Game 1: Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024
Detroit Pistons at Philadelphia 76ers
Final Score: DET 105 – PHI 95
More of the same this week, with Sixers’ stars Paul George and Joel Embiid still yet to make their season debut. It’s not ideal to lose to the Pistons, of course, but it’s always going to be hard when it’s Tyrese Maxey versus the world. He had his most efficient game of the season, shooting 12/25 for 32 points. He was still 2/10 from three, though, and the Sixers continue to be one of, if not the worst, three-point shooting teams in the league.
The Pistons were led by third-year guard Jaden Ivey, who seems poised to finally break out and fulfill his fifth-overall pick status back in 2022. He’s averaging a career-high 19.3 this season on very good splits. Of course, it’d be remiss not to mention Tobias Harris in his revenge game against Philly. He was fine, scoring 18 points, although the 14 rebounds were quite surprising.
After some hope that Kelly Oubre Jr. could be a solid running mate for Maxey with the stars out, Oubre has faded hard. Once he’s back in his sixth-man role, it will probably get better, but right now, it’s ugly. Speaking of ugly, Caleb Martin has struggled mightily. It might be another case of Miami Heat role-player syndrome, but Martin is being forced to take a larger role on offense than he ever has. As a part of the Heat, Martin was not expected to make his own offense, with nearly 70% of his field goals being assisted last year. This year, just 37.5% of his makes are coming off teammates’ passes. Martin is not a guy who can clearly create his own shot. Once he’s in his role, hopefully, it’ll be fine, but again, it’s ugly so far.
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Game 2: Saturday, Nov. 2nd, 2024
Memphis Grizzlies at Philadelphia 76ers
Final Score: MEM 124 – PHI 107
Maxey scored the most in a loss, but the Sixers were inefficient—Yada yada yada. The Sixers were highly unlikely to win this game, even if the Grizzlies didn’t have Desmond Bane. The biggest story of the game is Embiid’s altercation with a reporter in the postgame. Embiid and George seemed to be ramping up to play, with George reportedly making his season debut Monday. Embiid might’ve been right there with him if not for likely a suspension. No punishment has been levied as of the writing of this article.
More on the game, the Sixers had their best game from three in basically every way, making 19/46, which is quite good. It wasn’t enough to save them against Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr, but it’s progress. On a positive note, Jared McCain had a great game points-wise, with 19 points on 50% from the field. Nearly all of that did come in the fourth quarter with the game pretty out of hand, but the Grizzlies starters were still in for most of the time. So, it’s kind of garbage time, kind of not.
While McCain was brought in as a shooter mostly, he did a lot of his damage near the basket. He attacked closeouts and used space on the pick-and-roll to find a couple of floaters and high layups. Showing multiple tools on offense is always great, and it might not be a long time until he’s starting. The size fit with Maxey has always been the question, but the current starter in Kyle Lowry is 6’1”.
Guerschon Yabusele might also be earning more minutes. He’s doing a little bit of everything on the court, which fits with how he played overseas. Right now, he’s not seeing a ton of minutes, and they are often low-stakes. Part of that can be attributed to foul trouble—he’s averaging 6.6 fouls per 36 minutes —but if he can get that under control, I’d like to see more of him.
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Weekly Musing
While it has helped the Sixers this week, I can’t help but wonder why the NBA scheduling is how it is. The Sixers only played two games this week, which is fine—fewer games for George and Embiid to miss. The problem is that there will be a few back-to-backs in the future. Why are there weeks with two games and multiple back-to-backs? Three games a week seems like an obvious number to go with. Of course, with travel, that isn’t always possible, but I refuse to believe there is no solution.
The NBA has existed with 30 teams and 82 games long enough that you’d think they could figure out a better way to do this. No one likes back-to-backs. The fans don’t like it, especially as it becomes more and more common for stars to sit them. Players obviously don’t like it because of the increased fatigue and injury risk, and I can’t imagine it improves viewership or ticket sales in any way. Would anyone really be upset if the season was a week longer if that means no more back-to-backs?
Patrick Yen is a contributor to the Back Sports Page. In his journalism career, he has written for NBC, SB Nation, and several other websites. He has also been the Back Sports Page beat writer for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Patrick, a graduate of Ohio State University, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but moved to Columbus, Ohio, early in life and has lived there ever since. You can find more of Patrick on Twitter @pyen117.
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