Instant Observations: Shorthanded 76ers Get Demolished in Opening Night Contest to Bucks

The Philadelphia 76ers dropped their season opener to the Milwaukee Bucks 124-109 on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers were without Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) and Paul George (left knee bone bruise). Tyrese Maxey finished with 25 points on 10-of-31 shooting to go with six rebounds and three assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting. Philadelphia shot the ball poorly, making just 25.8% of their shots from 3-point range.

Khris Middleton (bilateral ankle surgery) was the lone player out of the lineup for the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 25 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Damian Lillard totaled 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Brook Lopez finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists and six blocks.

The Sixers next take on the Toronto Raptors on Friday evening. Here are some instant observations from the loss to the Bucks:

Likes:

– The Sixers looked like a vastly different team in the opening minutes from prior seasons. The shots were not falling, but they were making up for it through scrappiness and hustle on the offensive glass. Andre Drummond’s presence on the glass was immediately felt, grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds and helping to create extra possessions for a laboring Sixers offense. In addition to Drummond, multiple Sixers wing players skied in to grab an offensive rebound or two. The Sixers grabbed six offensive rebounds in the first quarter alone. It was their effort creating second-chance opportunities that resulted in them taking a one-point lead into the second quarter despite shooting just 34.5% from the field.

– One of the Sixers’ biggest positives from the preseason was Guerschon Yabusele’s strong play. The French native largely impressed in his first NBA game action since the 2018-19 season. His first bucket in a Sixers uniform came on an open 3-pointer from the corner.

YABUS3LE! pic.twitter.com/YxIoN3fAm4

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 24, 2024

Yabusele played with a ton of energy, always moving while away from the basketball and making quick decisions when the ball was in his hands. He did a bit of everything on both ends of the floor, whether it was fighting for rebounds on the glass or using his active hands to create Milwaukee turnovers. The 28-year old finished with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 26 minutes off the bench.

While Yabusele impressed overall, not everything was sunshine and rainbows. His lack of size (6-foot-8) is glaring defensively, particularly against a bigger team like the Bucks. He provides very little opposition at the rim. Relying on Yabusele to play a lot of minutes at center is not a recipe for success. The Sixers’ overall lack of size when Embiid is out of the lineup is likely going to be a recurring issue throughout this season. Yabusele has the tools to be a useful rotation player, but he needs to spend most of his time as a power forward.

– Head coach Nick Nurse, speaking to reporters before the game, said Caleb Martin is one of their top five players but will not be in the starting lineup. He emphasized Martin will play starter’s minutes regardless of whether or not he is actually in the team’s starting lineup. That proved to be the case against the Bucks, with Martin totaling a gaudy 37 minutes of action. He did his best to serve as the Sixers’ glue guy, doing a bit of everything. Martin crashed the glass hard and played active defense. Other than being outmatched on a few possessions when he was tasked with defending Antetokounmpo, Martin had a solid Sixers debut. He finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

– Kyle Lowry, playing in his 19th season in the NBA, continues to show up and produce. He was one of the only Sixers players who shot the ball efficiently from beyond the arc. The 38-year old totaled 13 points, four rebounds and six assists in 24 minutes. Lowry is going to continue to have a significant role off the bench for the Sixers as long as he provides good decision making and pesky defense.

Dislikes:

– Before getting to the game at hand, there has been a lot of discussion over the past few days about Embiid’s health. The Sixers on Tuesday released an update on Embiid’s status, stating the big fella will not play this week and is progressing well in his ramp-up to game activity. Nurse said to reporters, via Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports, Embiid did not suffer a setback this offseason. ESPN’s Shams Charania on Wednesday afternoon reported the NBA is “set to begin an investigation later this week into whether the Sixers are in violation of player participation policy surrounding Embiid.”

There is an obvious misconnect between Embiid missing the first week of action despite not having any setbacks this offseason. The Sixers’ consistent message has been this is all part of their load management plan to keep him healthy throughout the regular season. If Embiid is not hurt and did not have a setback, then why is he unavailable for the first week of the regular season? Everything is not adding up on this front. Load managing Embiid is the correct decision. However, the murkiness surrounding his health going into the season is understandably frustrating for Sixers fans who have dealt with this on a near yearly basis.

– Maxey had a terribly inefficient night against the Bucks. He could not get his jumper to fall, and the Bucks (specifically Lopez) did an excellent job trapping and walling him off on drives to the basket. Receiving an unfriendly whistle on multiple shots at the rim did not help. There will be nights where the shots fall for Maxey, but the Sixers are going to be in choppy waters more often than not when both Embiid and George are out of the lineup.

One of the lone bright spots from Maxey’s inefficient performance was his ability to score from the mid-range area. The Bucks’ largely successful attempts at defending his drives to the rim resulted in some tough mid-range shots from the 23-year old. He used a combination of strength, touch and footwork to score multiple buckets from around the free-throw line.

call this the rubber duck bc it floats. 🐥 pic.twitter.com/mRfaKGT04D

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 24, 2024

An improved mid-range game will make Maxey all the more difficult to defend moving forward.

– The Sixers had no answer for defending against Antetokounmpo. KJ Martin and Oubre both picked up two quick fouls attempting to defend Antetokounmpo. Caleb Martin also got some run defending the All-NBA forward, failing to prevent him from getting into the paint at ease. With George and Embiid out of the lineup, the Sixers simply did not have the size to effectively match up against Antetokounmpo.

Their defensive issues were not contained to just an inability to defend against Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee shot just 1 of 7 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter. It was a completely different story for the remainder of the game. The Bucks effectively spread the floor, shooting 15 of 30 from deep in the final three quarters of action. While the Bucks got hot from 3-point range, Philadelphia also committed far too many defensive lapses, reckless closeouts and missed rotations.