Sixers takeaways: Struggles without Joel Embiid, horrid three-point shooting, and more from loss to Knicks

So much for the early-season banter about the 76ers being better without Joel Embiid.

Guard depth went from the biggest strength to a glaring weakness.

And poor three-point shooting was another major problem.

These things stood out in the Sixers’ 138-89 loss to the New York Knicks at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

» READ MORE: Knicks rout the Sixers behind strong performances by Jose Alvarado and Mikal Bridges

The loss dropped the Sixers to 30-24. The Eastern Conference’s sixth-place team takes a two-game losing streak into the NBA All-Star break. Meanwhile, the third-place Knicks improved to 35-20 after posting their largest victory in franchise history and evened the season series with the Sixers at two games apiece.

Remember when Embiid couldn’t move well at the beginning of the season?

Back then, the Sixers played at a noticeably slower pace on nights when the 7-foot-2, 280-pound center was in the lineup. As a result, there was a growing belief that the team was better when Adem Bona or Andre Drummond started in his place.

No one thinks that anymore.

Embiid missed his second consecutive game on Wednesday with right knee soreness. And he was sorely missed.

The Sixers have now lost six of the last seven games that Embiid has not played. Their lone victory during that stretch was a 113-94 decision over the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 3 at Chase Center. The Sixers are 11-12 without him and 19-12 when he plays.

The Sixers trailed by as many as 52 points against the Knicks. This came after they trailed by as many as 31 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.

New York scored 32 points off 18 Sixers turnovers. The Knicks also had a commanding 51-38 rebounding advantage in Philly’s most-lopsided loss of the season.

The Sixers must find a way to play well in games without Embiid, considering he’s going to miss more time due to not playing in back-to-backs.

“There’s been some, probably not as good of nights [without Embiid],” coach Nick Nurse said. “And I think most of it has been offensively. When I thought we were operating really well early in the year with some of the stuff we kind of put in in training camp, and just kind of maybe get back and readjust [to playing without him] we go over it a little bit and look at some of that stuff, because we’re obviously capable of playing pretty decently offensively as well.”

Tyrese Maxey finished with a game-high 32 points to go with two assists. His backcourt mate, VJ Edgecombe, added 14 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Dominick Barlow had 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid and Quentin Grimes miss second straight game as Sixers face Knicks

However, Bona got into early foul trouble and finished with six points, five rebounds, two steals, two turnovers, and four fouls, while being minus-24 in 22 minutes, 42 seconds. Drummond had two points and four rebounds and was minus-10 in 10:38 off the bench. He was replaced by Charles Bassey in the rotation during the second half.

Bassey, whose second 10-day contract expires on Saturday, had two points and one block in 4:38. Following the game, he was assigned to the Delaware Blue Coats.

“It’s weird, man,” Maxey said of readjusting to play without Embiid. “It’s weird because you got to play multiple different ways. A lot of times when he sits out, it’s on back-to-backs, so it’s hard. You go from playing one way with him or without him early in the season. He comes back and then you got to play that way and then a different way when he’s there, which is OK. It’s fine, you know what I mean?

“It’s the reality of it, and I think we’ll be all right. He’ll be here more than he isn’t here when we get back, and we just got to maintain. Those games that he’s not there and [suspended forward] Paul [George] probably won’t be there till the end, so we just got to maintain.”

The Sixers also struggled to contain Jose Alvarado. The reserve guard, acquired last week in a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans, finished with 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the three-point line. He also finished with a game-high five steals.

The Brooklyn native’s play drew loud “Jose … Jose … Jose!” chants from the Knicks fans who made up at least half of the 19,746 in attendance.

“Obviously, we had zero readiness and energy physically or mentally,” said Nurse, whose squad trailed 72-42 at intermission. “We kind of got to the half, the game was pretty much settled by then, and just going over all the things that we already gone over that we couldn’t get done.”

This past summer, the Sixers were excited about their deep, versatile backcourt rotation featuring Maxey, Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, and Jared McCain.

Daryl Morey, the team’s president of basketball operations, likened it to the guard-heavy style used by the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers to reach last season’s NBA Finals.

But the Sixers traded McCain on Feb. 4 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for a first-round pick and three second-rounders. Meanwhile, Grimes has missed the past two games with an illness.

The Sixers also traded Eric Gordon to the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 5 for a pick swap. As a result, Kyle Lowry, MarJon Beauchamp, and Dalen Terry joined Maxey and Edgecombe as the available guards against the Knicks.

And that wasn’t good.

Lowry is a six-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer. But in his 20th NBA season, the 39-year-old has taken on more of a player-coach and mentor role. Meanwhile, Beauchamp and Terry are both on two-way contracts.

Beauchamp made his first appearance in Monday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. He finished with eight points, three rebounds, one assist, one block, and three turnovers against the Knicks. And Terry had a rebound, an assist, and one turnover one day after signing his two-way contract with the team.

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

The Sixers need to strongly consider adding a guard in the buyout market. That will help Maxey and Edgecombe, especially on nights Grimes is unavailable.

Meanwhile, McCain appears to be finding his groove in Oklahoma City.

The second-year guard had 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting — including making 2 of 3 three-pointers — in the Thunder’s 136-109 victory over the Suns. McCain scored eight of his points in 75 seconds.

The Sixers had more problems than being without Embiid and a lack of guard depth. Against the Knicks, they shot 18.8% (6 of 32) from three-point range.

Kelly Oubre Jr. (0-for-5), Edgecombe (0-for-5), Justin Edwards (0-for-3), Trendon Watford (0-for-2), Terry (0-for-1), and Johni Broome (0-for-1) were a combined 0-for-17.

A lot of the Sixers’ three-pointers were short or off target. The squad appeared noticeably fatigued in their first home after following a five-game West Coast road.

“Maybe,” Maxey said when asked if being tired impacted their three-point shooting. “I think, in general, guys are a little tired, but that’s what the break is for, though. That’s what the [All-Star] break is for. Rejuvenate, get your legs back under you. Get mentally prepared for this stretch because after the break, it’s go time. It’s go time for every team in the NBA that’s trying to make a push, for sure. They want to play their best basketball down the stretch to get ready for the playoffs.”

» READ MORE: Inside Sixers: Tyrese Maxey’s three-point invite, Paul George suspension plan and more

The Sixers are 16th in the league in three-point shooting at 35.6%. However, they’re 21st in made threes (12.7 per game). And the squad hit less than half that amount against the Knicks.

As bad as things were, this wasn’t the fewest amount of made three-pointers for the Sixers this season. They made 4 of 28 in a road victory over the Orlando Magic on Jan. 9.

The Sixers were fortunate that night. They know they must shoot the ball better to stay in games, especially when Embiid doesn’t play.