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The Philadelphia 76ers (15-20) got their first look of the season at the Washington Wizards (6-29) in a showdown of the walking wounded. The injury-riddled Sixers almost blew it against the injury-riddled Wizards but managed to come out on top, 109-103.
Joel Embiid and Paul George were both sidelined for this game, as were several key Wizards players, namely Alex Sarr, Jordan Poole and Malcolm Brogdon. Eric Gordon made his first start since the season opener in what was the 22nd different starting lineup of the season for Philly.
Once again, the Sixers found a new way to embarrass themselves. Although they didn’t lose the game, they have more to be concerned about than feel proud of.
The Tyrese Maxey Show
It was Maxey's time to shine without Embiid and George. His 29 points and six assists did not come in a pretty fashion but they ended up being enough to steer his team across the finish line.
Guerschon Yabusele made things harder on the Wizards bigs (and thus, easier for Maxey) by stretching the floor. The pick-and-pop was there all night and Yabu was on one. Maxey had a wonderful time dishing it to his big man, who scored 21 points and made five threes.
Maxey set up some good offense in his two-man game with Yabusele and also saw Ricky Council IV blow one of his best passes of the night by smoking an alley-oop. However, Maxey's own shooting from the field was subpar. With the long, athletic Bilal Coulibaly as his primary defender, he opted to take a vast majority of his shots from deep, especially in the first half.
After the break, Maxey stopped settling for so many threes and started dictating his own shots. With good screens and plenty of space to attack Jonas Valanciunas' drop coverage, he dashed to the paint and put pressure on the rim. Getting some closer shots to fall seemed to restore his confidence, as he came back down and drilled a three-pointer soon after.
Maxey's aggression forced Valanciunas to come up to the level of the screen, putting the slow-footed center in tough spots. By that point, the spell on the 76ers star had seemingly been lifted. Maxey scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting from the field in the third quarter.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t out of the woods yet. Maxey's strong performance to start the half was a mirage, as went cold in the fourth quarter. The 76ers' lone star was on the brink of letting the win slip through his hands. Just in the nick of time, he fought through the sorcerers' curse and scored the layup that gave the Sixers the lead.
Trying to run the show with so many helpful teammates down for the count is not easy. However, as the point guard, that’s Maxey's job to do. Continuing to struggle this mightily as the top option is worrisome. The trials will spawn many errors but as long as Maxey keeps at it and makes progress, the learning process will be worth it for him in the long run.
Well, someone has to score, right?
Even with mainstays like Maxey and Kyle Kuzma in action, this game was a prime opportunity for high scoring outputs to come from unlikely sources. Gordon and Jared Butler stepped right up and posted what could end up being their best games of the season.
Eric Gordon slung up three-pointer after three-pointer, looking like the shooter he's been his whole career prior to the beginning of his Sixers tenure. He tied Yabusele and Kelly Oubre Jr. for the team-high in points at the half with 11 and had the most triples, appropriately hitting three of them on just four tries. But his surprise scoring outburst was far from the most notable.
The Wizards were getting run off the court until Butler checked in. Still hanging around the NBA on a two-way with Washington, the former Baylor standout diced up the Sixers' defense with buckets in the paint and dishes to teammates. He notched 10 points and three assists in five minutes, bringing his team within four points after previously trailing by as many as 16. Butler led both teams in scoring with 16 points on 7-10 shooting at the break.
Butler proved he had plenty more to do in the second half, reaching a new career-high of 26 points and a game-high seven assists. Although he didn’t play all of crunch time and missed a go-ahead layup, he did way more than he needed to.
More late-game troubles
This version of the 76ers could not prove to be a class above this version of the Wizards. Although they held big leads, they let them back into the game and almost lost it altogether.
Things got really dicey for the Sixers down the stretch when they let up seven unanswered points that cut their lead to three points. Butler continued to crush them while Corey Kispert continued his own 20-point performance. Coming out of a timeout, the Sixers responded by committing a shot clock violation. The Wizards scored on their next two possessions as memories of the Sixers' loss to the Sacramento Kings started to appear.
Maxey complaining to a ref about not earning a goaltending call on one of his layups gave the Wiozards a 4-on-5 break that resulted in a trip to the foul line. Although Maxey was correct that Washington illegally contested his shot, it was another example of Maxey being overly concerned with calls going his way. It was a lack of focus that shouldn’t ever come from The Franchise or any of the team's stars.
Fortunately, Maxey got Philly the lead back, Yabusele stuffed Coulibaly on a huge defensive possession and the Sixers managed to avoid the loss column by the skin of their teeth.
The 76ers will face the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.
