When a team doesn’t have its best player, its performances will suffer. The Philadelphia 76ers have felt the impact of Joel Embiid‘s absence from the All-Star break, going 4-4 before his return on Sunday. A particularly painful loss to the lowly Chicago Bulls sticks out among the four losses, particularly the game’s final play, where Jimmy Butler and Mike Scott botched a simple switch, leaving Zach Lavine a wide open lane to drive into with three seconds left in the game.
That play, and the game as a whole, highlight a long-standing theme with the 76ers under Brett Brown.