Burn the Film: Doc Rivers Didn't See Any Learning Experiences in Grizzlies Loss

The Philadelphia 76ers were caught up in a challenging situation on Monday night. As they anticipated having a healthy roster, the Sixers were in a prime

The Philadelphia 76ers were caught up in a challenging situation on Monday night. As they anticipated having a healthy roster, the Sixers were in a prime position to pick up another victory after securing their most prominent win of the year on Saturday.

As Philly's Monday night opponent, the Memphis Grizzlies had their fair share of absences, the Sixers were by far the healthier team going into the game. Unfortunately, they lost a couple of players less than an hour before tip-off.

First, Sixers' starting guard Seth Curry was ruled out with shoulder soreness. Then, Philly's All-Star big man Joel Embiid became a late scratch as he was ruled out with rib soreness. Just like that, the Sixers were left trotting out a starting lineup of Andre Drummond, Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, and Tyrese Maxey.

Clearly, Philly's sudden key absences affected the Sixers in a bad way on Monday as they got off to a rough start defensively. Without Embiid on the floor, the Sixers nearly allowed the Grizzlies to score 40 points in the opening quarter.

From the start of the game to the finish, the Grizzlies dominated the Sixers. As Memphis picked up their early lead, they never looked back. And the Sixers ended up taking on a 35-point loss. Sometimes, losses can be a learning experience. But after Monday's game, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers made it clear that there was nothing positive to take away from that matchup. 

"Burn the film," said Rivers after the game. "Throw it away and just move on to the next game. I thought the late scratches kind of threw us off. It's funny because, at halftime, we were still shooting at 54-percent, but we couldn't get stops all night. It was just the theme all night. I think they had 100 points going into the fourth quarter. You're not supposed to win any games like that. So, we'll move on."

Monday's loss in Memphis was the Sixers' 13th defeat of the year. While they maintain a winning record 28 games into the season, the Sixers need to re-group and re-focus as they have two tough matchups back to back beginning on Wednesday against the Miami Heat.

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