November 29, 2023
Down in New Orleans on Wednesday night, the Sixers began a two-game road trip with a matchup against Pelicans. The Sixers entered the night severely short-handed, and it showed. They were thoroughly dominated for the entirety of the game, eventually falling by a score of 124-114.
Takeaways from the evening...
Despite never being listed on the injury report, Embiid was ruled out about a half hour prior to tip-off with an illness. Once again, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse opted to go small and spread the floor, starting Morris rather than Paul Reed. Morris is limited defensively, but the threat of his jumper could make things difficult on opposing bigs who lack mobility, like New Orleans' Jonas Valanciunas and Zion Williamson.
Morris Sr. entered the night on a hot streak of sorts, scoring 16 points in two of their last three games, knocking down seven of 10 three-point tries across those two nights.
Embiid's absence is always most obvious on the offensive end, but the Sixers miss his defense nearly as much. With virtually zero rim protection and little resistance to New Orleans' drives, the Pelicans shot a whopping 14-19 from the floor, scoring 39 points despite only making four threes. It was a disastrous quarter of defense in which the fundamentals, decision-making and effort all seemed subpar.
It's hard to be too concerned about any defense that includes Embiid in the long run, especially because they have generally been decent when he is playing but off the floor, but one would certainly hope for a better showing in what should have been considered a winnable game.
Bamba had yet to log one non-garbage time minute for the Sixers this season before Nurse sent him in fewer than five minutes into this one. Bamba had a strong put-back dunk early, though for most of his minutes he very much looked like a guy who had spent very little time playing alongside the guys he was on the court with.
Bamba not receiving a single chance at "normal" playing time before November 29 is likely a sign that internal indicators -- like practice performance -- tell the Sixers they are better off using Reed and going small when Bamba is out. But why use a roster spot on Bamba and never give him a chance? At some point the Sixers might as well see what they have, and with Embiid's enhanced durability this season, there are fewer chances to do so.
In the middle of the second quarter, Martin got some rare playing time as well, with the Sixers looking for doses of athleticism and defense in response to New Orleans' hot start. After playing a handful of minutes on the wing, Martin even ended up logging some time at the five against Valanciunas, who the Sixers double-teamed on the catch and had some success against.
Beverley scored 18 points across the team's last two games entering this one -- that may not sound monumental, but given his nonexistent offensive production for the vast majority of the season beforehand, anything beyond replacement-level play is an accomplishment.
Right now, Beverley's rotation spot -- the backup point guard slot -- is perhaps the biggest hole on the team's roster. Outside of Tyrese Maxey, they don't have anybody who can consistently dribble, pass and shoot -- and they are going to need at least one more of those. Beverley may not be that guy, but if he continues to shoot the ball well and get after it defensively, Nurse can carve him some sort of untraditional role in the rotation.
Maxey had a really nice scoring night, posting 33 points. However, he registered just three assists the entire night -- all of which came in the fourth quarter.
On one hand, Maxey has been inefficient of late, so him scoring the ball well and doing so efficiently, all while being the center of attention with Embiid sidelined, is impressive and encouraging. The Sixers need him at his absolute best -- like how he was early in the season -- and he has not quite been there in recent games.
Meanwhile, without the threat of Embiid to aid him, Maxey failed to distribute the ball effectively, a reasonable sign for concern. Maxey has scored the ball terrifically when Embiid is off the floor, but he needs to be able to get his teammates involved when the defense is solely focused on him.
The Sixers were able to show some tremendous fight down the stretch, trimming a lead that peaked at 29 down to single digits in the game's final moments. They dug themselves a hole just a bit too steep to climb out of, unfortunately, but thanks to Maxey's excellent fourth quarter and strong play from reserves like Robert Covington, they were able to put together a massive 17-2 run.
It was all too little, too late for the Sixers. But the fight was there, and it was commendable.
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