PHILADELPHIA — Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz's 107-86 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers from KSL.com's Utah Jazz beat writer, Andy Larsen.

1. Jazz's offense can't figure out how to get good shots

It seems like there are two different brands of Jazz offensive struggles. There's either:

• The Jazz's offense gets good shots, but everyone can't hit the open shots Or - Jazz offense can't ever get good shots, and struggles instead by forcing up late shot-clock looks from all over the court.

On Monday night against the Sixers, it was the latter. The Jazz had only 24 percent of their shots at the rim, 90 percent of NBA games end up with teams shooting more so close. They only had four corner three attempts, and three of those came in the final part of the game when the contest was already basically decided.

And then even though they missed 55 shots, they only picked up seven offensive rebounds. That 12 percent offensive rebounding percentage number is just the opposite of what a slow shooting team needs.

One thing that should have sparked the Jazz's offense was that their defense forced 20 Sixers turnovers. That's great! Ideally, that means you can get out in transition and score easy baskets.

That did not happen.

The Jazz scored only 11 points on those Philadelphia turnovers, 55 points per 100 possessions. Even if you just look at live-ball turnovers, that number is 57 points per 100 possessions.

There are going to be nights where the opposing defense is just too good for this Jazz roster in the half-court. That's understandable. What the Jazz have to do to adapt is scratch and claw for every loose ball (including rebounds), and take advantage of the easy opportunities that their defense gives them. They can't survive if they do neither. In fact, they'll get blown out by 20.

2. The Embiid/Mitchell kerfuffle

Maybe the defining play of the game, the one you'll see on "SportsCenter" over and over again, was this block by Joel Embiid on Donovan Mitchell.

Joel Embiid ignites the crowd! 💯😂 pic.twitter.com/IY27I2GF2Z — Sixers Nation (@PHI_76ersNation) November 21, 2017

Fans of both teams are mad at the other team's player here. Why did Embiid look back for so long after the block, saying some unprintable but pretty standard after-block-smack-talk? Why did Mitchell get up so angrily and shove Embiid? Why did Embiid clearly flop after the push?

I don't have a huge problem with any of it. In the end, the only discipline given out was a technical on Mitchell. That's fair, clearly pushing a guy deserves a technical. Some Jazz fans wanted a technical foul on Embiid for taunting. And yes, sometimes that technical is given. But given how ubiquitous trash talk is in the NBA, and given how emotional the game can get, I would usually prefer that play not be given a technical in general.

What I was most intrigued by in the game was how Mitchell dealt with Embiid's length in the paint. Famously, Mitchell is crazily athletic, but he's usually a two-foot jumper, which means he has to gather in a way that takes some time to use that bounce. Otherwise, the one-foot jumps are relatively ground-bound.

Mitchell was blocked three times this game as a result, including the video above. Mitchell's straight line drives were too predictable at times, giving Embiid plenty of time to come over and get a hand on the shot.

But sometimes, he does something a little bit more crafty. On this one, he eurosteps Amir Johnson for a pretty finger-roll finish.

Mitchell sometimes gets blocked on those drives, but he's capable of being a little bit more crafty: pic.twitter.com/RTudeXdmpy — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) November 21, 2017

And then, there's also the passing option: attack the rim, force the rim protector to come over, and dump the ball off.

And here he dumps it off to Favors nicely: pic.twitter.com/lyBrzH0yPE — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) November 21, 2017

This, it should be noted, requires the big to be in the right place, something that's been kind of inconsistent this year for the Jazz. And Mitchell's still learning what will work and what won't. As a result of his aggression, he was the Jazz's leading scorer tonight with 17 points.

3. Oh man, the Sixers are going to be good

The Sixers' roster is pretty incredible. At the point guard spot, they have Ben Simmons, who today had a career high with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Despite not having a jump shot at all, Simmons is such a challenge to defend. If you give him space and play off of him, he uses that space as a runway to go to the rim and finish over his defender. If you play up on him, he's surprisingly quick for a 6-foot-10 guy, and can get to the rim with a great first step.

He didn't show it off today much (with only two assists), but Simmons' court vision is great, too, and obviously, given his size, he can rebound well too.

Joel Embiid changed this game, despite not contributing his usual scoring load. He scored 15 points on 16 shots, well short of his 23 points per game average. But he dissuaded the Jazz from getting to the rim over and over again, and when they did, well, see the above video.

But they also have some of the best role players in the league. J.J. Redick is one of the best shooters alive, ending up with 20 points tonight. So is Robert Covington, who just signed a bargain of an extension with the Sixers for four years after this one. Dario Saric is decent, though he was very good against the Jazz in Salt Lake City a couple of weeks ago.

And of course, there's even more upside potential. Markelle Fultz is the No. 1 pick in the draft for a reason, there's a chance he becomes a special scorer. And then there's the cap space they have this summer: it's enough to sign a max free agent to a big deal that could lead them to dominate the Eastern Conference for years to come. LeBron James isn't that crazy of an idea, believe it or not.

The Process, the four-year Philadelphia tanking project, it all worked.

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