3 observations after Sixers struggle in opener, lose to Bucks without Embiid and George originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
No star trio, no opening-night win at Wells Fargo Center for the 2024-25 Sixers.
Down both Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) and Paul George (left knee bone bruise), the Sixers dropped their first game of the season Wednesday, falling to a 124-109 loss to the Bucks.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Damian Lillard posted 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 25 points. He went just 10 for 31 from the field. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 21 points.
Here are observations on the Sixers’ defeat to the Bucks:
Makeshift lineups for the opener
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse’s opening-night starting five was Maxey, Eric Gordon, Oubre, KJ Martin and Andre Drummond.
Nurse had liked Caleb Martin’s energy off the bench during the preseason and stuck with him as an integral sub in the opener, playing the 29-year old forward 37 minutes.
To start the second half, Nurse had Caleb Martin (12 points, nine rebounds) replace KJ Martin in the Sixers’ lineup.
“I just thought that the biggest problem in the game for us was offensively,” Nurse said. “Defense was probably below average as well, but I just thought maybe he could spark us a little more offensively than KJ.
“It’s tough because it puts you in a real bad size problem against a really big team, right? It puts Caleb Martin on Giannis, and that’s a pretty big size advantage. He was fighting like heck. … He fought him pretty hard, just committed some fouls and all that kind of stuff.”
Maxey scored the Sixers’ first hoop of the season on a step-back three-pointer late in the shot clock. He missed several close-range looks in the first quarter and began 2 for 10 from the floor, though he concluded the first sweetly with a tricky buzzer-beating layup.
Despite their offensive struggles, the Sixers still managed to build a modest early lead. There wasn’t much to like about the Sixers’ offense in the first quarter — little fluidity, not much of the brisk, purposeful pace Nurse had stressed in the preseason — but their role players generally did decent work.
The Sixers played solid team defense, committed no turnovers in the first period, and started strong on the offensive glass. Drummond and KJ Martin chipped in put-back layups. Caleb Martin swooped in to snag an offensive board soon after subbing in for KJ Martin, who unsurprisingly picked up two fouls in his first five minutes guarding Antetokounmpo.
A ton on Maxey’s shoulders
Maxey began brightly in the second quarter, hitting a floater and a baseline mid-range jumper.
However, he was continually frustrated by the lack of foul calls on his drives. Last season’s Most Improved Player took 18 field goals before drawing a free throw.
Kyle Lowry (13 points, six assists) was the Sixers’ sole second-unit guard Wednesday. Caleb Martin and Guerschon Yabusele were the only two other bench players Nurse used until Ricky Council IV entered in the third quarter with the Sixers trailing by 18 points. Jared McCain made his NBA debut with the game out of reach late in the fourth and got two buckets with a mid-range jumper and put-back lay-in. Adem Bona also converted a debut layup.
Yabusele drained a corner three on his first shot as a Sixer.
When Drummond subbed out and Yabusele slid up to center, rim protection and defensive rebounding grew substantially more challenging for the Sixers. The 6-foor-8 Yabusele is physically sturdy, but he’s not a true back-line defender.
“We’re kind of forced to play him at the five right now,” Nurse said. “He is a four. He’s not a three and he’s probably not really a five, but we’re kind of pushing him up there because it’s what we feel we have there with Joel out.”
The Sixers’ short rotation meant they needed quality minutes from all of their starters. Oubre did not provide that during a rough stretch in the middle of the second quarter. Bobby Portis stole his casual dribble handoff attempt and coasted in for a layup. Back-to-back Taurean Prince threes extended Milwaukee’s lead to 51-39.
As a team, the Sixers missed 18 of their first 21 three-point tries. With Maxey well below his norm in terms of efficiency and no other stars available, the Sixers certainly needed better results in that department.
No good answers for Bucks’ star power
Several Sixers accumulated fouls quickly in their efforts to contain Antetokounmpo. Drummond and Yabusele were both whistled for their fifth personal early in the fourth quarter. Yabusele ultimately fouled out.
While the Sixers were effective on occasion when they double teamed Antetokounmpo from the post or stymied his drives with multiple bodies, he’s extremely difficult for any individual defender to handle. And the Bucks didn’t even need to lean on Antetokounmpo much as their lead swelled in the third quarter. Milwaukee’s drive-and-kick game started cooking. So did Lillard, who canned four three-pointers in the third.
The Sixers looked deflated and their level of play dipped on both ends — rushed half-court possessions with minimal ball movement, obvious defensive breakdowns, etc.
To their credit, the Sixers rallied early in the fourth quarter. They hustled on defense, forced turnovers, scored in transition and cut the Bucks’ advantage to 107-95. Milwaukee soon restored a comfortable lead, though.
Three stars sounds like a luxury on paper, but the Sixers will still have to earn wins this season when Embiid and George are on the sidelines. They’ll give it a second shot Friday night in Toronto against the Raptors.
“We have to go out there and execute what we worked on,” Maxey said. “Us winning, it can’t be solely on Joel Embiid. It just can’t. … We’ve got to make shots and we’ve got to keep playing the right way.
“We’ll be better. I’ll definitely be better, so I’m not going to worry about that.”
