Nick Nurse's 'super disappointing' take on 76ers' season after playoff elimination
03/30/2025 10:01 AM
PHILADELPHIA — For the first time since Joel Embiid’s rookie season, the Philadelphia 76ers will not partake in the NBA playoffs. Riddled with injuries up and down the roster and incapable of competing at a high level at full strength, this season was a disaster for Nick Nurse’s squad.
The Sixers’ 118-95 loss to the Miami Heat officially eliminated them from 2024-25 playoff contention. They gained better positioning in the draft lottery thanks to the Brooklyn Nets’ win over the Washington Wizards, putting a cherry on top of the crap sundae they've had to eat as a result of all their losing.
"Obviously, it’s not anywhere near where we had hoped it would be when we set out this summer and this fall. That’s for sure," Nurse said. "And that’s the only thing you can say. It was a super struggle."
The 76ers had a record of 9-3 in December, when Embiid played seven games, but never came close to a winning record in any other month. Going 1-10 in February and 3-13 so far in March set them on a path to tank, hoping to keep their top-six protected pick in a stacked draft class. With eight more games left, they have the fifth spot in the lottery, though the Nets and Toronto Raptors still loom as threats to surpass them for that spot.
Although the Sixers struggled to play well even when they had their stars available, the onslaught of injuries derailed any hope of consistency from game to game. Embiid played in just 19 games. He, Paul George and standout rookie Jared McCain succumbed to season-ending injuries. Other role players have dealt with nagging issues all season.
"You were kind of always holding out hope that the team was playing better and getting some wins and hopefully get some players back," Nurse said."[I] said this numerous times: it just didn’t seem like the injury bug would ever leave us. It just seemed like every time we’d have a good game and get a win or something, it’d cost us a player or two for the next one and we could never build any momentum."
76ers miss playoffs for first time since 2016-17 season
The last time the NBA playoffs didn't feature the Sixers, Paul George was on the Indiana Pacers and Jimmy Butler was on the Chicago Bulls. Kevin Durant was only in his first season with the Golden State Warriors. The Los Angeles Clippers still featured Chris Paul and the Lob City squad. The Memphis Grizzlies still had the Grit and Grind core of Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Tony Allen and Zach Randolph. Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and Ben Simmons hadn't yet made their NBA debuts.
In a league where the constant shuffling of players in and out of teams makes a few years feel like a decade, the 76ers were a playoff staple for eons. It’s going to take a lot of work this offseason to ensure they get back to that level, plus some major injury luck.
The plans for the 76ers for the rest of the season will be to play Quentin Grimes, Adem Bona, Justin Edwards, Ricky Council IV and the rest of their prospects a lot. Among other things, Nurse wants to experiment with Grimes at point guard. Any potential breakthrough or improvement will be seen as a silver lining in what has otherwise been a miserable season.
"Obviously, super disappointing," Nurse said of his second season with the 76ers. "Not where we want to be at all."
The post Nick Nurse's 'super disappointing' take on 76ers’ season after playoff elimination appeared first on ClutchPoints.
