76ers stumble against Thunder, season slipping away without injured Embiid, Maxey, George

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Full of championship ambition, the 76ers’ slogan for this season was “Made for This.”

As boos filled the arena — the first ones heard when an injury report as long as the closing credits on a blockbuster movie appeared on the big screen — Sixers fans had a more irked saying in mind.

“We Paid for This?”

Joel Embiid, out again.

Paul George, not tonight.

Tyrese Maxey, sorry, hurt hand.

Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, KJ Martin, Andre Drummond and Jared McCain — all starters or key role players at some point this season — did not play for the Sixers in Tuesday’s game against Oklahoma City.

The end result was a predictable one: Thunder 118, 76ers 102.

Sure, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder are 33-6 and were going to be a tough out on any night.

The 76ers, with their hefty injury reports, are in trouble on most game nights these days. The Sixers started 3-14, have lost three straight, six of eight and at 15-23 are closer to a spot in the draft lottery than postseason play.

Maybe A.J. Brown could suggest a good book to pass the time during Sixers games.

The season could get worse: The Knicks are in town on Wednesday, followed by a three-game road trip with stops in Indiana, Milwaukee and Denver. All of those teams have winning records.

How about a soft landing back at home? Ah, try a Jan. 24 date with Cleveland.

Maxey sprained his left hand in Sunday’s loss at Orlando. George had ankle soreness. A two-time NBA scoring champion, Embiid missed his 25th game of the season. Embiid has played in just 13 games. The Sixers are 7-6 with Embiid and 8-17 without him.

Embiid missed his fifth straight game with a sprained left foot. He’s also missed games due to left knee soreness, a sinus fracture and a three-game suspension for an altercation with a reporter in the locker room.

“There’s still like (44) games to go,” coach Nick Nurse said. “That’s a lot. It’s a lot of games. We got out of the 3-14 and played some really good basketball. I’m just trying to work really hard to keep them together, keep the guys that we know need to improve on stuff improving, giving some guys chances that we think can also help us if we ever do get back to a kind of whole healthy situation and trying be mindful of what that may look like.”

Embiid is listed as day-to-day. Nurse called the late news that George and Maxey weren’t available a “gut punch” and had no update on the All-Star trio’s playing status against the Knicks.

After the woeful start, the 76ers seemed to get themselves right by winning 10 of 13 games that included a signature Christmas win in Boston. Embiid hurt his foot against the Celtics and played in four more games — but none since Jan. 4

The 76ers were being cautious with the 7-footer’s playing time this season as he worked his way back from a knee injury. There are no minutes restrictions on Embiid when no minutes are being played.

“I was hoping we were kind of on a roll,” Nurse said. “You can’t account for now a foot injury, or whatever other things that have happened are going on. I think as far as the plan with the knee, you know, going pretty good.”

Not long after a lineup that included Ricky Council IV making his first start of the season, Eric Gordon and Reggie Jackson was posted, the Thunder moved to 16 1/2-point favorites, per BETMGM Sportsbook.

As soon as Gilgeous-Alexander hit a 3 that gave OKC a 32-11 lead in the first quarter, the 76ers were booed off the court headed into a timeout.

The B-team Sixers — with Justin Edwards and Jeff Dowtin Jr. as the leading scorers — scrapped and turned the fans back on their side when they pulled to 91-87.

The Thunder easily closed out the 76ers in the waning moments of the fourth.

The Sixers can only hope now Nurse was right and the season can somehow be salvaged.

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