MEMPHIS – Joel Embid got nearly 13 good minutes for his memory bank Tuesday night. Once that was done, however, the Sixers got another second half to forget, as the Memphis Grizzlies blew them out of FedEx Forum 121-91 Tuesday night before an announced crowd of 14,248.
Embid, who averaged 7.7 points in his first three games, had 13 points, including 7 of 8 from the foul line, and five rebounds as he held his own against the Grizzlies NBA All-Stars Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph (Z-Bo now anchoring the Grizzlies' second unit).
After falling behind by as 17 points in the third quarter, the Sixers rallied for a 53-all tie at the half on a 15-footer by Embid and a pair of free throws by T.J. McConnell in the final minute of the half. Gerald Henderson, on a 15-minute time limit, added eight of his 10 points in the first half.
“We’re very, very dismantled and even with that when he was on the floor, you know there was a presence,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “When we came back to tie, he was a significant part of that.”
But as Brown said of Embid, “we spent our minutes early” trying to get him work against the Grizzlies’ big guns. With no Embiid, Nerlens Noel or Jalil Okafor available in the second half, Memphis had a field day.
Philadelphia 76ers
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia 76ers and their rivals in the NBA from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Mike Conley scored 17 points and dished out six assists. Randolph finished with 17 points, including 4 of 6 from theee-point range – something new coach David Fizdale has been on him and Gasol to add to their arsenal. The Grizzlies hit 8 of 10 threes in a 37-13 third quarter, and cruised through garbage time in the fourth. Troy Williams, a training camp free agent, had 19 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. James Ennis added 15 and JaMychal Green had 11 points and as many boards for Memphis (2-1).
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had 13 points off the bench for the Sixers (1-3) while McConnell had nine points and five assists against a Memphis team that has a seven-game regular-season winning streak in the series.
Learning by osmosis
Dario Saric remained glued to the bench Tuesday night, with a positive purpose, Brown said. Something he had to say to Saric over and over.
“He almost feels guilty like he’s done something wrong,” Brown said. “He’s so competitive and so wants to please and be part of the team. … I just told him to take a deep breath, sit on the bench with his teammates, watch the game from another perspective, talk with me in timeouts … there’s still that language barrier. Not so much general words but NBA terms. You see it all the time with players who come from overseas. The NBA has its own vocabulary, its own words. You have to learn to talk it and see it unfold. This is just another way to learn.”
M*A*S*H report
The Sixers had six players out with injuries – former Grizzlies guard Jerryd Bayless (left wrist), Noel (groin), Okafor (right knee), Brandon Paul (oblique), Ben Simmons (right foot) and Nik Stauskas (hamstring). Brown said he believes Stauskas and Paul could be back in action as early as Thursday in Washington.
“The goal is to find a rhythm of how you sub and play this group,” Brown said. “Because there have been challenges with injuries every game you have the opportunity to coach. But you are so mindful of how you get into some kind of battle rhythm. You’re always looking at the big picture perspective.”
The Grizzlies had a large injury list as well. But nowhere near last season, when Memphis had to use an NBA-record 28 players because of an injury blizzard. So far this camp defensive ace Tony Allen (knee), free-agent gunner Chandler Parsons, guard Jordan Adams and rookie Deyonta Davis (foot) have yet to see action. Center Brandan Wright (ankle) and forward Jarrell Martin (foot) and guard Chris Crawford were held out.
After the Grizzlies waived former Sixer Tony Wroten last week, they signed big man Vincent Hunter, who played on their summer league team, to bolster the ranks in practice
Up next
The Sixers head to Verizon Center Thursday to close out the road swing with a rematch against the Washington Wizards. Payback is in order as the Wizards took a 125-119 decision in double overtime at Wells Fargo Center Oct. 6. Richaun Holmes had a big night in the first meeting with Washington, scoring 20 points and pulling down a dozen boards. The Sixers return home Saturday for a 7 p.m. game with Detroit, then close out the preseason Oct. 21 at Miami.
