Jan 10, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) dribbles the ball against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The Sixers got out-coached thoroughly in an embarrassing loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, who were gravely under-manned.
Here's what I saw.
- I'm going to say something good about the Sixers, and then make a negative point out of it. Bear with me here. The Sixers were as cold as the Philadelphia night is when this game started, stuck at two points for the first four minutes of the contest. They broke the lid off the rim courtesy of a Caleb Martin corner three, generated by pushing the pace when they recognized they had favorable numbers in transition.
I need to see so much more recognition of when they have those advantages and responding by upping the tempo. The Sixers are often stuck in autopilot bringing the ball up the floor regardless of situation. As a result, they don't take nearly enough advantage when they have numbers. The offense, in general, is not good enough to forgive that. If it's not five-on-five in front of them, they need to be gunning.
- Ricky Council IV gets the only star for Philadelphia's first half. The Sixers looked absolutely cooked, unable to manufacture anything consistently on offense and applying bad glue to a crack that was ready to spread on defense. But, Council did what he does best: put his head down and attack. He kept the engine going by himself for a period of time in the second quarter.
- Early in the game, Tyrese Maxey planted a seed that blossomed quite nicely by the third quarter. He didn't play at 100 miles per hour. He toggled speeds coming off ball screens, slowing down as he snaked around the pick to get to the midrange. He accepted that the threes weren't falling and instead trusted his in-between game. He splashed a midrange jumper around the elbow in the first quarter and then rediscovered that blind spot in New Orleans' defense early in the third quarter, leading a Sixers charge to retake the lead.
- Paul George found something in the third quarter, steadying a rocky ship when the Pelicans went back to their zone defense. His jumper was on target a couple of times, but George also found leverage to burst into the paint and create rotations. For a few minutes there, he looked like a max player.
- Can't tell you when I looked at the scoreboard, but at some point late in the first quarter I wondered how many points CJ McCollum had. He scored 18 of New Orleans' 28 in the first frame. Every single make was pure net. He was absolutely cooking. So, I ask, why not blitz the ball out of his hands?
Here's the funny thing: there might not be a better team in the league to blitz right now than the Pelicans. They are 7-31. They had to temporarily sign a guy off the street because of how injury-plagued their season has been. If one guy is shredding you - quite literally by himself - why not force the ball out of his hands and make anyone else on that 7-31 team beat you? News flash: THEY WON'T. That's part of why they are 7-31. The team is a band of misfit toys. Get the ball away from the one who is kind of good.
- Nick Nurse did not recuse himself at all to start the second quarter. He looked at his team and actually thought he could roll out a lineup of Jeff Dowtin Jr., Reggie Jackson, Eric Gordon, George and Guerschon Yabusele. That is to say, three guards - none of which is particularly athletic or quick - a wing who is ice-cold and not totally healthy and a small-ball big who is not a shot creator.
"But, George's contract!" - blah, blah, blah. That's putting a lot of weight on the shoulders of one player who just is not equipped to carry it right now.
- We can put some qualifiers on it because it's impossible not to when you see the Sixers' injury report. Nurse doesn't have the most cutting-edge box of tools to work with at the moment. Still, he can't get away with some of these lineups. At some point, you watch Yabusele screen for someone who has no chance of doing anything with it and say, "There has to be a better combination of players than this". When a possession ends with a Dowtin isolation because you're struggling to break a zone defense, it's not on the player. It's kind of on the front office. But, it's mostly on the head coach.
- You wonder what it's going to take for Maxey to get a better whistle. Some of it is that he's getting fouled and simply not getting the benefit of the doubt. Some of it is that he has a long way to go in maximizing his foul-drawing skills. But, a lot of it is looking in the mirror, too. Arguing every missed call isn't going to get you the friendly whistle. It's going to turn you into the boy who cried wolf. Not only do you start getting ignored, but the officials start to seek justice for your constant complaints by making you play through it. Saving his voice for the right times and places might help a bit.
- The Sixers had a moment during which they absolutely needed to survive the rough seas the Pelicans had kicked up at the end of the third quarter. Both McCollum and Dejounte Murray were resting. Daniel Theis was in for Yves Missi. Philadelphia had to win those minutes. The offense, for once, was not the problem. Actually, it was the zone defense with George acting as center that backfired in Nurse's face. For every bucket the Sixers scored, they gave it right back on the ensuing Pelicans possession. If it wasn't death by Jose Alvarado-Theis pick-and-roll, it was the big man cutting to the basket for open shots because Philadelphia failed to cover up the plunge in the middle of the zone. They lost those minutes handily.
A reminder - the Pelicans had none of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III in this game. An absolute disaster.
- I will be deaf by 35 if the person in charge of the Wells Fargo Center sound system doesn't turn the volume down. You risk an eardrum coming to this place every night.
The Sixers (15-21) will visit the Orlando Magic (22-18) on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m., Eastern time. You can catch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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