Mar 4, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Jabari Walker (33) shoots the ball against the Utah Jazz in the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA -- It was a must win in what could have been the worst loss of a season that has seen three of them by more than 40 points.
When the Utah Jazz visited on Wednesday, they caught the Sixers just after one of those 40-point losses the night before, to the San Antonio Spurs. They also caught them without four of their starters, due to injuries, suspension and illness.
Still, Utah is doing that thing this season that the Sixers made so fashionable years back, and really weren't all that intent on improving upon their 18-43 record, if we're being honest.
So a loss for the Sixers, who are so trying to keep their collective heads above water while the lineup continues to get decimated with unavailability, would have been at least just as bad as the one they incurred the previous night.
Disaster was averted, however, as little-used players made big plays, backups filled admirably their roles as starters and it was all just enough to pull out a 106-102 win to improve the team to 34-28.
The sole thought of coach Nick Nurse, and his team, all through Wednesday was on just getting a much-needed win against one of the worst teams in the league, which was beginning a three-game road trip and had lost six in a row.
"Four and four after the break, .500 and in the sixth seed right now," said Tyrese Maxey, the lone starter available against the Jazz, who had 25 points. "I'm living with where we're at. I'm happy with where we're at right now. Try to keep playing together, keep winning games, stacking games. It's not going to be easy. We were missing all our starters tonight."
So for the task that was at hand for that night, mission accomplished. But as Maxey talked of how that game went and praise was splashed upon forward Jabari Walker for his 22 point, 10-rebound effort off the bench, the bigger picture is starting to loom, like a huge dark cloud during a sunny day on the beach.
a season-high night for @JabariWalker 👏
22 PTS | 10 REB | 4-7 3PT@PALottery pic.twitter.com/5KOLjdA6yL
This team wasn't built for this season to be content with winning close games against a tanking team. It certainly wasn't built to rely on the likes of Walker, Trendon Watford, Dominick Barlow or Adem Bona to make game-changing plays. For now, though, that's exactly what's needed. And those backups have given all they have to help carry the trimmed down roster.
The here and now, though, has to eventually change to the future, meaning about 10 games from now. That's when the team will get Paul George back from his suspension. By then, the hope is that Joel Embiid's time off will have healed his strained oblique, his sore knee and shin. Illnesses, hopefully, will have subsided and Nurse will finally have a full hand to play with. That's why, as much as his backups were needed and came through as prime time players on Wednesday, they are still auditioning for the backup roles when the regulars return.
"It's on constant delay. At some point we're going to try and figure it out, with 10 games to go, maybe," said Nurse of figuring out his set rotation. "There's a whole bunch of guys that we know are going to play and that they're in the rotation. Obviously now we don't know anything with where we are. There's a couple spots where I think there's a pack of two or three guys that are fighting, still, to figure out who we can count on and who will play the role exactly, or the best way that it needs to be played.
"The lineups are shifting quite a bit and changing quite a bit. We understand that, we know that, we've talked about that since Day One, that being able to handle that is going to be something that we're going to have to do. If I'm looking at the big picture of the whole season, I would give us pretty high marks on being able to handle it."
The expected starting lineup, when (if) healthy, would most likely include Embiid, Maxey, George, Kelly Oubre, Jr. and VJ Edgecombe. Quentin Grimes is the first guard off the bench and Adem Bona appears to have solidified himself to backup Embiid. As for a backup forward or two, that's probably where the biggest competition is and Walker went a long way to getting his trust from the coach on Wednesday after he drained four of his seven three-point attempts.
"Since Day One, even before I earned it, coach has been on me," said Parker after scoring his season-high and posting consecutive 20-point games for the first time in his career. "He pays close attention and he sees something in me. Even in our workouts and walkthroughs, even when you think it doesn't count, he's on me then. Those things are very motivating. I've had other good shooting nights, but this was the plan when he told me to shoot the ball because he knew that nights like this would happen and the plan is just to stay consistent."
All this came after Walker scratched his brand new Mercedes earlier in the day when he backed up into a pole. He blamed it on not driving all that much lately and the fact that the city streets of Philly are too tight. His play Wednesday needed no excuses.
𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝟏𝟎𝟔, 𝐔𝐭𝐚𝐡 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 𝟏𝟎𝟐
Jabari Walker had an "unfortunate event" before the game: He scratched his new Mercedes-Benz within 30 minutes of buying it.
...then came off the bench for 22 points and 10 rebounds in a Sixers win
"Philly has very tight spaces, so… pic.twitter.com/YCLf0S9Qvi
"He was great," said Nurse. "We've been trying to get him to play like that because he is, and I said this a long time ago, he's a really good shooter. You just have to get used to an NBA feel and having enough to pull the trigger on him and noticeably better the last few games where he's running the floor and it comes to him when he's open and there's not much hesitation on him. He's always been good on the glass so it's good that he could make some really nice defensive rebounds for us. It's a good plus for us."
One that probably will keep getting opportunities when the team is at full strength.
"If my minutes have to go down, I'll take it," Walker said, looking at the future of this season. "I signed up for it. I knew what I was getting into. We have great players, we have Hall of Famers that have to come back. Somebody has to take those minutes and these are guys that get paid to do so. My job is to fill in and do exactly what I'm doing while they're out and if I can help the team along with those guys, which I have before when everybody was healthy, then I'll get those minutes. Not auditioning for just that directly, but auditioning for the now. We'll worry about that later, but today we got the win. I'm where my feet are at."
Which, on the court, is a very good place. Behind the wheel, not so much.
