Sixers unable to solve Jazz in 25-point defeat

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By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly Editor  

The Philadelphia 76ers (0-6) were unable to get much consistency on either side of the ball tonight, falling to the Utah Jazz (5-3), 109-84. The loss marked the Sixers' 43rd straight in the months of October and November, dating back to late November of 2013.

While sloppy play was the name of the Sixers game for the majority of the night, it was nice to see Robert Covington regain his shooting touch from beyond the arc and per usual, Joel Embiid showed some more signs of brilliance and youth in the loss. Gordon Hayward led the way for the Jazz with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Derrick Favors tallied a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Philadelphia has made it somewhat of a trend this season to lose big after playing close . In the opener against the Thunder, the Sixers led late and lost by five. They followed that up by a 32 loss to Atlanta. Three days later, they lost by two at home against Orlando before traveling to Charlotte for a 13-point loss to the Hornets. On Saturday, they nearly beat the defending champion Cavs, but lost by two. Tonight, they were routed by Utah in a game that looked very similar to their loss to the Hawks. A sloppy showing with the inability to get into any sort of groove on the offensive or defensive end. If the trend keeps up, expect the Sixers to be right in the game on Wednesday night against the Pacers.

Joel Embiid had an alright night on the stat sheet (14pts, 9reb), but turnovers continued to haunt the big man as he coughed up the ball five times. Embiid focused more on being aggressive at the basket rather than settling for jumpers this evening and he showed flashes of dominance in the post, with a pair of show-and-go moves and some nice hook shots.

Offensively, the Sixers couldn't do much, but if anything, seeing Robert Covington hit long-range shots with ease was comforting. He hit three out of four from beyond the arc and put together another solid game defensively, grabbing eight defensive boards. Ersan Ilyasova (2-11 FG), Gerald Henderson (3-8 FG) and Sergio Rodriguez (3-9 FG) all had nights to forget offensively. Jahlil Okafor, meanwhile, looked solid on the offensive end with 15 points, but looked lost defensively throughout the majority of the game. He was a -19 while on the floor tonight.

Utah shot 50.6 percent from the floor compared to the Sixers at 40.3 percent. The Jazz went 11-for-19 from beyond the arc while Philadelphia shot 9-for-21. The Sixers turned the ball over 18 times, resulting in 17 Utah points. The Jazz also outblocked the Sixers 11-2. 

The Sixers trailed by nine after one due to some sloppy turnovers at the end of the opening quarter, but settled in nicely to cut the lead to three. Utah pulled away as halftime approached, though, extending their lead into double digits at points to go into the locker rooms ahead 52-43. Philadelphia committed 10 turnovers in the first half with both Embiid and Rodriguez struggling to get going offensively, resulting in a rather stale showing through two quarters.

In the second half, the Jazz maintained their advantage despite Rudy Gobert tallying his fourth personal foul. Luckily for Utah, Embiid also picked up his fourth foul, heading to the bench with eight minutes to play in the third. The Sixers went through scoring droughts in the third, including 10 straight possessions without a point and seven minutes without a field goal. After three, the Jazz upped their lead to 16, 77-61. Things didn't get any better in the final quarter as Utah ran away without much fight from the Sixers, finishing them off by a final score of 109-84.

Up next, the Sixers head to Indiana on Wednesday for the first half of a home-and-home with the Pacers that will conclude in Philadelphia on Friday night. 

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