Tyrese Maxey and the Sixers took care of business against the Bucks, winning 126-106 over Milwaukee to set up a play-in battle with the Orlando Magic this week. Maxey scored 21 points to lead the Sixers in scoring.
If you were expecting the Sixers to come into the final game of the season and dominate the Bucks from the opening tip onward, I suppose you haven’t been following Philadelphia all year. They have a great record against the under .500 teams around the league, but it wasn’t often they put together start-to-finish beatdowns. Even when they got off to a hot start this season, they needed crunch-time heroics more than most playoff teams across the league.
Early on, the Sixers didn’t exactly treat this like a playoff game from a competitive or strategic standpoint. Nick Nurse played 11 different guys in the first half of Sunday’s game, dusting off Jabari Walker to play backup center minutes and inserting Trendon Watford back into the rotation after a pretty lengthy spell on the bench. I can understand trying to get everybody a bit of burn in case you need them, but in a must-win scenario, it was a little surprising that a short-rotation coach suddenly decided it was time to bring in the deep reserves.
More importantly, their best player could not get going and played a relatively small role early in this one. Tyrese Maxey was 1/5 from the field at halftime and played just under 15 minutes, which was a responsible decision but one that limited his impact. I’m sure the hope was that Maxey would have an outsized impact during his time on the floor, but he continues to look like a guy who isn’t as confident as he needs to be in his shooting hand. In the closing seconds of the first half, Maxey stepped out of what looked like a good look at a three late in the shot clock, and the possession turned into a 24-second violation as Trendon Watford was passed the grenade on the ensuing drive. Maxey deferring is one thing when Joel Embiid is healthy and serving as their offensive hub in the middle of the floor, but there’s no room for him to defer this much right now.
Between the lineup shuffling and Maxey’s struggles, the Sixers kept the door open for Milwaukee, and AJ Green was happy to step through it. Milwaukee’s sharpshooter was on fire to open this game, hitting five first-half threes as the Sixers struggled to track him through and around screens. When he snapped the net on a particularly clean transition three, it made me sad all over again about Philadelphia’s dearth of perimeter shooting, as they trudged through another game with poor volume and efficiency from deep.
Mercifully, Maxey turned his own game around at halftime, in part because he started trying. Rivers opted to play a lot of single coverage on Maxey, and Maxey forced the issue in isolation, getting all the way to the rim in a way that must have made his old coach proud. 16 of his points came in the third quarter, and as Maxey began to get going, the Sixers were able to get set up in their half-court defense more often. Milwaukee’s lack of shot creation finally caught up to them, with Philadelphia playing a lot of pressure defense on the likes of Cormac Ryan, Green, and Ousmane Dieng. When they weren’t able to create turnovers, the Sixers pushed the Bucks deeper into the shot clock, turning the first half’s open threes into contested jumpers and late-clock attempts at the rim.
Once their leader had it going, life got much easier for everybody else. Quentin Grimes offered a big lift off the bench, Kelly Oubre was able to put together a few steal-and-score moments, and most eyes in Philadelphia were able to turn to the Raptors and Magic games, with the Sixers in cruise control from about the midpoint of the third onward.
Philadelphia’s efforts weren’t ultimately worth a ton with the Raptors cruising to victory against the Brooklyn Nets, locking the 76ers into a play-in battle with the Orlando Magic. But it was a nice close to the regular season, powered by one of the best third-quarter efforts of the year.
I have been one of the most vocal Andre Drummond critics all season, but I think he is going to have to start in Philadelphia’s play-in game(s) this week, because Adem Bona is just completely off the pace right now. It has been a brutal close to the season for a young big man who looked like he was turning the corner, and I’m not sure how you can trot him out with the starters when he’s playing this poorly.
It was pretty telling that Nurse ultimately turned to Drummond to start the second half, and the vet center had earned it with his consistent presence on the glass against a small Bucks frontline. Drummond offered far more versatility in this game, too, knocking down a pair of corner threes and offering fairly competent defense all the way out on the perimeter. He was part of what slowed down Milwaukee’s offense in the second half, and if he is bought in and moving the way he was on Sunday, there’s almost no argument for Bona to get the important minutes over him this week.
I suspect Bona’s poor play to start this game is also part of why Jabari Walker got a look at small-ball five against Milwaukee, because the Sixers need to be prepared to throw just about any look out there to sneak into the playoffs. It would be a pretty shocking turn for Bona to go from starting option to out of the rotation in the postseason, but on run of form, it’s hard to argue he deserves much benefit of the doubt.
Justin Edwards hasn’t been able to sustain the level of play he offered as a starter during Philly’s undermanned stretch in March, but he had an excellent night against the Bucks to end the season, knocking down five threes on all spot-up looks from the wings.
Based on how Nurse has subbed it recently, Edwards appears to be a clear top nine guy in the rotation right now, right on the edge of the rotation depending on how many guys the head coach wants to play. It has all come down to his shot — when Edwards is rolling as he was against Milwaukee, Nurse has been willing to play him 20+ minutes and live with any defensive challenges Edwards’ lapses pose on that end. But when Edwards has been cold to start games, it’s a one-and-done stint, and Edwards ends up sitting on the sidelines with Kyle Lowry and Co.
If the Sixers want to hold onto a dream of winning multiple playoff rounds, Edwards’ ability to heat up in a bench role could end up being critical. If nothing else, this game sends him into the postseason with wind in his sails.
— Allow this to serve as one of the many tributes to Matt Cord, who is leaving his post as the Sixers’ PA man at the end of this season. I have been listening to him at Sixers games since I was getting into basketball as a kid, and have had the pleasure of being a colleague as I’ve navigated the jump into media and covering the game as a professional. He’s the best of the best as a guy and in his role, and whoever takes his job next season has big shoes to fill.
— The Sixers have no excuse to lose to the Orlando Magic in the play-in. That team can’t score with regularity and is on a collision course with a coaching change and eventual trade of one of their main players. Take care of business, and then we’ll see if they can pull off a minor miracle against the Celtics.
— 11 assists for VJ Edgecombe, who continues to add momentum to the “Edgecombe at point” bandwagon. There are dozens of us, I swear.