76ers' Slump Continues After Losing Third-Straight Game vs. Pacers

Spending New Year's Eve in Indiana could've been great for the Philadelphia 76ers as they had an opportunity to bounce back from a multi-game losing streak. Unfortunately, that dreadful streak will continue for them until further notice.

Suddenly, the Christmas day walloping of the Milwaukee Bucks in South Philly feels like a decade ago. As the Sixers picked up their most impressive win of the season last Wednesday, everything would quickly fall apart when the Sixers traveled to Florida for a two-game stretch.

One-point losses to Orlando and Miami were disappointing. They were especially frustrating defeats considering multiple Sixers acknowledged the team's intensity wasn't one-hundred percent.

The hope was that back to back road losses would knock some sense into the team so that they could bounce back versus Indiana. But it turns out; the Sixers are still out playing uninspiring basketball on the road.

Before Tuesday afternoon's tip-off, the Sixers ruled out their star center, Joel Embiid. Since Embiid has averaged roughly about 29 points-per-game over the last two matchups, his presence on the offensive side of the ball would surely be missed against the Pacers.

There was hope that the few big men on board in Al Horford, Kyle O'Quinn, and Norvel Pelle could help step in for a game and make up for the loss -- but those guys were not ready for that role on Tuesday.

Quite frankly, nobody was ready to step up without Embiid on the floor. As a collective, the Sixers failed to make an impact on the scoreboard. While they have exceeded expectations with their three-point shooting at times throughout the year, it just wasn't their day on Tuesday from the beyond the arc.

By the time the game wrapped up, Philly finished the afternoon shooting a pitiful 20-percent from three. Both Al Horford and Kyle O'Quinn failed to make an impact on offense by combining for only nine points. Meanwhile, Tobias Harris, who is typically reliable in the scoring department, only scored nine points off of nine shots.

A 115-97 loss on the road will send the Sixers back to the Eastern Conference's sixth seed for the time being. Considering that Sixers' head coach, Brett Brown, had aspirations of being the number one team in the conference before the season started, it's safe to say the 76ers are performing well-below expectations right now.

The Sixers will get the next couple of days off to travel and re-group. They will get back together on Friday for a matchup with the Houston Rockets in hopes of at least picking up one victory before heading back home next Monday.