March 21, 2024
Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports
Cam Payne's dozen first half points was perhaps the lone bright spot during a tough Sixers loss in Phoenix Wednesday night.
In the opening contest of a four-game West Coast road trip, the Sixers headed to Phoenix for a Wednesday night matchup against the star-studded Suns. After a first quarter in which both teams looked lifeless, the Suns took off while the Sixers remained ice cold, resulting in a 115-102 Sixers loss. Here is what jumped out from this one:
KJ Martin's minutes have been a bit sporadic over the last few weeks -- as they have been for most of the season -- but it seems as if Sixers head coach Nick Nurse likes pairing the 23 year-old leaper with another tremendous athlete in Paul Reed. The two have shared the floor for some period of time in four of the Sixers' last five contests, and the pair connected on an early alley-oop in Phoenix from Reed to Martin for a slam.
It is not too hard to understand why this pairing appeals to Nurse. Especially with Reed improving as a three-point shooter, it is enticing to pair up two versatile athletes and watch them wreak havoc on the defensive end of the floor. In the first quarter, Phoenix's high-powered offense struggled mightily, as the Sixers limited them to 21 points despite being dominated on the offensive boards.
Payne has been tremendous of late off the bench for a Sixers team that has needed offensive stability, and it has been a godsend. He continued to generate offense at will early on upon checking into this game, accounting for a dozen points between scoring and passing in just his first seven minutes of action.
It is not exactly clear how often Payne would play for the Sixers in a playoff series, when rotations shorten and perceived defensive weak links are exposed. But at least for the remainder of the regular season -- especially for however long Joel Embiid is sidelined with his meniscus injury -- the Sixers will need viable sources of offensive production outside of Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. Right now, Payne looks the part.
The score stayed within a possession or two for just about the entirety of the first quarter. The second quarter was a bit different.
The Suns got red hot over the next 12 minutes, scoring 39 points, draining an array of shots from beyond the arc and constantly generating open looks through drives and kicks. Grayson Allen totaled four triples and 13 points by halftime, Royce O'Neale entered intermission also in double-figures and Devin Booker nearly posted a triple-double by the midway point of the game.
The Suns were able to quickly right the ship on the offensive end of the floor. The Sixers were not, and the biggest reason why was that Maxey struggled mightily to get going. The Suns showed him as many bodies as often as they can, and were very physical against the All-Star guard, who continues to grow perturbed by his lack of foul calls drawn around the rim as a driver. Maxey made just two of his 10 field goal attempts in the first half, and was visibly frustrated throughout much of his time on the floor.
Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey called Buddy Hield the best player moved on the day of this season's NBA Trade Deadline, and at first glance, it seemed like he was on the money. In his first four contests as a Sixer, Hield logged nearly 40 minutes per game. He scored at least 20 points in all four games, averaging 22.3 points, 7.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds per contest on tremendous efficiency.
This game was Hield's 15th since that remarkable four-game period. His largest point total over those 15 games is just 16. As Hield's scoring output has dipped, his shot creation for others has taken a nosedive as well, and his minutes have steadily declined. Hield's role began to diminish when he was moved from the starting lineup to the bench, but over the last few games especially he has seen his minutes totals declining to a noticeable extent.
There is no doubt that Hield would be optimized if he spent the majority of his minutes playing alongside Embiid. The two could likely form a lethal two-man game. But with Embiid still on the shelf, Hield has been unable to establish himself as much of a reliable piece for this team -- particularly disappointing given how tremendous he looked at the start of his Sixers tenure.
With the NBA's invention of the Play-In Tournament, only the top six teams in each conference are guaranteed a playoff spot. The Sixers entered Wednesday night with possession of the Eastern Conference's sixth seed, but with their loss as well as wins by the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers, their 38-31 record leaves them stranded in eighth place in the conference, the lowest spot they have occupied since the opening week of the season.
The Sixers lost two of their three games against the Pacers this season, so they lose out in any tie-breaker situation with Indiana. They have lost two of the three games they have played so far against the Heat, but do have one more pivotal contest in Miami in the first week of April. If the Sixers drop that contest, they will lose tie-breakers with Miami as well; if they win it, the next tie-breaker would be in-conference record.
With the young Orlando Magic surging yet again, joining the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics as teams clear of play-in concerns, the Sixers, Pacers and Heat appear to all be battling for one spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The other two will be subjected to the Play-In Tournament.
