The Sixers suffered their fifth loss in their last six games Saturday night, falling to the Nets at Wells Fargo Center.

They were not remotely close to victory. In the first contest of a four-game homestand, the Sixers trailed by as many as 30 points and dropped a 136-121 game.

Brooklyn improved to 20-28 and the Sixers dipped to 30-18.

Nets guard Cam Thomas posted 40 points. Tyrese Maxey scored 23.

The Sixers were seriously undermanned Saturday.

On top of Joel Embiid (left knee lateral meniscus injury), they were down Tobias Harris (illness), De’Anthony Melton (lumbar spine stress response), Nicolas Batum (left hamstring tightness) and Robert Covington (left knee bone bruise).

Brooklyn’s Dorian Finney-Smith, Day’Ron Sharpe and Dennis Smith Jr. were out.

The Sixers will host the Mavericks on Monday night. Here are observations on their blowout loss to the Nets:

Miserable start for Maxey-led offense 

Coming off a career-high 51-point game Thursday night against the Jazz, Maxey didn’t give the Sixers the same first-quarter jolt.

The Sixers missed their first seven three-point attempts, including three by Maxey, and didn’t make a long-range shot until the 4:11 mark of the second quarter. The team began 3 for 16 from the field and often appeared dependent on their All-Star guard to generate something out of nothing.

The Nets sensibly forced the ball from Maxey’s hands on several early blitzes and the Sixers weren’t crisp in capitalizing on those potential 4-on-3 opportunities. Maxey was also visibly annoyed that he didn’t get foul calls on a few driving layup tries, throwing his hands out and looking to the officials in disbelief.

Kelly Oubre Jr. made eight early free throws. Besides that, the first quarter was light on good things to say about the Sixers’ offense.

No sparks off the bench

With Harris sidelined, the Sixers’ Maxey-less minutes were especially difficult.

The team couldn’t create anything easy in the half court with Patrick Beverley at point guard. Many players strayed from their comfort zones offensively and did not excel in larger roles. Marcus Morris Sr. air balled a fadeaway jumper. Furkan Korkmaz’s floater didn’t hit the rim.

The Sixers went down 49-24 on a Thomas three. Brooklyn had a massive advantage from long distance Saturday, sinking 20 threes to the Sixers’ 12.

Unsurprisingly, Ben Simmons was not among the Nets to sink a three. Simmons, who played 14 minutes off the Nets’ bench, heard boos from Sixers fans on every touch. He recorded no points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Mo Bamba matched up with Simmons and played behind starting center Paul Reed. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame that his preference is for Reed and Bamba to fill the full 48 minutes at center without Embiid, though KJ Martin ended up getting a brief run at the five Thursday.

Martin was one of six bench players Nurse used over the first three quarters. None of them had a game-turning impact.

Sixers show frustrations 

Rookie guard Ricky Council IV made his first appearance before garbage time in the NBA, checking in with 8:37 left in the second quarter.

Clearly, Nurse didn’t like how the Sixers’ established players had performed to that point. He also wasn’t pleased with the officiating; Nurse picked up a technical foul in the second quarter. Oubre did the same in the third and Beverley was ejected from the sidelines in the fourth.

The frustrated Sixers raised their game a bit in the second period, cutting the Nets’ deficit to 16 at halftime, but Thomas caught fire late in the third and Brooklyn decisively won the quarter.

Terquavion Smith certainly made the most of his fourth-quarter minutes, draining five three-pointers and scoring 17 points, but the outcome was never in doubt.

While it wouldn’t be logical to extract anything major about the Sixers from Saturday’s shorthanded effort alone, it’s clear they could benefit from adding shot creation and outside shooting ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. Whatever’s next for Embiid, the team needs players who can lessen the burden on their stars, make defenses respect them, and hit open jump shots.

Regardless, the Sixers should obviously be much better equipped to compensate for Embiid’s absence when first-choice starters like Harris, Batum and Melton are healthy.