The Philadelphia 76ers were beaten by an ugly reality in just 17 minutes

To no one’s surprise, the Philadelphia 76ers turned in another disappointing performance. Just a few days after a players-only meeting trying to shift the flow, the team put together a stale play on the road against the Grizzlies, handing them their 12th loss of the season.

For the first time this season, the 76ers are signing Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey. To make things even shinier, they kept breakout rookie Jared McCain in the starting unit, giving Philly a very formidable starting lineup that should have no trouble beating a Ja Morant-less Memphis team, right? Wrong.

After the Grizzlies built a double-digit lead in the second quarter, the 76ers were stuck in the game, and their porous perimeter defense did them no favors in any comeback trail. It also doesn’t help that they were once again thrashed by an ugly reality, which by the way only took 17 minutes to kick in.

Paul George left the game after just 17 minutes, re-injuring his knee, the same one he hyperextended a month ago, forcing him to miss a handful of games early. Classic 76ers, right?

Just when the team finally gets an opportunity to kick-start the chemistry between their stars, a big part of the equation falters. At this point, this is more than just a coincidence. All the kismet and karmic forces in the world must have conspired to seek unjustified revenge on this franchise.

A wave of emotion aside, this brand new setback only paints a picture of the reality for Philadelphia — as long as they continue to rely on injury-prone stars, it will be much more difficult for them to try to create chemistry and consistency than most teams.

Especially in this situation where the 76ers need to go on a streak just to break even in their win-loss record, stars missing games here and there can only benefit their opponents. This team already parades a nightly sight of incoherence on the field, and injuries will only exacerbate those problems.

Hopefully, George will be back in a flash, but at this point it would be more prudent for the Philadelphia 76ers not to cave to public pressure and seek a one-time solution rather than rush things despite the debris that still needs to be cleaned up — the history of the season so far for the league’s biggest blunder.