It is officially time to panic for 76ers

In a season where the Sixers have had their share of bad losses, Monday night's 106-89 loss to the Miami Heat might have been the worst of all. 

With eight minutes left in the second quarter, the 76ers were dominating the Heat, leading 48-30. Philadelphia proceeded to score only eight points for the rest of the quarter as its lead shrank to just three points by halftime.

It only got worse. Miami outscored Philadelphia 35-16 in the quarter, completing a 20-minute stretch where it thoroughly trounced the Sixers.

It's a typical mid-game meltdown for the 76ers, who have a net rating of -15 points on the season in second quarters and -14.6 in the third.  

Part of the problem is that Philly's stars look tired. George scored 12 points in the first quarter and only six more the rest of the game. Embiid scored only 11 points in 31 minutes and didn't shoot a single free throw for only the second game in his career and the first time since Feb. 9, 2018.

Philadelphia began this season with a plan to aggressively rest Embiid and George, sitting them in all back-to-back games to protect against injury. The idea was that the roster was strong enough that it'd still easily make the playoffs, even with the stars scheduled to miss 15-20 games.

But now the Sixers are losing with Embiid and George, too, dropping their 11th game of the season seven weeks earlier than last season's 11th loss, on Jan. 5. If they were to reach last year's record of 47-35, good for seventh place, they'd have to win 65 percent of their remaining games, and it's not clear this team is capable of winning even half its games.

Things should improve when Tyrese Maxey, due to have his hamstring injury evaluated on Tuesday, returns to the court. But it's a bad sign that with Maxey out, only rookie Jared McCain has been able to score or make outside shots. Kelly Oubre Jr. is missing shots and passing even less than usual. 38-year-old Kyle Lowry and 35-year-old Eric Gordon might be cooked.

With morale plummeting, the front office could make a move earlier than expected, using its extra draft picks and KJ Martin's non-guaranteed deal to upgrade the roster. But ultimately, the Sixers simply need George and Embiid to play a lot better, or they're going to get to rest for the second half of April, too.