Jan 12, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) grabs the rebound during the second half against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images
Paul George fouled out in crunch time, leaving Tyrese Maxey and the Sixers to stumble into another loss against the Orlando Magic.
Here's what I saw.
- I was very critical of Nick Nurse in Friday's loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, but I do think he had a good feel for going zone early in this game. An already banged-up Magic group was dropping like flies and getting into foul trouble, so the Sixers dared them to make threes and penetrate the interior off the dribble. Orlando had nothing for it, and their offense totally stalled for a significant portion of the first half.
- Maxey was the lone beacon of light in an otherwise dreadful first half. The only part of his game that I find truly maddening right now is his foul-drawing. He argues for every call, but does very little of the skill mastery to draw fouls. And it not only manifests in off-balance shots, but it causes transition advantages for the opponent because he's not getting back on defense while he's pleading for the whistle.
Drawing fouls is something he's actually talked to Ricky Council IV, a very good foul-drawer, about. And one of the whispers Council has offered is slowing down on drives so that the officials can see the contact clearly. The maddening part is Maxey has stretches of excellent tempo control with the ball in his hands. He has possessions in which he carves his way to the basket by slowing down out of the screen and speeding up to get the blow-by on the back line of defense. But, for every one of those brilliant possessions, he'll have ten on which he explodes to the rim right out of the screen and throws up a wild layup to no whistle. As bad as officiating is in the NBA anymore, Maxey has to do his part to master the selling points. And when the Sixers were begging for anyone to generate offense in this game, Maxey dictated the pace to near perfection, earning his way to the charity stripe to the tune of 10 freebies in the first half.
He didn't just foul bait. Maxey was shifty and bouncy, slowing down but keeping his dribble alive and then exploding to keep Orlando off balance. He worked his way into a rhythm, and then punctuated a stellar first half with a deep triple over Paolo Banchero.
- After a downright hideous start to the third quarter, the Sixers got some steady possessions through Guerschon Yabusele post-ups. And when you think about what we've seen from him all season long, you wonder if creating off the dribble is the one thing he is not capable of doing. Seriously, he's done everything for this team on both ends of the floor. His flexibility has been an incredible breath of fresh air. Yabusele can go a handful of games as a spacer, and then do most of his work in the paint for a stretch of games.
Not that Maxey and George have played nearly well enough to turn their noses up at any teammate, but they were perfectly comfortable feeding Yabusele on the block. They trusted Yabusele to back his way down to the restricted area and pivot into finishes. Yabusele has his moments as a vertical athlete, but he's not going to overwhelm you there. He relies on touch and strength, and he got the Sixers kicked into gear in the third quarter.
- It's a damn shame that George fouled out, because he was shouldering his responsibilities quite well in the second half. He had a killer third quarter, lacing jumper after jumper. One of the notable things during that heater was that George seemed to find better balance on his feet as he set up for the shot. He's made a habit of relying on off-balance jumpers often this season, seemingly either denied the edge to attack off the dribble or attempting to sell contact. When he found his rhythm in the third quarter, not only did he create space off the dribble, but George stayed patient to get his feet under him so that there was as much energy under the shot as possible.
- Early on, it felt like the Sixers weren't switch-hunting with purpose. They got theoretically good matchups - a big on Maxey and a guard on George. But, you probably like your chances better with Maxey attacking the big in space than you do with George settling for contested long twos.
- On this Sunday evening, Daryl Morey is the one who gets a pile of blame shoveled on him. It is downright unfair to the core players on this roster that that final spot is going unused right now. Nurse gets his share of the blame for allowing these lineups on the court. But, at the end of the day, he's being asked to put lipstick on a pig in some of these situations. What are Maxey and George supposed to think when possessions are ending with Jeff Dowtin Jr. picking up his dribble in no man's land with no one moving around him? Three possessions in the second quarter ended with Dowtin off balance and without a paddle. And it's not just a Dowtin problem. This is not meant to take aim at him. The Sixers are overwhelmingly under-manned. But, so were the Pelicans, and so were the Magic. And there the Sixers were, trotting out lineups featuring Dowtin and Reggie Jackson.
Philadelphia looked dead in the water every time Maxey wasn't in the game in the first half, and much of the same held true for George in the second half. What are those two supposed to think of this?
- Yet, perhaps it wouldn't be doom and gloom for this season if they didn't have a pile of nausea-inducing losses holding them down. One of the things Philadelphia has been consistent at this season is losing winnable games. Those add up, and they weigh a team down mentally. The Sixers looked like they might just pull one out on Sunday, and then George fouled out with about two minutes to play. You could sense the meltdown coming, and it played out like clockwork. All offensive structure and method fell by the wayside, and Maxey was left to fend for himself.
- This group is playing hard. They just aren't built for the organization to decide to play the long game in the regular season.
The Sixers (15-22) will host the Oklahoma City Thunder (32-6) on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., Eastern time. You can watch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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