Game 1: Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024
Houston Rockets at Philadelphia 76ers
Final Score: HOU 122 – PHI 115 (OT)
Despite Tyrese Maxey miraculously keeping the game alive to force OT, the Sixers fell in a heartbreaking loss. Maxey scored 17 of his 39 in the fourth but was unable to keep it going in extra time. Jared McCain, possibly fatigued from carrying the team to start the season, fell back to earth after a stratospheric start. Two small score-first guards are usually going to be volatile, but to be fair; this team wasn’t supposed to have these two guys take a combined 53 shots. On the positive side, Guerschon Yabusele played well again and, through little over a month, is shooting a fantastic 43.7% from three.
On the other hand, Jalen Green had one of the best games of his career, scoring 41 on 12/20 shooting. Again, McCain and Maxey’s focal point does leave the defense lacking. It doesn’t help that Joel Embiid and Paul George are probably the two best defenders on the team and are missing many games.
It’s hard to take anything from any individual game at this point because we don’t know who will be available in any given game, so we don’t know what the team will look like in the future. Four guys were out of this game who were expected to be starters at the beginning of the year. With that, everyone shifts up, and who knows who gets minutes when everyone is healthy?
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Game 2: Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024
Philadelphia 76ers at Detroit Pistons
Final Score: PHI 111 – DET 96
The Sixers got their first truly smooth win. They led the whole game and finally had a good third quarter. Maxey led the way again, dropping a game-high 28 points, including 5/10 from three. Paul George returned, and his shooting struggles continued. The scoring has been incredibly disappointing so far. It doesn’t help that he hasn’t had a run of games to get healthy, but he is impacting the game positively in other ways. That’s great, but those words were also once used to defend Tobias Harris.
It’s good to see that the Sixers weren’t reliant on their rookie this time around and were able to win without him playing great. McCain playing well has been a fantastic surprise, but if a rookie is your best player, you’re not making the playoffs. KJ Martin and Ricky Council IV have put together two strong games in a row, and if they can be a real bench unit with McCain, the Sixers will be shockingly deep once (if) everyone is healthy. They are both attacking the rim aggressively, so hopefully, this wasn’t just a fluky shooting night.
The Sixers held the Pistons to just 96, which is the least anyone has scored against them so far. They managed to stop Jaden Ivey, holding him to 5/16 shooting and just 15 points, which is way better than they did against him the first time around. Paul George definitely helped with that, which is another way George is helping beyond scoring. With Maxey and McCain taking even more of the scoring load, maybe that will be okay, even if it’s not what the Sixers expected.
Carlos Osorio/AP
Weekly Musing: A Crucial December
Going .500 on the week, sadly, feels like a massive win for the Sixers. They’ll need to do better in December, but luckily, they didn’t fall deeper in the hole. The Sixers have ten games in next month, and it is a somewhat soft schedule. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics will be tough, especially at Cleveland on a back-to-back.
Other than that, every game is winnable. They face four of the worst teams in the NBA, including Charlotte twice. They do face the Orlando Magic, who have been incredibly good despite losing Paolo Banchero, but it’s still the Magic without their best player. If there was any time to win, it’d be right now. At the very least, the Sixers should know if they are still alive or if they should commit to a tank by New Year.
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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