MIAMI (AP) — Postgame interviews in the NBA typically start about 10 minutes after the final buzzer. Coaches usually speak first, followed by a few players. When a team wins, most people are in a good mood. If a team is losing, not so much.

That’s the normal routine.

Things aren’t normal for Philadelphia right now.

Philadelphia lost at Miami on Monday night, with the 76ers squandering an early 19-point lead to fall 106-89. The match ended at 9:51 PM. It took more than an hour for coach Nick Nurse to show up for his post-game media session. The reason: a team meeting, because the 76ers had a lot to talk about after falling to 2-11 on the season.

“Sorry for the delay,” the nurse said to the half-dozen or so reporters awaiting his arrival. He answered questions as normal, then the locker room opened and a few players chatted as well.

There is still a large part of the season left. The first quarter of the 82-game marathon isn’t even over yet. It’s not time to panic.

But honestly, some teams know it’s time for things to get better: Philly is at the top of that list.

Since the NBA moved to its current 16-team playoff format in 1984, only four teams have had 15-game losing records and made the NBA Finals: San Antonio in 1998-99, Detroit in 2004-05, Boston in 2021-2022 and Miami in 2022-2023.

They were all 7-8.

That’s bad news for Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Miami – three teams that have never made their best move. Injuries are a big part of that; Khris Middleton has yet to play for Milwaukee, Joel Embiid played for the 76ers for only the third time this season on Monday night, and the Heat got Jimmy Butler back after more than a week on Monday, but were without Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr.

But the Heat are 6-7, the Bucks are 5-9 and the 76ers are 2-11. And that’s nowhere near what those clubs expected this year, injuries or not.

“There is definitely a sense of urgency,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “If you look at both conferences, there is a sense of urgency in the conferences. And I think there is parity. It brings great competition. It brings out all these different emotions. When you win a game you feel like everything is great. When you lose a match, you feel like the world is falling apart. That’s what competition does, especially when you compete so competitively in the rankings where many teams are together.

Philadelphia hasn’t scored 100 points in three of its last four games and hasn’t even reached 90 points in either of its last two games. And here’s a strange stat: The 76ers are 2-0 in overtime games this season, and 0-11 in games that end after 48 minutes.

“Listen, it’s obviously hard, right? I don’t like losing, that’s for sure,” Nurse said. “I mean, it doesn’t matter. The games are coming and we have some things to figure out. We have to play better. We have to get our guys over. There are a lot of things going on. But we have to go out and play and hang in there somehow. In a lot of these games, there are a lot of good moments for long, long stretches.

Cleveland and Boston have clearly separated themselves at the top of the Eastern Conference; the 15-0 Cavaliers visit the 11-3 Celtics in an NBA Cup game on Tuesday night. From there, the rest of the East — from Orlando at 9-6 to Philly in a bracket at 2-11 — is separated by just six games, with about a million games left to play. No one is left out, especially a 76ers team with Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and an NBA champion point guard in Kyle Lowry.

“I mean, 2-11 is obviously pretty bad,” said Philly’s Jared McCain. “But it is still the beginning of the season. Fewest minutes played together as a team, so I say it all the time: give us grace. We have to get better.”

To be fair, there wasn’t anything that seemed broken in the 76ers locker room when the team meeting finally ended. No broken whiteboards, no signs of trouble, and plenty of players making jokes.

“We had a meeting? I didn’t know,” Embiid said, which was his way of letting reporters know he had no intention of spilling anything about what was said behind closed doors.

However, he did admit that he may have to be more aggressive in the future. The 76ers are figuring out how to make all the pieces fit together, but Embiid knows they can’t continue down this path.

“We have that record,” Embiid said, “and something needs to be done about it.”

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