Underneath a banner of “It’s going to take some time,” it has been easy enough to focus on the Sixers‘ 9-3 record rather than any of the underlying concerns you might have with the team. Tuesday’s meeting with the Celtics was billed as Jaylen Brown vs. Jayson Tatum, but it was also a meta battle to decide who you could trust more — the 76ers team squeaking out wins in crunch time against tougher competition, or the Boston team blowing out soft opponents to pad their net rating. Score one for style points, it appears, after the C’s waltzed into Philly and beat the home team by 22 points.

It’s not ultimately that simple, of course, but it has been obvious to anyone watching the Sixers that offense should be easier to come by on a team boasting multiple future Hall of Famers, two in-their-prime stars, and a bench with several competent options to play around the stars. But here the Sixers sit, 12 games into LeBron’s debut Philadelphia season, resting in the league’s offensive graveyard:

As ugly as it has sometimes looked on the floor, that group of teams is as painful to look at as any possession the Sixers have played this year. The best non-Sixers teams in that group are the 4-7 Wizards and Hornets, with most of these teams spiraling down the drain with no hope in sight.

Tyrese Maxey had a straightforward answer for why they find themselves here in the aftermath of the Celtics game, noting that he was the only player in the starting five who has had to change his game as drastically as they’ve all had to this season.

“Every five starters that we have is playing a different role than they played last year, and some of them probably ever,” Maxey said. “I think for myself it’s a little bit easier because I’ve had to do this before, you know what I mean. I’m probably the only starter here that’s had to do this before, as far as like, figuring it out with different groups and different things like that. I did it with James [Harden]. I did it with Ben [Simmons]. I did it when James left; James came back. Bron’s here. I’m just kind of used to it. So I think we’re all trying to adapt and figure it out. I mean, it’s gonna take time.”

“Thankfully, our defense has been pretty good to overcompensate for that. And I think we’re gonna continue to defend. We didn’t defend great tonight, but we continue to defend and compete and try to keep winning games while we’re figuring it out.”

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