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The Sixers fall to 1-6 after recovering from Tyrese Maxey's injury against the Clippers

The Sixers fall to 1-6 after recovering from Tyrese Maxey's injury against the Clippers

The Sixers played a competitive half of basketball before being flattened in the third quarter and losing 110-98 to the Clippers on Wednesday. Tyrese Maxey left the game in the third period and did not return because of a sore right thigh.

Here's what I saw.

The good

-Attribute it to shaking off the rust against Phoenix or having the extra motivation to compete against his old team, but whatever the reason, The was the version of Paul George everyone was hoping for. The Sixers opened this game with one of the nastiest offenses possible, and George ruined those brutal possessions by simply shooting over the Clippers. What a nice option to lean on late in the shot clock.

George was much more than just a scorer in the first half, he made a lot of plays as an off-ball roamer. He almost immediately emerged as their best weakside rim protector, which is both a credit to the rest of the roster and a credit to his length and athleticism. George has also been a threat in the passing lanes in two games and was able to block several jump attempts from Clippers players on Wednesday night.

He also just didn't play enough in this game. George only played 17 minutes in the first three quarters, so efficiency and defensive skills made only a limited difference.

— Kelly Oubre was efficient and fought hard on defense (most of the time). More than can be said for many of these guys.

– Good minutes from Ricky Council IV in the desperate phase of the fourth quarter. Maybe Nurse should consider playing him as an over-36 guard who can't move.

The evil

— I could have started writing this sentence at any time in the first half and would have been within 45 seconds of a rally. The Sixers had turned the ball over 12 times by halftime, and while one would attribute a few of those to the issue of lack of chemistry we've often discussed, far too many of those were due to heading and rushed passes that reflect their poor playmaking ability.

They gave the Clippers the ball back in every way possible. On one possession, it was a pass from George into Eric Gordon's shin from several yards away. A play or two later, it would be a complete miscommunication if a pass was fired at Philadelphia's visiting bench.

This is a problem that worries me greatly in the long term because it is one of the few that Joel Embiid cannot solve with his return. The big man is many things, but he is an inconsistent playmaker who is prone to sloppy mistakes as a passer, which is the same thing you would say about the bulk of the guys on this roster. Kyle Lowry is actually the only one who claims his passing talent is “above average,” and he can no longer consistently create the space to actually use it.

— Caleb Martin's shooting mechanics have never been the prettiest, but they've looked significantly worse for Philadelphia this season. I guess I'll add him to the list of people who arrived in town and suddenly came down with jumperitis.

Martin's mechanics looked almost completely different from possession to possession, which is not a sustainable way to take shots. As he progressed to catch-and-shoot jumpers without hesitation, he came closest to fluidity, even eliciting some of those looks at the highest possible release point. Unsurprisingly, these shots had the best chance of finding the net, but they are vastly outnumbered by shots that are double handled and have lackluster bases to boot.

It's also hard to give him too much credit for getting to the free throw line when he misses most attempts made from the stripe. I respect that he finds ways to produce by any means necessary, but it would feel a lot better if he could do some damn threesomes and freebies.

– Straight back to the scrap heap for Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon. It turns out that relying on the old guard every night is difficult.

The ugly

— Tyrese Maxey was conspicuously absent from Philadelphia's early offense on Wednesday, which would explain why they came out looking terrible early in the game. However, as soon as Paul George was calm for the first time all night, it was off and Maxey turned James Harden's career as a game-changer on the sidelines for a fine first half. Unfortunately, that was the only part of the game where Maxey felt like she was a central part of their game plan. I blame him for that, but I also blame the lack of structure.

To make matters worse, Maxey was seen holding his leg late in the third quarter, and he did not return to the game afterward. The Sixers ruled him out early in the fourth quarter because of right hamstring soreness, and it feels like they'll never get all three stars on the field at the same time.

(Also, he was already a complete fiasco in defense before the injury, but we'll spare him any further criticism given the injury.)

— Some of Philadelphia's problems are problems that can only be solved with more repetition. It's difficult to get more reps in pairs or five-man lineups when you're switching through so many different combinations in search of what works. This is squarely in the control of Nick Nurse, who has long since moved on from getting caught up in the chaos of mad scientists.

Right now, there doesn't seem to be any logic to some of Nurse's lineup decisions. Do you want to play small and shoot the floor a lot? Cool, you should probably do that if Drummond is there taking over the paint and rebounding. Want to spread it out and play it small? Also a smart thing I think, but maybe try multiple wings on the floor instead of a Lowry/Gordon/Maxey combo. Their cast balance was brutal in one way or another, and that's not the case all a function of a limited roster. Some of these groups are doomed on paper, and no one should be surprised if they fail in practice.

The nurse was a huge disappointment to me. The Sixers knew they had to come up with a coherent plan without Joel Embiid in some capacity, and it looks like they have no plan and no prayer at least half the time. Their offensive structure is almost non-existent, they constantly switch formations, and he hasn't won any duels on the edge (his challenges have been next to useless for over a season). There is much to prove in the coming weeks and months. Maybe start by playing young people who can move.

– Maybe Nick Nurse didn't want to risk upsetting Andre Drummond by taking away his minutes on two nights in a row, or maybe he just feared the prospect of Yabusele playing extended minutes against Zubac. These are certainly legitimate concerns. They probably should have been pushed to the side if it gave them a better chance of winning a game.

Drummond shouldn't be blamed for any systemic failures in the lineup, but in a lineup that can barely shoot, his brand of edge-bound ball is pretty much the last thing the Sixers need right now. There were moments in this game where Maxey was able to make a favorable switch against James Harden, but still had no chance of getting into a favorable spot on the pitch – Zubac positioned himself on Maxey's strong side of the pitch while Martin or Oubre's men cheated from the weak side behind you, making driving attempts pointless. Drummond also stopped by several times to show off Maxey after He had a favorable matchup and forced a trap for no reason that ruined their offensive setup.

Admittedly, he had better moments in the third quarter when he finished off some cheap shots around the basket and picked up a few offensive rebounds. But he just seems off the pace and ineffective most of the time and currently looks overwhelmed in the starting player role.

(While I still don't think he can protect the rim, the Sixers may need to consider using Guerschon Yabusele as the primary replacement for Joel Embiid when the big man returns. I don't think he's capable of to be the current starter, but he's significantly better than Andre Drummond right now and seems to be a better fit for what they need to build with the backups. Maybe don't play him with all three of Lowry, Gordon and Maxey on the floor are though.)

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