174 days after the Sixers walked off the Wells Fargo Center floor following their Game 6 elimination to the New York Knicks, they returned to South Philadelphia on Wednesday night for game one of the 82-game regular season.
They did so without Joel Embiid, who is not playing because of an individualized plan according to Sixers head coach Nick Nurse. “The plan is why he’s not playing,” Nurse said pre-game. “He did not re-injure himself.”
The Sixers were also missing newly signed 9x NBA All-Star Paul George, who hyperextended his left knee during a preseason game in Atlanta.
The Sixers dropped the season opener 124-109 at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. Here are my 3 takeaways from the game:
1. Short-handed Sixers leave a lot to be desired
No surprise here, the Sixers didn’t exactly look fantastic without Embiid or George. As we’ve seen in prior years when Embiid was sidelined, the offense can go totally stagnant at times. Wednesday night was no exception.
The Sixers shot 42% from the field and just 26% from three. Tyrese Maxey accounted for more than 30% of those shots by himself. The shot clock would too often run low following a possession that felt like it was going nowhere. Combine that with phenomenal Bucks shooting, 30 points from Damian Lillard and 25 points from Giannis Antetokunmpo and it just never felt like a night the Sixers were destined to win.
2. Maxey remained aggressive, just didn’t play well enough
If Nick Nurse has preached anything in his time as Sixers head coach, it’s that the 23-year-old needs to be aggressive, in particular when the Sixers are missing their MVP.
Knowing he’d need to be the main source of offense on Wednesday as much as ever, Maxey took 31 shots. Maxey only took more than 31 shots twice all of last season, once in November when he scored a career-high 50 points against the Pacers and then again in April, when he broke his own record with 52 points in a double overtime thriller in San Antonio.
Maxey didn’t score 50 this time around, he didn’t even score 30. He finished with 25 points, made just 32% of his shots overall (10-31) and 22% of his shots from three (2-9). Maxey tried driving, he tried shooting. He just was not good enough to carry the load on Wednesday.
3. Kyle Lowry still contributing in year 19
On the bright side, the Sixers depth did show some reason for optimism on Wednesday. One guy of note was Kyle Lowry, who is back with the Sixers after signing in Philadelphia last February. The 38-year-old began his 19th NBA season (3rd most experienced active NBA player, Chris Paul is in year 20 and LeBron James is in year 22) by contributing 13 points on 4-7 (3-5 from three) shooting, 6 assists and continues to be a fearless menace on defense. At one point he found himself guarding the 6-foot 11-inch Antetokunmpo and had him pushed out to the foul line. The guy just refuses to be backed down by anyone.
Overall, disappointing night from the Sixers. Playing without Embiid in particular is something we’re going to see in numerous games this season and Wednesday night showed how heavily relied upon Maxey and eventually Paul George will be.