SUMMARY: The Jazz’s offense didn’t travel from Orlando and ran into the same issues as last time versus Philadelphia to lose 107-86.

• The last time the Jazz played the 76ers, Utah took more shots in the non-restricted area than in any other game all season. The 76ers forced the Jazz into the same types of shots tonight and they were unable to covert.

• Unofficially, the Jazz went 4 for 19 on mid-range 2s and that doesn’t count the amount of shots they took in the paint non-restricted area.

• The 76ers are the best defensive team when Joel Embiid is on the floor and his impact was huge tonight. The 76ers went under on almost every pick and then held onto the other 3-point shooters. When the Jazz drove into the lane, they couldn’t make plays around the rim because of Embiid.

• Embiid is incredibly talented. He is the most skilled big man in the league by a large margin and I am not sure he really knows how to play the game yet. It is incredible what he does to impact the game and what he is capable of doing inside of it.

• The defense was great for the first half of the game. Utah kept the Sixers from making a 3 for the first two quarters. The Jazz were still relatively in the game because of the defense. However, scoring was a real struggle and there is a point along the way when scoring becomes so cumbersome that the defense starts to wane. This is happening to the Jazz each night.

• The play most Jazz fans will talk about is when Donovan Mitchell drove to the basket and Embiid blocked Donovan’s shot and then stared him down while he was on the floor. Mitchell wanted none of that and ran back up the floor and pushed Embiid. Embiid knew it was coming and flopped in a manner that would have made a soccer player jealous. This showed some fight from Mitchell. I am pretty sure no one in the Jazz brass is bothered by the way he reacted. It is better than taking a wet willie and not doing anything about it.  Embiid said he flopped when asked about it after the game.

• Donovan had a pretty cool play early in the game where he got Embiid switched on him and walked on his heels into a pull up jumper and buried it.

• Donovan played the most minutes tonight with 37.

• Alec Burks went 1 for 10 to cap off a tough road trip for AB. It felt as though he was on verge of taking a big stride and becoming vital to the Jazz helping their scoring woes, but it didn’t happen on this trip and he went 7 of 36 for the road trip and missed all 12 3-point attempts.

• The Jazz had the Al Jefferson rule go against them tonight. When your leading shot taker has more FGA than points, you will lose about 90% of the time. Both Donovan (19 FGA 17 pts) and Hood (17 FGA and 13 pts) hit the Al Jefferson rule tonight.

• Joe Ingles is not going to be successful as a high usage player and it means there is a real burden on Hood and Mitchell to shoot. The ball movement on the Jazz can be super, but at other times when there are guys on the floor who are unlikely to shoot it leads to one-on-one play. Ingles was probably on the floor for 50 offensive possessions tonight and took four shots. Jonas Jerebko is in the same boat so it means lots of possessions for Donovan and Rodney whether they are rolling or not.

• Ben Simmons took over the game in the third quarter and it is hard to stop him when he gets going downhill. He has such a great handle for a guy his size, is able to get where he wants and can expand over the top of whomever is guarding him. He can pass it if he needs to with great vision and finished the night with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

• Royce O’Neale hit his first NBA 3-pointer.

• The Jazz went 1-3 on the road trip. The rest of the West is not running away, in fact the amount of dysfunction on the West is remarkable. However, the schedule is not on the Jazz’s side. It gets brutal in a hurry and Utah left some wins in the rear view mirror.