Surely, that’s the most devastating loss a Philadelphia sports team will suffer this week.
The Sixers dropped their (preseason) home opener to the Orlando Magic 128-98 Friday night.
Playing only the first
quarter, Tyrese Maxey lit it up for 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting, making three of his six three-point attempts, along with two assists. Dominick Barlow took advantage of another starting opportunity, finishing with 12 points and nine boards, six of them on the offensive end. Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 12 points while Kennedy Chandler went for 16.
The Sixers who did not suit up for this one included VJ Edgecombe, Joel Embiid, Paul George, Quentin Grimes, Jared McCain and Kyle Lowry.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- It would probably be more of a red flag if this wasn’t the case in preseason, but it’s still been nice to see Maxey get wherever he’s wanted to so far. Beating his man has really been the only consistent way to create good shots so far. That was again the case to start this one. Maxey happened to miss a few of those looks to start the game with a rough shooting line, but evened things out as he got hot to end the quarter. This up and under layup seemed to really get him going.
- Adem Bona once again picked up two quick fouls, though this time neither of those calls were very convincing. He quickly made up for it by emphatically blocking a couple of shots. Dominick Barlow also got the start again. The frequency that he crashes the rim with stands out on a team that’s been subpar at rebounding for some time now. He put back a couple early missed shots, and stole another rebound away from Wendell Carter Jr.
- The rim protection from Bona seemed to stand out more once Andre Drummond checked into the game. He just looked like he couldn’t catch up, and that allowed him to get beat for some rebounds as well. It wasn’t all bad for him though as he deflected a pass to cause a fastbreak and even knocked down a corner three. Everyone’s having fun in the preseason! The Sixers trailed by two after a high-scoring first.
Second Quarter
- Kelly Oubre Jr. also didn’t get off to a great start. He wasn’t able to get open much, and put up some bad shots as a result. He was able to steady the ship a bit in the second. He got out in transition for some easy looks and started looking for teammates as well. He got to the paint and threw a lob that was finished nicely by Bona.
- Another up-and-down experience was Hunter Sallis’ attempts to get to his pull-ups in the midrange. He looked really comfortable when he was able to get it off — one took a really friendly bounce to fall for an and-1 in the first quarter. It wasn’t hard for the Magic to figure out where he wanted to go though, and they were able to turn that into some bad looks as well.
- Kennedy Chandler hit a couple of nice layups, but Barlow continued to be the most interesting Sixer on the floor. He was just everywhere on the glass. Four of the six rebounds he grabbed in the half were on the offensive end. The only shot he missed of the half would’ve been an impressive twisting basket over Paolo Banchero. He also made a really nice cut down the baseline and was rewarded for it by Justin Edwards. A pair of free throws from Oubre tied the game at 66 before the break.
Third Quarter
- It appeared Nick Nurse really started to pull the veterans at the half … the only thing was that there actually weren’t too many vets to pull. Aside from Maxey, it was literally just Oubre able to take the night off at halftime as Drummond ended up coming back into the game.
- Justin Edwards wasn’t the complete train wreck he has been over the fall and summer, but he didn’t quite exorcise his demons either. He picked up a few ugly fouls finishing with five on the night. He fell victim to some ugly turnovers as well, including a travel on the first play of the second half. Overall he was still better with the ball, hitting his teammates for five assists, and swiping two steals on the other end.
- Jabari Walker got involved a bit towards the end of the quarter after a quiet first half. His minutes have certainly been a casualty of Barlow’s performance. He got on the board with a three, something Nurse said pregame he’d like to see more of. He hit a couple turn around jumpers near the paint but the Sixers trailed by four as the quarter ended.
Fourth Quarter
- The personnel didn’t change much, but as the quarter started the Sixers once again couldn’t keep up with the scoring pace. On the bright side though, Johni Broome was able to avoid not one but two poster attempts. The first time he had to foul his way out of it, but the second one he did actually get his hand on the ball to deter the attempt.
- Getting up threes was a big priority for Broome in summer league, but it’s not something he’s really done at all so far through preseason. After not taking any all game, he hoisted up three in the final minutes of the game, but one of those was a grenade with the shot clock winding down. It’ll be interesting to see if that’s something he’s actually planning on adding to his game.
- The Sixers will wrap up preseason next Friday when they host the Minnesota Timberwovles. You can once again catch that one at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
