Sixers takeaways: Glaring lack of depth, VJ Edgecombe’s shooting woes, and more from loss to Blazers

Every time the 76ers seem to be on the right path, injuries and/or illness pop up.

That prevented them from accomplishing something that hasn’t been done since March 2023.

Yet, VJ Edgecombe must regain his shooting touch.

Those things stood out in Monday’s 135-118 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center.

The loss dropped the Eastern Conference’s sixth-place Sixers to 30-23. They also fell 1½ games behind the fifth-place Toronto Raptors. Meanwhile, the Blazers (26-28) won their third-straight game after losing their previous six.

The Sixers came into this matchup winners of six of their last seven games.

Joel Embiid averaged 33.0 points and shot 50.0% on three-pointers while playing in six of those games. Dominick Barlow averaged 12.6 points, 3.6 offensive rebounds, and 1.2 steals while starting in the last five games. And Quentin Grimes was back to providing energy off the bench, putting his athleticism on full display.

» READ MORE: With NBA trade deadline behind them, Sixers turn focus to the buyout market to balance their roster

This matchup against the struggling Blazers was supposed to be an easy victory for the Sixers if they remained healthy.

Unfortunately for them, health was indeed an issue.

Embiid missed the game due to right knee injury management. Meanwhile, Barlow and Grimes were both sidelined due to illness.

As a result, Andre Drummond and Trendon Watford started alongside regular starters Kelly Oubre Jr., Tyrese Maxey, and Edgecombe.

The Sixers were also without Paul George, who missed his sixth game due to serving a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA anti-drug policy. Meanwhile, the team also traded guards Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Eric Gordon to the Memphis Grizzlies ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline to get under the luxury tax threshold and free up roster spots.

As a result, seldom-used point guard Kyle Lowry got first-quarter minutes and two-way guard MarJon Beauchamp made his first appearance of the season.

Is this current version of the Sixers deep enough?

“Given these situations, it’s a good chance to give Justin [Edwards] and Beachamp tonight a chance, [and] to give Watford a start,” coach Nick Nurse said to the media. “These guys, I think we are still learning. And these guys need more minutes learning. They need to get more minutes. They need more conditioning. They need to get in the groove of things. And you know, when everybody is playing, there’s no minutes for them to do that.

“So I mean, just those three guys I mentioned did OK.”

Watford finished with 12 points and three assists. Edwards had 12 points and three steals, while Beauchamp finished with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Maxey finished with 30 points, marking his 22nd game with at least 30 points.

The undermanned squad suffered its first lopsided loss since a 130-93 road setback to the Charlotte Hornets on Jan. 26. Embiid also missed that game.

» READ MORE: Regardless of Daryl Morey’s comments, the Sixers used the NBA trade deadline to duck luxury tax

But on this night, the Sixers were, once again, doomed by third-quarter struggles. The Blazers outscored them 49-22 in the quarter to take a 113-87 advantage into the fourth. Portland broke the quarter wide open thanks to a 27-7 run. It also had a 12-0 advantage in second-chance points in the quarter in what was the Sixers’ worst third quarter of the season.

“Obviously, it was a bunch of energy things,” Nurse said. “We didn’t rebound it well enough, I mean, transition rebounding. We didn’t get out to shooters near enough. They were just lacing up threes. So it was up the floor quick. We were losing matchups.”

But none of this is surprising for a Sixers squad that entered the game with an NBA-worst minus-16.4 net rating in the third quarter.

Toumani Camara torched the Sixers with a career high of 30 points and eight three-pointers. With the game out of hand, the Belgian forward sat out the fourth quarter.

The Blazers came into the contest ranked last in the NBA in three-point percentage at 33.9%. But you wouldn’t have known that, as Portland shot 40.7% on Monday.

The Sixers were also outrebounded 51-33. The Blazers held a 20-8 advantage in offensive boards.

With the loss, the Sixers finished their road trip at 3-2. But after beating the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, the expectation was that they would go 4-1 on their five-game trip against the Los Angeles Clippers (Feb. 6), Golden State Warriors (Tuesday), Los Angeles Lakers (Thursday), the Suns, and the Blazers.

Their other loss was a 119-115 decision to the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. On that night, the Sixers fell apart after intermission, committing 11 turnovers.

A victory would have enabled them go 4-1 on a road trip for the first time since facing the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, and Minnesota Timberwolves.

“I would say ... four and a half really good games,” Nurse said of the road trip. “I think there was a half here tonight or a quarter here tonight that was really bad, and one quarter in LA. But most of it was really good basketball.”

Edgecombe hasn’t shot the ball well since the Sixers’ six-game post-Christmas road trip. He shot 41.3% from the field and 33.0% on three-pointers during the 19 games before the contest with the Blazers. In his previous 12 games, the rookie shooting guard shot 29.7% from deep.

But with Embiid and Maxey dominating, Edgecombe’s poor shooting flew under the radar.

That wasn’t the case against Portland. With three players out, Edgecombe needed to provide more of the offensive load. And as a result, his shooting woes were more noticeable.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid, Quentin Grimes, and Dominick Barlow all out vs. Blazers

Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t shed the poor-shooting blues.

Edgecombe had 11 points on 3-for-13 shooting – including going 1 of 6 on three-pointers – along with six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. One of his missed shot attempts was a third-quarter airball three-pointer. The good thing is that Edgecombe has been able to contribute without scoring.

However, he’s going to need to improve his shooting for the Sixers to sustain success.