Nick Nurse Drops Honest Statement on Sixers' Playoff Elimination

But the Heat pulled off a 118-95 victory over the Sixers. In just under 10 games, the Sixers will pack it up for the year, which is a major shock considering where they were heading into the season.

“Obviously, it's not anywhere near where we had hoped it would be when we set out this summer and this fall,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told reporters.” That's for sure. Only thing you can say is it was a super, super struggle, right?”

After being crowned paper contenders in the offseason after making some notable moves in free agency, the Sixers could never live up to the hype. With injuries affecting star players like Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey early on, a lack of availability affected the team’s ability to gain a rhythm.

“Most of the way, I think there was only a couple of times of some momentum,” Nurse added. “December, and then there was another four or five-game winning streak in there too, where, you know, you were kind of always holding out hope that that the team was playing better, and getting some wins, and hopefully get some players back and said this numerous times. It just seemed like the injury bug would never leave us. It just seemed like every time we'd have a good game, get a win or something, it cost us a player or two for the next one. We could never just really build any momentum.”

For most of the season, the Sixers were on the edge of the NBA Play-In Tournament. For the final two months of the year, they were battling for the 10th seed with the Chicago Bulls. Eventually, it became apparent that improving the odds of keeping a top-six pick was really the only way to find satisfaction this year in Philly. Even if the Sixers come out with their pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, it won’t erase the feeling Nurse had on Saturday night.

“Super, super disappointing,” the head coach finished. “Not where we want to be at all. That's about it.”

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