It seems inconceivable in the modern day NBA that a game could finish 88 to 87, but that’s what happened in Boston last night, and the Sixers were on the losing side.

Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey combined to shoot 6-30 from the floor while the entire team was just 37% on the night and 26% from three, a putrid offensive performance from a squad that’s returning several players from COVID-19 and various injuries. The Sixers are now 11-11 on the season and likely to fall below .500 during this stretch of games, which includes three more on the road before coming home to play Western Conference powers Golden State and Utah.

Offensive execution was an issue down the stretch, with Boston deciding to leave Matisse Thybulle alone and hard double on Embiid. Doc Rivers took Thybulle out of the game, Danny Green hit a big three to cut the lead to one, and then they got this look on the final possession:

The Sixers got what they wanted here. Embiid sets a perfect pin down screen on Jaylen Brown, which forces the Boston switch, and Al Horford has to follow Tobias Harris out to the perimeter. Georges Niang inbounds to Harris, but he’s moving backward, fails to see Embiid and/or can’t make that pass, and then defers to Niang for a tough corner three with less than a second remaining on the clock.

Rivers confirmed after the game that the play worked out schematically. They just couldn’t get the ball to Embiid, and that brought on other criticisms, like the choice of personnel on the floor. The Sixers ran out a center and some forwards with Seth Curry, leaving Maxey on the bench:

Maybe a ball handler makes this execution easier, but with six seconds on the clock, and a better inbound pass, the Sixers theoretically shouldn’t have to put the ball on the ground at all. They should be able to lob it up to Embiid on the mismatch. That’s a play where Harris should be able to turn, face, and just loft that up there and let the seven footer go up over the 6’6″ Brown. Former Celtics coach Brad Stevens used to run a similar set of ATO and SLOB plays where the inbounder was throwing it to the rim himself and cutting out the middle man entirely.

Here’s a back-angle replay of that sequence, which gives you a better view Harris receiving the ball and Embiid calling for it:

This is the problem inherently with the Sixers. It’s hard to close through non-perimeter guys like Embiid or Harris. It’s not as easy as just throwing the ball to Kevin Durant or Bradley Beal at the three point line and letting them work. The Sixers blew a similar late possession in Minnesota when they simply gave the ball to Embiid on the wing and he was swarmed. In this case, they spring him on a pin down and can’t get the ball there. With that option denied, Harris isn’t a ball handler who can create his own shot with just a few seconds on the clock. Maybe Maxey can drive there and make something happen, but he’s a second-year point guard in the starting lineup only because of the Ben Simmons holdout.

Unfortunately, Jimmy Butler ain’t walking through that door. It’s gonna be a rough road until the Sixers can get back to full fitness, trade Ben Simmons, and shape this team. And then there’s the question of the head coach, and whether or not he can prove his doubters wrong.

That’s nine losses in 12 games for the Sixers.