Jan 31, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) shoots the ball against Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr (1) in the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
A late-game takeover by Nikola Jokic silenced the Sixers despite a magnificent night from Tyrese Maxey.
Here's what I saw.
- Justin Edwards at center to end the first quarter. Extended ball pressure into the back court. Nick Nurse was feeling frisky on Friday night. Why not? Let's get wild.
- When Maxey went to the bench to start the second quarter, the hopes of any offensive juice lied squarely on Kelly Oubre Jr.'s shoulders. He answered the bell magnificently. His unwillingness to look up when pushing the pace and pass to teammates remains infuriating. But, I can't offer anything other than applause for his second quarter. Head down, attacking the rim all quarter. On almost every catch, his mind was on how to find a path to the rim. He was relentlessly aggressive, refusing to pick up his dribble until he got to the rim and then staying patient to find an angle to get the ball in the hoop. He scored at will inside, serving as Philadelphia's 1A, 1B and 2A while Maxey recharged.
- Nurse has talked about bad offense being the genesis of Philadelphia's defensive transition woes. There's truth to that, even though the film shows problems that go beyond clunky offense. While the Sixers certainly didn't solve many of their defensive issues from a week ago in Denver during the first half, they had a far improved plan on offense. So, this time it was the halfcourt defense that was bad!
Jokes aside, they did an excellent job of attacking Jokic whenever he was on the court. They knew they could not stop his brilliance on offense, so they decided to take advantage of his lack of give-a-shit on defense. The plan was simple, just as Nurse likes it. Move the ball, attack. But, they made sure Jokic was in the action.
The Sixers sensed he had zero desire to guard on defense. So, they targeted him in space over and over again. It wasn't just Maxey taking aim at the big man. There were possessions that ended in great shots and started with Eric Gordon and Guerschon Yabusele running two-man game for pick-and-pops. Because Jokic was so disinterested, Denver had to sprint out to contest flat-footed, giving Yabusele a closeout to attack. If the path to the rim wasn't there, not to worry, a swing pass was all that was needed to get Denver into rotation.
The root cause of all of it was Philadelphia making sure to attack the weak link.
- Reggie Jackson is up for the Tobias Harris award for over-dribbling. I don't know if that guy thinks this is an And1 mixtape or what, but every time he touches the ball, the possession slows to a painful halt.
- Yabusele had 18 points in the first half and was effectively taking practice shots from beyond the arc, he was so open. I can't even say that he cooked Jokic from deep because the MVP basically said "You got it, pal". But, everything else Yabusele did involved going right at Jokic. Perhaps the new rivalry is Yabusele and Jokic, not Embiid and Jokic, because Yabusele absolutely devoured the guy.
- I laughed out loud when Maxey sprinted over the mid-court line on the last possession of the third quarter and immediately looked over at the referee who called him for an eight-second violation in the second quarter. It's the little things that keep this beat writer going on cold nights in January.
The Sixers (19-28) will host the Boston Celtics (33-15) on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m., Eastern time. You can watch the game on ESPN.
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