Embiid shines in yet another Sixers loss

As in their previous three seasons, the 76ers have an abundance of problems. They finally have a nice gigantic one.

It centers on the player who was a gamble of a third overall pick in the 2014 draft. Now folks are wondering if Joel Embiid will be the Sixers' next megastar on the level of Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, and Allen Iverson.

Embiid had another solid performance in another loss. This time, it was a 104-72 setback to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers (0-2) have lost six straight and 18 of their last 19 games dating back to last season.

But if he remains healthy, Embiid just might be good enough to make folks forget about the tough times. The 7-foot-2, 276-pounder might also be good enough to bring a winner back to Philadelphia in a couple of seasons. And he just might actually be the franchise player over first overall pick Ben Simmons, who is sidelined with a fractured right foot.

Embiid finished with 14 points, two rebounds, one assists, two blocks, and three turnovers in 15 minutes, 28 seconds while more than holding his own against Hawks center Dwight Howard and power forward Paul Millsap.

However, none of that mattered to the rookie of the year candidate. To him, the afternoon was a disappointment.

"It doesn't matter if you score 50 points if your team loses," Embiid said.

But this was a good individual test for the Cameroonian, who had missed the previous two seasons because of two foot surgeries.

In Howard, he faced an eight-time all-star. As in Wednesday's matchup against Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams, Embiid faced someone with brute strength and a post presence. As he did against Adams, Embiid strivedthrived.

He also made things look easy against Millsap, a two-time all-star.

The only things that held Embiid back were restricted minutes and first-half foul trouble.

He was scheduled for only 20 minutes maximum because the Sixers are bringing him along slowly. He never reached that limit because of first-half foul trouble and being held out late in the fourth quarter of the lopsided loss.

Aside for that, the 22-year-old lived up to all of the "Trust the process" chants he heard from fans.

Embiid opened the game with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Then he scored on a running finger roll to give the Sixers a 5-0 advantage 47 seconds into the game. Embiid shot 5 for 9 from the field and made 3 of 4 foul shots.

"I think I did pretty all right," he said. "I got the shots I wanted, and, obviously, the foul calls kind of messed up my whole rhythm. But I think I did all right."

Embiid was more than all right in a third-quarter play against Millsap.

He caught the ball behind the three-point line at the top of the key. As Millsap charged, he dribbled past the power forward before scoring an off-balance layup to the left of the basket over reserve post player Mike Muscala.

The basket pulled the Sixers within 17 points (63-46) with 7 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third.

"Everybody has flaws," Embiid said of being able to score at ease against Howard and Millsap. "I thought I took advantage of that by attacking them and creating fouls."

Howard (two points, seven rebounds) played only 11:52 in the first half because of foul trouble — he had three. The center  finished with three blocks in a total of 19:10 to surpass former Sixer and Hawk Elton Brand for 24th all-time in NBA/ABA history with 1,830.

Embiid also paired with Jahlil Okafor in the Sixers' latest version of the Twin Towers during a 2:16 stretch of the second quarter. Embiid played in the high post while Okafor was on the block. There wasn't a lot of activity with the two centers on the floor together. The Sixers had three turnovers during that stretch. Their only points came on a pair of foul shots by Embiid. Luckily for them, the Hawks were equally bad during that stretch, scoring two points.

"I think that defensively with their size at the rim, it felt good," coach Brett Brown said. "I think the pace of the game and the purposeful offense struggled a bit. We haven't been doing that much in our practices.

"In my heart of hearts, given the minute restrictions that we have, it's still not smart to do that."

Embiid did have one miscue. Early in the fourth quarter, he  turned the ball over by stepping on the court while inbounding. But that was far from the Sixers' biggest problem.

Atlanta (2-0) scored 22 points off the Sixers' 20 turnovers. Starters Robert Covington (0 for 5), Dario Saric (2 for 9), and Gerald Henderson (0 for 5) combined to shoot 2 for 19 from the field. Saric finished with five points, while Covington and Henderson were held scoreless. Sergio Rodriguez had 14 points and five assists.

Millsap led all scorers with 17 points. Kyle Korver added 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including making 3 of 4 threes.

Follow and contact 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixers.