National Basketball Association

Utah Jazz Versus Philadelphia 76ers Post Game Grades

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Philadelphia 76ers sixth game of the season resulted in a loss to the Utah Jazz by a huge margin: 109-84. Here are the grades of the starters plus sixth man

The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Utah Jazz Monday evening November 7, 2016 by the heartbreaking score of 109-84.

The team never really put up a threat of winning this contest. The Utah Jazz are a solid defensive team, and the struggles of the Philadelphia 76ers to score simply played right into the Jazz’s strength.

It was almost a reverse of fortunes from last game, where the team walked onto the court to face the Cleveland Cavaliers with little hope, but played just shy of a victory. In this contest, there was plenty of hope for perhaps their first victory. But the Utah Jazz snuffed those hopes early, and the Philadelphia 76ers never really had a chance. The Jazz outplayed and outscored the Philadelphia 76ers in each quarter.

Joel Embiid

C, Philadelphia 76ers

C+ If Joel Embiid was a blue chip stock, tonight’s performance would be considered a “market correction” To place this into perspective, he scored 14 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor. So when did I start grading against a curve? Joel Embiid is an elite rookie prospect who simply had a “meh” game. Yes, he scored 14 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor, and added six more point from six of nine shooting from the free throw line, but he never truly seemed to announce his presence in the contest. In short, he struggled. He allowed five turnovers, and was guilty of five fouls in the contest, despite minutes restrictions.
This was only his fifth NBA contest, but this game appeared to be his greatest challenge to date. His turnovers are reaching critical mass, 11 in the past two games. With his foul difficulties, he only played 19 minutes in the game.

Sergio Rodriguez

PG, Philadelphia 76ers

C-Sergio Rodriguez picked a horrific time to have an off night. He managed to score just six points, dish out five assists, and pull down four rebounds. But he turned the ball over three times, and manged to steal the ball back on just two occasions. He was one of several 76ers to shoot poorly in this contest, as he shot just three of nine from the floor, including going scoreless in four attempts from three point range.

Jahlil Okafor

C/PF, Philadelphia 76ers

Okafor had been making sigificant progress in defense so far this season, but in tonight’s lineup, he seems to have regressed. While he is still building up his playing minutes (from 30 minutes per game last season to just over 18 minutes this season), he showed once more tonight why his scoring is a needed ingredient on this team.

Dario Saric

F, Philadelphia 76ers

C-Dario Saric seems to be a split personality. Some games he walks on water. Some games he drowns in shallow water. Tonight, he took water into his lungs. While he only shot six times for two scores, he never attempted a three-pointer. He did hand out two assists and pull down two rebounds. But the performance was less than expected, particularly on an evening with so many teammates were struggling as well.

Robert Covington

SF, Philadelphia 76ers

ARobert Covington finally had the makings of offense. It is the cruelest joke of Fate that his return to offensive production occured on a night with so many of his teammates struggling to score. Covington launched three point shots early, and then settled in to shot when he had good looks. While 12 points typically does not warrant so high a grade, Covington’s confidence in himself,while putting in the extra work in pre-game shooting, had to be factored into his grade.

Gerald Henderson

SG, Philadelphia 76ers

C+Gerald Henderson continues to perform as expected. No glitz. No glamour. Just matter of fact lunch pail work ethics. Tonight, he chipped in with seven points, including landing one of his two three point attempts. He brought down three rebounds and added a steal for the evening. Eventually, he will score a lot of points in a game. For now? Steady as she goes.

Ersan Ilyasova

PF, Philadelphia 76ers

In the end, it was a blowout. That is disheartening for a team which appeared to be making significant progress with each game. The 76ers will try again tomorrow night as they face the Indiana Pacers.