Did Embiid, Rivers See a Silver Lining in Tight Losses vs. Bucks, Suns?

The Philadelphia 76ers just wrapped up a difficult stretch of games where they faced last year's NBA Finals contestants one after the other.

On Sunday night, the Sixers paid a visit to the runner-ups, the Phoenix Suns. This season, the Suns are the most successful team in the NBA and it's not even close.

Currently, Phoenix tops the Western Conference with a 61-14 record. The Memphis Grizzlies, who are in the West's second seed, are 8.5 games back.

In the Eastern Conference, the top-seeded Miami Heat, are 48-28, which would place behind the Grizzlies if the two conferences joined forces.

To sum it all up, the Sixers had a difficult matchup on Sunday, and making it out of Phoenix with a victory would've been an excellent accomplishment. 

For a majority of the matchup, the Sixers were in a great place. Going into halftime, the Sixers had a four-point lead. At one point early on, they led by as much as 15 points. However, as the second half progressed, the Sixers struggled to keep up with the championship-contending Suns.

Eventually, the Sixers were served with a 114-104 loss. On paper, a double-digit defeat always looks bad, but the 76ers showed some nice flashes against the Suns.

And for the following game, the Sixers had an opportunity to bounce back against the defending champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Similar to Sunday's game, the Sixers took control in the first half. Although they were outscored by a few points in the first quarter, a second-quarter rally put the Sixers up by as much as 11 points before halftime.

Going into the final quarter of the outing, the Sixers possessed an eight-point lead. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the defending champs not only cut into that lead, but they got out in front and issued Philly their second-straight loss as the Bucks picked up a 118-116 victory in South Philly.

Any Silver Linings?

The Sixers couldn't defeat last year's two finalists over the last few days, but they proved they can at least hang with the best of them. Did that issue the team a hint of confidence moving forward?

“I guess?" said Doc Rivers after Tuesday's loss at home. "I don’t [find a silver lining]. I mean, I won’t go home and win any silver. Listen, I didn’t lose confidence by playing these two teams. I’ll put it that way.”

Joel Embiid, who started the game off slow as he struggled from the floor, turned his performance around and helped the Sixers steer the ship all the way until the end. While he finished up the game with 29 points in 38 minutes, Embiid was only going to be satisfied if his team got the win.

"It’s a loss," he said. "You know, we should’ve won both games [against the Suns and Bucks], especially tonight. A couple of mistakes, we know what we got to do. We just gotta do better every single night and try to build every single night."

Philly's last two games pushed their record back to 46-29. Once again, they were knocked down two spots and now place fourth in the Eastern Conference. Keeping it close against the Suns and the Bucks can be viewed as a positive sign, but the Sixers don't seem to be happy with the final results of the last two matchups.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.