March 12, 2024
After a throwback-style 79-73 Sixers win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, the two teams faced off once again on Tuesday night -- with a reinforcement on each side. For the Sixers, Tyrese Maxey returned after missing four games with a concussion. For the Knicks, OG Anunoby returned after being sidelined for more than a month with an elbow injury. While the Knicks looked like a completely different team, for the Sixers, it was a lot of the same, as they fell 106-79. Here is what jumped out from the disappointing loss:
The Sixers' offense once again looked putrid to open the game, but the returning All-Star point guard was able to get in a rhythm quickly. Maxey scored 10 of the team's 14 first quarter points, including two deep triples. The Sixers should be thankful that Maxey was present, but even with him getting into double-digits, they managed to post an even worse first quarter of offense than they did on Sunday night -- and that is no small feat.
All Sixers not named Maxey combined to shoot 2-10 from the field and 0-7 from beyond the arc. Tobias Harris, whose struggles have been chronicled extensively, missed two wide open corner three-point tries within the first two minutes of the game. After finally surging on Sunday night, Buddy Hield got off to a poor start, missing shots he typically can be relied on to knock down.
Maxey was able to consistently generate good looks for himself, and occasionally for others as well. But Harris, Hield and co. were unable to take advantage.
The Sixers' offense may have continued to look ineffective on Tuesday night, the Knicks were able to figure things out. Their most obvious improvement was generating and making more open looks from beyond the arc. The Knicks made just 9 of their 40 attempts from beyond the arc on Friday, including a 1-9 performance from All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson and a 3-12 showing from sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo.
The Knicks knocked down 10 threes in the first half of this one -- more than they made in entirety on Sunday night -- on 23 attempts, good for a 43.5 percent clip. Four of those belonged to Brunson, who looked considerably more comfortable against the Kelly Oubre Jr.'s defense, which bothered him quite a bit in the previous matchup. DiVincenzo knocked down two early triples on four looks, all of which were wide open. Anunoby, who of course was absent over the weekend, made two quick threes in the first quarter and fit right back into the role in which he excelled in the 14 games he played with New York after being acquired from the Toronto Raptors via trade and before suffering the elbow injury.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse stuck with Bamba as his starting five once again against a Knicks team that starts an imposing big-man in bruiser Isaiah Hartenstein. Bamba knocked down a three off a pick-and-pop action with Maxey in the second quarter, and did just about nothing else of note for the remainder of the game.
Paul Reed may be at his best coming off the bench. But starting Bamba until (or if) Embiid returns just does not seem like a sustainable option right now. Bamba continues to fail to leave any sort of positive lasting impact on the game -- his offensive skillset is almost nonexistent and his defensive skillset is one-dimensional.
Nurse did not give KJ Martin any run until the fourth quarter of this one after the 23-year-old athletic leaper logged fewer than four minutes on Sunday. But Martin has shown more value as a small-ball center than Bamba has as a prototypical one in limited action. Sometimes, it is worth trying a last-ditch measure.
This game was on national television, and before the start of the third quarter, one of TNT's "coaching adjustments" was not exactly an adjustment, but a question: "Where is Tobias Harris?" Harris did not just miss two wide open corner triples to open this game. He went scoreless in the entire first half. In the second half, he made one basket. Harris, who is being paid nearly $40 million this season largely because of his reputation as a scorer, finished the game with two points.
Harris scored 59 points between back-to-back wins against Dallas and Charlotte to open the month of March after a prolonged slump, with many hoping he had finally figured things out. But in four contests since, Harris entered Tuesday night's game averaging just 14.5 points in 37.2 minutes per game, shooting 41 percent from the field and 12.5 percent -- yes, 12.5 percent -- from beyond the arc.
Harris has one of the longer track records among the Sixers' regulars, is the highest-paid of any not named Joel Embiid, and has the respect of the coaching staff. The cache he carries is not meaningless. But for how long can the Sixers start Harris and give him the workload of a very good NBA player when he simply is not performing like one?
If the team wants to keep Harris in the starting five, as to not ruffle any feathers, while quietly reducing his minutes, that would be understandable. But Harris led the Sixers in minutes on Sunday and was second, only to Maxey, in this one. He averaged 35.4 minutes per game in his last nine appearances entering this game.
Harris needs to get back on track quickly. If he fails to do so, Nurse must be willing to do something that may be perceived as radical.
