Game 1: Monday, Dec. 16th, 2024
Philadelphia 76ers at Charlotte Hornets
Final Score: PHI 121 – CHA 108
Another great Paul George game, another fairly comfortable win against the Charlotte Hornets. The Sixers led the whole way, and the two stars remaining finally looked like they were supposed to. Tyrese Maxey had a big 40 points, including 6/12 from three, while Paul George had his best game in a Sixers uniform, scoring 33 while going 6/9 from deep. Kelly Oubre Jr. continued his great run and has weirdly been the most consistent Sixer this month.
At the end of the day, though, this was a poor Charlotte team. They did manage to keep Lamelo Ball somewhat in check, which has not been easy this season. The offense and defense played well in this one. It’s great for the Sixers to see the ball go in the hoop as many times as it did. This was the most the Sixers have scored this season, by a fair margin, too.
As for the George shot diet discussion from before, a lot of his shots were still pull-ups. He’s good enough that every once in a while, he’ll have games like this, but there’s little to no consistency to be found there. In the second half, he played in a more ideal manner. A lot more of his points were attacking the rim or at least shooting off a screen. He even got a catch-and-shoot opportunity. He may have played better in the first half, but the second half was more sustainable, and I hope to see more of that.
Neil Redmond/AP
Game 2: Friday, Dec. 20th, 2024
Charlotte Hornets at Philadelphia 76ers
Final Score: PHI 108 – CHA 98
Joel Embiid managed to return just one game after breaking his sinus. He played well in the mask, leading the Sixers with 34 points and nine assists. Maxey also had back-to-back efficient games, which is great to see, considering his shooting woes to begin the season. The problem was George, who simply refuses to shoot well twice in a row. He did have ten boards and eight assists, again showing some lead ball-handler chops, but the shooting is untenable. 2/12 and 1/7 from three for a max player is not good.
This game didn’t feature as many pull-up jumpers as some of his other games, which is both encouraging and concerning. It’s encouraging because maybe he is trending towards a more sustainable playstyle. It’s concerning because of how many catch-and-shoot opportunities he bricked. He also struggled to finish inside on this one, blocked twice, and just straight missed two more, but at least he had something of a drive-and-kick game going.
Beyond the stars, the role-players are starting to kind of fall by the wayside. Guerschon Yabusele and K.J. Martin (who’s earned some starts) have struggled to get consistent touches. In these last two starts against Charlotte (both starts), Martin got two attempts each. With Embiid, Maxey, and George taking a combined 54 shots, there’s not too much to go around, but I liked K.J. as a bench scorer rather than
The Sixers have pretty much farmed the Hornets for wins, with four of their nine coming against Charlotte. Unfortunately, there are no more games against them. At least the Sixers took care of business, especially against this Hornets team that didn’t have Ball or Brandon Miller.
Yong Kim/Philadelphia Inquirer
Game 3: Saturday, Dec. 21st, 2024
Philadelphia 76ers at Cleveland Cavaliers
Final Score: CLE 126 – PHI 99
When looking ahead at the beginning of December, it was unlikely the Sixers were going to win this one, and they didn’t. A back-to-back against one of the best teams in the league was never going to end well. No Embiid either, and Evan Mobley really took advantage of that. He’s really blossomed under Kenny Atkinson, and he scored 22 points with 13 rebounds and seven assists. He also came away with the highlight of the game, crossing K.J. Martin up and putting two bodies on a poster.
For the Sixers, nothing went particularly well after the first quarter. George went missing, hitting just one shot after the first. That meant Maxey took it upon himself to do everything, which meant a lot of early shot-clock threes and a lot of chucking. He did hit a majority of his triples, but it was a struggle overall. Oubre Jr. had his worst game in awhile as well. The Cavs have been excellent on defense for a few years now, and it was no different on Saturday.
For the month of December, it’s all about taking care of business. They have four games left, and three are against pretty bad teams. If they win those three, that puts them at a respectable 8-4 for December and could be just a game or two out of the tenth position. If they lose a majority of those, the season is most likely actually over. January looks very tough schedule-wise, plus they have five back-to-backs. They have none remaining in December, and they need to take advantage.
Phil Long/AP Photo
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.
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