Philadelphia 76ers Weekly Report: Are We Back?

(Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)

Game 1: Tuesday, Dec. 3rd, 2024

Philadelphia 76ers at Charlotte Hornets

Final Score: PHI 110 – CHA 104

Paul George had his best game in a 76ers uniform, scoring 29 points and, notably, going 6/9 from three. His shot has struggled immensely, so it’s nice to see him do well in that regard at least once in a while. Tyrese Maxey, on the other hand, continued his shooting woes. He’s at 29.3% from three on the season, taking his most attempts. Some of that stems from taking a high degree of difficulty shots, but it’s also just being in a slump. Hopefully, his shooting will bounce back sooner rather than later.

The Sixers were cruising to an easy win on the back of a strong first quarter but did allow the Hornets without Lamelo Ball back in the game in the fourth. A three-point barrage by Brandon Miller (34 points, 7/16 from three) actually had the Hornets take the lead late despite trailing all game, but Maxey managed to close it out. Maxey scored 13 of his 21 in the fourth, including the last 11 Sixer points. 

Also of note was Jared McCain having another great game, scoring 17 in just 21 minutes. Nick Nurse seems reluctant to start McCain when the majority of the team is healthy, but it’s good to see McCain doesn’t need a lot of minutes and shots to contribute.

 

Game 2: Wednesday, Dec. 4th, 2024

Orlando Magic at Philadelphia 76ers

Final Score: ORL 106 – PHI 102

It was disappointing to see Paul George sit for this winnable game, although he did play 37 minutes the night before. That implies he was always going to sit this game, but every game counts due the the Sixers dismal start. Franz Wagner has pretty much kept this team afloat single-handedly once Paolo Banchero went down, and he did so again by scoring 35 points to down the Sixers.

The Magic jumped out to a massive lead in the first, but the Sixers equalized by half, and it was neck and neck the rest of the way. McCain, starting in place of Paul George, scored 24 efficient points. What more can be said about this kid that hasn’t already been? He’s been unreal. Maxey, on the other hand, scored just 16 on 7/19 shooting, including 0/7 from deep. A continued struggle from deep has been unfortunate, and it’d be good to see Maxey defer a little bit in these games if he sees his teammates shooting well, which they were in this one.

Guerschon Yabusele bounced back from last game, scoring 15 of 6/8. Kelly Oubre Jr, who struggled in the beginning as he was asked to be the second option to Maxey, has come alive sliding down the scoring priority list. He’s taking less shots but has become way more efficient with them. He scored 15 on 4/7 from three in this one. K.J. Martin, since his breakout against the Pistons on November 30th, has also been a steady contributor; he’s shooting 64.5% from the floor and 35.7% from three on the season.  Maxey is the late-in-the-clock bailout option, but he also missed a lot of wide-open shots.

The Magic have been shockingly good without Banchero, but it was still a shame to let this one slip away. 

 

Game 3: Friday, Dec. 6th, 2024

Orlando Magic at Philadelphia 76ers

Final Score: PHI 102 – CHA 94

The Sixers finally managed to get one over the Magic, this time winning in a fairly controlled fashion. They took off in the second quarter and never really looked back. Paul George notched 21 points and nine assists. He was unable to replicate his last games’ excellent shooting, but George has added playmaking to his game, handling lead guard duties well. 

Maxey struggled again from the floor and went a depressing 5/33 from three this week. Given his track record, this has to be just a slump, but the way he’s really trying to shoot himself out of it is pretty brutal. Luckily, results-wise, it really only cost the Sixers one game. The role-player trio that shot well last game continued it here. Oubre had 13 points on 50% from the floor, Yabusele 16 on 5/8, and Martin 20 on 9/10. Martin kept moving and finding himself in the right place at the right time, a fantastic trait to have in a backup. 

As poor as the bench and role-players have looked at times this season, it seems Nurse has found his guys. If the stars can play consistently, a bench of McCain, Caleb, KJ Martin, and Andre Drummond has some juice.

On the other side, Franz tried his best but couldn’t keep carrying the team and actually suffered a brutal injury that will see him sidelined for at least a month. He’s hopefully done enough to keep the Magic afloat with Banchero coming back soon.

 

Game 4: Sunday, Dec. 8th, 2024

Philadelphia 76ers at Chicago Bulls

Final Score: PHI 108 – CHI 100

Embiid managed to come back in this one and, after a horrible first quarter, put together a very solid game. The first quarter was miserable to watch, with miss after miss from every range. The switch just flipped in the second, though. Embiid went from 0/6 in the first to 8/12 in the second. He did most of his damage from the mid-range, but ever since honing in on that a few seasons ago, it’s really become his bread and butter. With his knees crumbling to dust, it makes sense to rely on it more, and Embiid wasn’t wholly unwilling to post up or drive either. The one thing he hasn’t been able to nail down this season is the three, and he went 0-5. Embiid ended up with 31 points and was able to handle 28 attempts, which is encouraging. 

Speaking of guys struggling with the deep ball, both Maxey and George had another poor shooting night from deep. Luckily, they can score pretty effectively outside of that. Not counting the threes, George was 6/8 on mostly middies, while Maxey was 7/10 attacking the basket. Maxey also had his first triple-double, dropping a 25/11/14 line, so it’s hard to be too mad at him, but the amount of step-back threes he took in this game was eye-rending. Especially when he’s been so poor on them. 

So far this season, the Big Three are all shooting by far career-worsts from deep. George is at 31% compared to 38% on his career. Maxey is at 29% to a career of 38%, and Embiid is at 13% to a career of 33%. In Maxey and Embiid’s case, they are also taking them at a career-high rate. It’s probably no surprise the Sixer’s record is what it is, given that and the injuries. On the flip side, if they can drift back to their normal career numbers, this team will be actually good. 

 

Weekly Musing: Back In It

The Sixers had their best week of the season, going 3-1. Sure, it was against either bad teams or injured ones, but taking care of business is really all they have to do in a weak East. At 7-15, they are just three games out of a play-in and 3.5 out of the eighth seed even. None of the teams above them are even slightly scary, and in fact the Sixers few wins have come almost exclusively against the teams right above and below them. 

The rest of December is also fairly easy. Besides the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, the Sixers opponents are a combined 49-95. By month’s end, the Sixers should be in a play-in spot, which is really all they need to do. The full-strength team really does seem to have potential, and in recent Sixers history, the seed hasn’t mattered much at all. Get in healthy, and anything is possible. 

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Patrick Yen is a contributor on Back Sports Page.  He has written for NBC, SB Nation and a few more websites in his journalism career. He has been the Back Sports Page beat writer for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Patrick, a graduate from the Ohio State University, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but moved to Columbus, Ohio early in his life and has lived there ever since. You can find more of Patrick on Twitter @pyen117.