If they can just figure out the whole third quarter thing this team might be really cooking with gas.
The Sixers pulled off another fourth-quarter comeback to narrowly knock off the Charlotte Hornets 125-121
in their home opener Saturday night.
Playing just 20 minutes again, ending his night early in the third, Joel Embiid went for 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting along with two rebounds and four assists. Tyrese Maxey had a blazing first quarter but cooled off, finishing with a game-high 28 points, going 7-of-20 from the field. Quentin Grimes started hot as well, but only made one field goal in the second half — but it was one to retake the lead with 13.9 seconds remaining. He finished with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
It wasn’t as historic but VJ Edgecombe put up 15 points, six boards and eight assists, shooting 6-of-15 from the floor. LaMelo Ball led the Hornets with 27 points.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- After last season, it was just really cool to feel juice in the building again. The crowd came to a big roar the first time Edgecombe touched the ball and erupted again when he stole a pass a few moments later. The only time the building really got loud last year was during the ejection fiasco of Embiid and Andre Drummond against the San Antonio Spurs.
- A hot offensive start helped the crowd keep that energy as well. Every starter but Dominick Barlow knocked down a three in the opening minutes. Embiid looked more aggressive in how he was attacking offensively to start. While he didn’t get anything to fall on his drives, he made his first two from behind the arc and got himself a couple trips to the free throw line.
- Somehow that was quickly overshadowed by the heater Maxey started the game on, making four of his first five three-pointers. The offense did a good job of making sure they were quality looks as the majority of those threes came off the catch, but once he was in a groove he was happy to cook defenders off the dribble. He played a really balanced quarter as he dished out four assists as well.
- The Hornets’ offense was having nearly as easy a time scoring to start the game as the Sixers — a quick 10 points from Ball helped. They cooled off slightly more though as they finished the quarter under 50% from the field. They also turned the ball over four more times in the quarter which helped the Sixers get out to a seven-point lead.
Second Quarter
- Embiid’s line on opening night would have looked a lot better if a couple of open threes had just fallen for him, but it wasn’t just shot variance that made his start encouraging. He just seemed a lot more decisive and confident in where he wanted to move his body. There’s probably going to be one of these every time he plays a game, but he had a scary looking fall wrestling for a jump ball, but he didn’t leave the game or anything and still won the jump ball.
- The Sixers were able to momentarily push their lead into double digits, but Charlotte responded by stringing some possessions together to crawl right back. The Sixers were using transition to control the game early but they weren’t able to do so as the second wore on. Their half court offense struggled with Maxey and Embiid both on the bench, even after a hot start from Grimes. The only four points they scored over a five-minute stretch was a couple of floaters from Edgecombe, both in transition.
- The offense did not quite get out of the rut as they scored only 11 points over the final eight minutes of the half. For Charlotte, Brandon Miller left the game early in the quarter and was ruled out for the night, but rookie Sion James took advantage of the extra opportunity, putting up a 10-point quarter to keep the Hornets hanging around. A couple jumpers from Grimes’ allowed the Sixers to squeak into the half with a three-point lead.
Third Quarter
- The Sixers had to adjust to an injury as well as Barlow was ruled out at halftime with a right elbow laceration. It’s unclear exactly what play that happened on but that’s an easy thing to happen to a guy constantly scrapping on the glass. Jabari Walker started the second half in his place.
- The second half did start a lot like the first one ended though, and that was with a lot of ugly offense from the Sixers. Whether it was Embiid post ups or just dribble penetration, they were just having a tough time holding on to the ball in the paint. They were lucky to have only turned it over twice in the opening minutes of the half, both by Walker. It’s also worth noting that Embiid had already reached 20 minutes played early the third quarter. Nick Nurse said pregame the minutes restriction would be similar to opening night in Boston, but he quickly passed that number.
- Embiid was able to stop some of that momentum briefly with a couple of baskets, but that didn’t last long as he shortly checked out of the game. The Sixers weren’t able to stop Charlotte’s perimeter players from getting into the paint all night, and they couldn’t stop the Hornets’ bigs from cleaning up once Embiid hit the bench.
- Nurse went deeper into his bench as the quarter wore on, trying out Drummond and Justin Edwards for the first time, but it did little to stop the Sixers from snowballing. They continued to have no answers defensively as the Hornets continued to get into the paint at will. The easy offense the Sixers had early had evaporated. The turnover margin flipped as well — the Sixers ended the quarter with two more giveaways, limiting transition opportunities. A three from Grimes was too long as the buzzer expired, allowing the Hornets to take a 10-point lead into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- Those adjustments made by Nurse did start paying dividends as Edwards made three of his first three pointers upon checking in. Drummond provided a couple nice plays as well, including a big offensive rebound off a Maxey missed free throw for an and-1 of his own. In a somewhat comedic way, Drummond missed his free throw as well and was rebounded by Edgecombe but they couldn’t convert on that extra chance.
- After that flurry the Sixers offense stalled out again which allowed the Hornets to expand their lead again and keep the Sixers at arms’ length. Philly’s offense didn’t seem to have much of a plan outside of hoping one of their perimeter players got hot. That was a problem as Maxey and Grimes had considerably cooled off from their first half pace.
- While it seemed like his night wasn’t necessarily over at the time, Embiid did not come back into the game after reaching that 20-minute number early in the third. It was an easy decision opening night in Boston because the Sixers had a better chance of winning without him on the floor, but that was definitely not the case in this one, so it’s interesting that they didn’t really plan for needing him down the stretch.
- For the second straight game though, the Sixers showed a lot of fight when they were trailing late in the game. They finally cobbled together some solid defensive possessions to force some misses— Drummond did a good job of making sure the Hornets didn’t get second chance opportunities as well— and they cut the lead to one with two and a half minutes remaining.
- For as much as he cooled off in the second half, the Sixers gave the ball Maxey just about every time down the floor in the guts of the game and he delivered. With the game tied up late Charlotte doubled Maxey to force a pass, and he dished to an open Grimes who finally came through in the second half and the Sixers would not look back.
