The Sixers have struggled on the road vs. winning teams, but the numbers alone don’t tell the story | Off the Dribble

Good morning, Sixers fans. The Sixers had the day off Sunday after Saturday’s 117-93 victory at Oklahoma City. On Monday, they will end their four-game road trip with a game against the Mavericks in Dallas.

Both the Sixers and Brooklyn Nets are 36-17 atop the Eastern Conference heading into their showdown Wednesday in Philadelphia. Brooklyn will visit Minnesota on Monday before facing the Sixers.

This year, much has gone right for the Sixers, but one thing that hasn’t is their performance on the road against teams .500 or better. The Sixers are 3-8 in road games against teams that were .500 or better heading into Sunday’s games.

Yet, as with all things in this COVID-impacted season, there is more to that than meets the eye.

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— Marc Narducci (offthedribble@inquirer.com)

While injuries are part of the game, the Sixers had many going into their road losses to winning teams. In addition, in the Sixers’ three wins, the opponent had key injuries in each instance.

While the Sixers are 3-8 in such games, they missed Joel Embiid for five of them and were 1-4 in those contests.

Here are the losses to teams that entered Sunday .500 or better. There were injury-related circumstances for at least one of the teams in virtually every game.

Jan. 7 at Brooklyn, 122-109 L. The Nets were shorthanded without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. This was before the trade for James Harden. The Sixers played without injured Seth Curry, Mike Scott and Furkan Korkmaz. The Sixers had 20 turnovers that led to 35 Nets points.

Jan. 11 at Atlanta, 112-94 L. This one the Sixers were truly shorthanded. Ben Simmons was out because of left knee swelling. The Sixers had only nine available players. Curry was out after testing positive for COVID-19, and Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle and Vincent Poirier were out because of health and safety protocols. Embiid had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Sixers.

Jan. 16 at Memphis, 106-104 L. The Sixers were again shorthanded. Embiid missed the game with right knee pain. Curry remained sidelined because of health and safety protocols, and Scott (right knee soreness) and Korkmaz (left groin strain) were also out.

Feb. 3 at Charlotte, 118-111 W. Charlotte was missing injured starters Terry Rozier and P.J. Washington. Scott was the lone Sixer out. Embiid and Harris combined for 60 points.

Feb. 11 at Portland, 118-114 L. The Sixers were without Milton (sprained left ankle) and Scott (right knee swelling). Among key players missing for Portland were Jusuf Nurkic and CJ McCollum. Carmelo Anthony scored 17 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter for the winners.

Feb. 13 at Phoenix, 120-111 L. The Sixers were without Milton, but the real problem was stopping Devin Booker, who scored 36 points for the Suns.

Feb. 15 at Utah, 134-123 L. Embiid was a late scratch with back tightness and despite a career-high 42 points from Simmons and 36 from Harris, the Sixers fell short.

March 25 at L.A. Lakers, 109-101 W. Embiid missed this game with a bone bruise in his left knee, but the Lakers were without their two stars, LeBron James (sprained right ankle) and Anthony Davis (right calf strain). Danny Green scored 28 to lead the Sixers.

March 27 at L.A. Clippers, 122-112 L. Embiid remained out, but what really hurt the Sixers was unheralded Terance Mann, who scored 23 points, shooting 10-for-12 from the field.

March 30 at Denver, 104-95 L Embiid, again, was out and fellow MVP candidate Nikola Jokic had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Jamal Murray led Denver with 30 points.

April 6 at Boston, 106-96 W. Embiid scored 35 points as the Sixers swept the three-game series from Boston. The Celtics were without Evan Fournier (health and safety protocols). Center Tristan Thompson was also out after being in the league’s reconditioning program after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

David Murphy says the Sixers have several areas they need to improve in, but most of all, they need Simmons to rediscover the swagger he was playing with in the middle of the season.

Keith Pompey offers his best/worst awards for Saturday’s win in Oklahoma City, including one item you won’t see much: Furkan Korkmaz’s thievery.

Embiid on Simmons: ”I want him to be aggressive every single game.”

Pompey has all the details on the Sixers’ plans to sign Anthony Tolliver to a 10-day contract.

Pompey writes that Dwight Howard is a rebounding machine.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Chicago’s Zach LaVine, playing in different games, each scored at least 50 points Friday. This season, 10 players have scored at least 50 in a game. Here is the list, courtesy of ESPN:

1. Stephen Curry, Golden State, 137-122 win Jan. 3 vs. Portland, 62 points

2. Bradley Beal, Washington, 141-135 loss Jan. 6 at Sixers, 60

3. Curry, Golden State, 134-132 loss Feb. 6 at Dallas, 57

4. Fred VanVleet, Toronto, 123-108 win Feb. 2 at Orlando, 54

5. Tatum, Boston, 145-136 OT win April 9 vs. Minnesota, 53

6. Joel Embiid, Sixers, 112-105 win Feb. 19 vs. Chicago, 50

6. Nikola Jokic, Denver, 119-114 loss Feb. 6 at Sacramento, 50

6. Damian Lillard, Portland, 125-124 win March 16 vs. New Orleans, 50

6. Jamal Murray, Denver, 120-103 win Feb. 19 at Cleveland, 50

6. LaVine, Chicago, 120-108 loss April 9 at Atlanta, 50

Monday: Sixers at Dallas Mavericks, 7:30 p.m., American Airlines Center, NBC Sports Philadelphia, ESPN

Wednesday: Brooklyn Nets at Sixers, 7 p.m., Wells Fargo Center, ESPN

Friday: Los Angeles Clippers at Sixers, 7 p.m., Wells Fargo Center, NBC Sports Philadelphia/ESPN

April 19: Golden State Warriors at Sixers, 7:30 p.m., Wells Fargo Center, ESPN

April 21: Phoenix Suns at Sixers, 7 p.m., Wells Fargo Center, NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA TV

Question: Will Ben Simmons have his way with Luka [Doncic] again or will Luka get the better of him? — Jahiem Johnson via email

Answer: Thanks for the question, Jahiem. To refresh people’s memory, the Sixers earned a 111-97 home win over the Mavericks on Feb. 25. Doncic finished with 19 points, shooting 6-for-13 and committing seven turnovers. He was a minus-20 for the game. According to NBA.com stats, in Doncic’s individual matchup with Simmons, he shot 3-for-7, including 0-for-3 from beyond the arc. Doncic also committed four turnovers and had just one assist while guarded by Simmons. So that was a vintage defensive job by Simmons.

One has to think that Doncic will use that game as motivation in Monday night’s rematch. I think he won’t be that ineffective, although Dallas will be playing the second game of a back-to-back, so we will see if fatigue factors in for Doncic.

Send questions by email to mnarducci@inquirer.com or @sjnard on Twitter.