orlando Magic 98-86 Friday night in an NBA Cup game.

Philadelphia had no answer for Franz Wagner, who finished the game with 31 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 45 percent from three.

On the flip side, Sixers rookie Jared McCain captured his fourth consecutive game with 23 or more points, finishing Friday with 29 points. Despite an unfortunate ending to Friday’s game and another poor offensive performance from Philly, there are some caveats to consider.

The 76ers’ roster is fairly different from the 2023-24 build. Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. are three noticeable faces. Outside of Kyle Lowry, Ricky Council IV and KJ Martin, the rest of the roster is fairly new and will take time to gel.

McCain’s early breakout to the season provides this franchise with depth and another building block. Players have been impressed with his growth and approach to the game.

“He’s been great,” Joel Embiid told reporters in Orlando. “Just his shotmaking ability; he can shoot the ball at a high level. And it’s not just from three — actually putting the ball on the floor and creating his own. And then playmaking control. … That’s something that a lot of rookies don’t have. He’s poised, he’s competitive. … He was the best player in camp.”

Although the Sixers are 2-10 on the season, there are 70 games left, and it’s still too early to panic. Teams from the fifth seed to the eighth seed in the East are below .500.

Paul George spoke about the Eastern Conference and the lack of strength in the conference thus far.

“To be honest, the East isn’t doing that great.” George said to reporters. “So, not to look at it in that matter, but I don’t think there’s a panic with how the East is going. We’ve still got a ton of the season left and a ton to improve, and a ton to jump up in the (standings) once we start playing well. Again, it’s on our side, but the East hasn’t been separated. So, with that, we’ve got time.”

Philadelphia’s offense has struggled this season, but it’s too early to overreact because of injuries and the constant change to the rotation. Andre Drummond has scuffled while filling in for Embiid.

Maxey injured his hamstring earlier in the season and is scheduled to ramp up activity in the coming days. Despite the injury, the team is starting to return to full health.

As of now, the team is in last place in points per game (104.5), but that can be corrected with time. Embiid spoke during his postgame availability on what the team needed to address offensively and how to move up in the rankings.

“Yeah, when you have the record that we have, it’d be hard not to look at it,” Embiid said. “But then again, we’ve had a lot of adversity so far — me missing the first couple games, PG missing the first couple games, now Rese being out.

“I think biggest (factor) of all is we’ve got a lot of new guys. You can see on the floor, it’s going to take a while for everybody to be on the same page and just know what we have to do offensively. When I have the ball or when someone (else) has the ball, when we have to cut or where we have to be … just being together. But on the defensive side, we’ve been pretty fine, I think. On the offensive side, that’s what happens when you’ve had a lot of injuries and 95 percent of your team is new.”

With the current standings in the East and with a Big Three that can generate points in a hurry when healthy, there’s no need to panic in Philadelphia.

Philly’s next stretch of games features winnable matchups and can help them start to trend in the right direction. Monday the team will face the Miami Heat (5-6) and then they will take on the Memphis Grizzlies (7-6) on Wednesday to close their three-game road trip.

The Sixers will finish out next week with a Tri-State matchup against the Brooklyn Nets (5-8) at the Wells Fargo Center.