The Philadelphia 76ers (12-6) got their first look of the season at the New Orleans Pelicans (10-9), one of the eight teams that advanced in the In-Season Tournament. With Joel Embiid ruled out, the Sixers suffered a wire-to-wire loss by a final score of 124-114.

Let’s break down a Sixers' loss that was way more lopsided than the final score indicates.

Sixers player notes:

Tyrese Maxey: 33 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 13-25 FG shooting

Maxey didn’t shy away from the increased responsibility with Embiid out. He found the bottom of the net with some fantastic finishes in and around the paint that showcased some fantastic dexterity with his hands and body. Throughout the game, he kept shooting and running the offense on and off the ball. Not recording a single assist until very late in he game is crazy but not entirely shocking given how the Sixers played tonight.

Patrick Beverley: 11 points, 1 rebound, 7 assists, 3-3 FG shooting

Beverley has started doing a very nice job attacking off the catch by pump-faking opponents out of position. It's not much but it is something that can make him more impactful on offense with his jumper still not falling. His playmaking was on point in this game and he shot the ball well from the field, too.

Pelicans player notes

Zion Williamson: 33 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 11-11 FG shooting

Nurse knows that a player like Williamson can be a huge test against a defense. Without the Sixers' defensive anchor covering space in the paint and above the rim, he made each one of his shots of the night and faced little resistance on the way to the hoop. He wasn’t skying for outrageous dunks but rather used feathery touch on layups (along with some more run-of-the-mill slams).

CJ McCollum: 20 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 7-16 FG shooting

McCollum made his return to the court and looked pretty spry, scoring off the bounce and shooting very well from deep. His value to this Pelicans team is immense and should he be able to stay healthy — which, admittedly, is a big if — I can see New Orleans having homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Game recap:

1st half

After missing the last 12 games due to a collapsed lung, McCollum returned to the starting lineup. Meanwhile, the Sixers were without Embiid, who was ruled out ahead of tip-off due to an illness. Marcus Morris Sr. got the starting nod, which gave New Orleans a much greater size advantage in favor of getting a more spaced-out offense.

Tobias Harris guarded Williamson, Nicolas Batum took Brandon Ingram and Tyrese Maxey took McCollum. The Pelicans stuck their best defender, Herb Jones, on Maxey.

The Sixers' lack of size was apparent when Morris let Valanciunas beat him out for an offensive rebound and putback and fouled a driving Ingram. The Pelicans had eight rebounds before the Sixers got their first one, which was also indicative of NOLA's hot shooting to start and Philly misfiring often to start. The Sixers got a lot of threes up but did not make them, getting outscored 16-6 in the first five minutes.

Nurse threw another rotation curveball by making Mo Bamba the Sixers' first substitution, taking out Morris. He possesses a blend of size/shot-blocking skills and shooting, making him the best of both worlds between Morris and Paul Reed…in theory. Bamba couldn’t match up with Jonas Valanciunas and was subbed out after. a few minutes with a pair of fouls, sending Reed into action.

The Sixers lacking size was exacerbated by porous point-of-attack defense. The Pelicans' star trio diced up the defense as the home team made 12 of its first 15 shot attempts. On the other end, the Sixers couldn’t get anything to go consistently. Maxey scored on a collection of nice layups and stayed aggressive but, after giving up a season-worst 39 points in the first quarter, Philly trailed by 15 heading into the second quarter.

K.J. Martin got some run in a very big lineup with Maxey, Batum, Morris and Reed. Williamson still found creases to dash to and scored at the rim while the Sixers' offense continued to lack continuity and efficiency. Philly turned the ball over a lot and exerted no pressure on New Orleans' defense, as evidenced by the three free throws it had after 18 minutes of game time. Martin showed he could really get up, including on an absolutely bogus offensive interference call.

The Sixers played the Pelicans more evenly in the second quarter but they didn’t exactly dig their heels in trying to get back into it. They trailed 68-48 at the half.

2nd half

Nurse kept the Sixers' defensive game plan the same to start the second half and Morris picked up another pair of fouls. Reed subbed in, though it was for Batum, who went back to the locker room holding his hand. He later committed a shooting foul as Williamson dunked through it.

The Sixers not bringing the pressure further up the floor via hedges, traps or even picking up the ball sooner to compensate for the lack of size was confounding. The Pelicans got the ball into the paint so easily and no one could get up to slow down Williamson or Valanciunas on the roll. Although Philly got some more turnovers that turned into points, it wasn’t enough.

Although the Sixers did go to a zone defense (as they did at least one other time in the first half), it simply meant Williamson could flash to the middle of the floor to get the ball instead of initiating the drives himself. There was just no juice on Philly's side in this one, which was different from their previous Embiid-less game. They put up a better fight against a stronger Minnesota Timberwolves team than they did against this solid Pelicans team.

Even when Philly could get something, like consecutive buckets, a Naji Marshall triple sniped the momentum. De'Anthony Melton got out in transition after stealing the ball from Ingram but got blocked off the glass by Jones in a sequence that ended with an Ingram triple. The Sixers hit some threes to cut the lead down to a point where coming back was still feasible but just couldn’t get a big enough run to really get into a Fake Comeback until there wasn’t enough time left.

The beginning of the fourth quarter took approximately 300 minutes due to numerous stoppages in play. Both teams kept their main guys deep into the game and the Sixers managed to cut the deficit down to 10 points with a huge run. They forced turnovers and got some huge buckets from Maxey to put a serious dent in the Pelicans' lead. A Reed layup made it an eight-point game but with perfect execution needed on both ends down the stretch, the Sixers couldn’t put the finishing touches on.

Random rumblings:

  • The injury/illness bug has bitten the Sixers badly. Batum now has a finger injury to monitor going forward and with Kelly Oubre Jr., Jaden Springer and Danuel House Jr. all dealing with respective ailments, the depth is trending back toward shaky. There seems to be an illness going around the team as assistant coach Bobby Jackson was under the weather, too.

The Sixers will face the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Friday night.