The Philadelphia 76ers (1-3) welcomed old friends Tobias Harris and Paul Reed back to town as their Detroit Pistons (1-4) looked to win their first game of the season. The Sixers did not buck their trend of playing uninspired basketball, losing 105-95.
By allowing the Toronto Raptors to punk them and almost losing to the Indiana Pacers, the Sixers showed how vulnerable they are without Joel Embiid and Paul George, who were inactive against Detroit. The NBA finished its investigation into Embiid and the team, finding that the big man is indeed dealing with a legitimate knee issue but still hitting the team with a $100,000 fine for contradictory statements. All is well in Sixerland and this performance will surely help the vibes stay afloat!
Here are three takeaways from the 76ers' matchup with Harris and the Pistons. (Sorry Bball Paul, no minutes for you.)
Tobias back in town
Harris was happy to come back to Philly and reconnect with old teammates, coaches and acquaintances. His focus is with the Pistons now but he enjoyed seeing everyone again and looks back fondly on his experiences, good and bad, with the 76ers. Fans greeted him with boos during the starting lineup introductions, during the portions of his shared tribute video with Reed and when he had the ball. Whatever cheers he got came from his mistakes and missed shots.
Harris muscled his way to a layup over Oubre for his first points of the night, silencing the crowd momentarily. He received loud cheers by missing a pair of threes to end the first quarter. When he hit the bench, the Pistons started to give his old team the business.
The Pistons hung a 15-0 run on the 76ers in the second quarter, corralling Maxey and dominating the glass on both ends. Jalen Duren was tough to stop as a rebounder. Isaiah Stewart was also physical down low (no, not that way), which led to plenty of Detroit OREBs and Philly misses at the rim. Malik Beasley and Simone Fontecchio pitched in from the wings, as well. Harris didn’t do a lot of that but he did provide some key scoring in the second half that helped the Pistons win.
Harris tried to get his typical post-up buckets but possessions ending in those shots went nowhere. He also didn’t let a lot of threes fly, missing all three of his attempts. There were a handful of nice plays, like blocking a Kyle Lowry jumper and dunking through a foul, and he put up a strong stat line of 18 points and 14 rebounds. Sixers fans won’t miss him but he left them something to ponder as their team's season gets even sadder.
Maxey makes 'em go
Tyrese Maxey looked like a star for the first time all season in the second half against Indiana, draining shots and stepping up on defense to lead his team to a gutsy win. The Pistons gave him another springboard to get going and he took advantage.
The Pistons put Jaden Ivey on Maxey, and then later Malik Beasley when he subbed out, but the Sixers targeted inferior defenders like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cade Cunningham instead. The Pistons brought their bigs up to the level of screens but Maxey stayed patient and found ways to get downhill, including on nice long-armed layups. He used his 6-foot-8 wingspan to extend outside of the block radius of defenders on his way to 10 points and two assists on 4-7 shooting in the opening period.
Maxey got the better of his former teammate on a step-back, mid-range jumper. Then he put one in over Ivey on the other end. Although he had his way with Detroit's defense, the Pistons could afford to pack the paint because of the 76ers' woeful three-point shooting. Only four of their first 15 attempts found the bottom of the net, though Maxey's 1-5 shooting line was a primary contributor. Also not helping: only seven makes from the foul line in Philly's first 12 attempts.
The Pistons' shooting from the field wasn’t anything special but its toughness on the boards and proficiency in transition, at the foul line and the arc put them ahead by nine at the half. Maxey had 19 points on 8-15 shooting and no one else on his side had even eight points. Philly made as many field goals as Maxey in the first half and attempted 10 more shots.
This was Maxey's most well-balanced performance of the early season and it went to complete waste.
76ers are becoming too wasteful of shot-clock seconds
The 76ers have mastered the art of wasting time on offense. When compounded with the lack of high-end creation talent that plagues them without Embiid or George, teams as bad as the Pistons can put them in a headlock.
The Sixers do push the pace at times, resulting in easy buckets. But in the halfcourt, so much time is spent getting the ball to Maxey, getting it back to Maxey or waiting for someone away from the ball to create space that could go towards…anything else. The shots that resulted from this wretched offensive performance did not feature enough rim attempts or threes. And the Pistons, living up to their car-centric name, got out in the open road a bunch to open up the third quarter, leading to a 21-point advantage at one point.
Philly's struggles on offense without its stars have been well-documented but it will be hard to have takeaways on anything else if things look this bleak. Maxey was efficient, even with his poor shooting from downtown, but the Sixers looked incapable of taking advantage of the fact that they had the best player on the court. Stewart's impeccable defense at the rim only tells part of the story.
One lineup that generated positive results on offense was Maxey-Jared McCain-Eric Gordon-KJ Martin-Guerschon Yabusele. It was light, spacious and featured multiple shot-makers. It also featured a variation with Lowry in Martin's place. McCain and Martin each found their way to the cup while Maxey and Martin connected on a fast-break lob. Defense and rebounding were still issues but the offense looked better…so, progress?
McCain, the rookie, looks not only like one of the most decisive Sixers but one of the most adept at creating something off the bounce. He got to the rim a few times, using his strength and craftiness to penetrate the defense. He played strong defense, as well, and was even trusted to guard Cunningham and Ivey at various points in the fourth quarter. It would be wise to work in some more minutes for him.
Other takeaways
- Stewart tried to post up against Lowry early in the shot clock several times. He got himself an and-one but also got the ball knocked away by the physical, quick-witted veteran on a few occasions.
- Cunningham and Ivey are not always going to shoot a combined 7-15 from beyond the arc. But to chalk this game up to bad shooting luck both ways undeservedly takes Philly off the hook for a pitiful process on offense.
- Few players have line-drive shot releases like Caleb Martin does. It's also a slow shot that he gradually works up to, which may limit his ability to be a reliable floor spacer in the playoffs.
The 76ers will play the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night before embarking on a three-game West Coast trip. Thankfully, it sounds like there’s a chance, however small, that Embiid and/or George may be available to play.