Instant Observations: 76ers Drop Close Game to Lillard, Bucks in Season Opener

The Philadelphia 76ers took it down to the final minutes before ultimately dropping their regular season opener to the Milwaukee Bucks, 118-117, on Thursday night at Fiserv Forum.

Tyrese Maxey led the way for the Sixers, scoring 31 points and dishing out eight assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. put together a dominant performance off the bench, finishing with 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Joel Embiid finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists. James Harden was the lone player out of the lineup for the Sixers as he continues to ramp up his conditioning for game action.

Damian Lillard scored 39 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his debut with the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

The Sixers next take on the Toronto Raptors in a road matchup on Saturday. Here are some instant observations from their hard-fought loss in the season opener.

– The Bucks’ pairing of Antetokounmpo and Lillard is going to be nearly impossible to defend. The Sixers experienced that in the season opener. Philadelphia showed clear signs of rust defensively, over committing on jump shooters and having multiple miscommunications defending the pick-and-roll. Defending the pick-and-roll was a problem for them all night long. Lillard dissected them, whether through pull-up 3-pointers or drives to the basket. Their struggles defending the pick-and-roll combined with giving up multiple wide open 3-pointers due to miscommunication proved incredibly costly.

However, for as bad as their defense was against Lillard, they were successful in slowing down Antetokounmpo. P.J. Tucker did a lot of the dirty work in this area, battling with Antetokounmpo throughout the night. The Sixers for much of the night effectively prevented Antetokounmpo from getting downhill momentum towards the basket. Their efforts resulted in seven turnovers from Antetokounmpo.

The Sixers managed to battle and stay in the game for much of the night. However, the Antetokounmpo-Lillard duo eventually wore down the Sixers’ defense. The combination of one too many defensive miscommunications and a few massive shots by the aforementioned Bucks’ duo were too much to overcome. The Sixers’ defense will likely improve throughout the season as they get more comfortable playing in Nurse’s system.

– One of the main changes new head coach Nick Nurse’s system is bringing to the Sixers is a focus on increased ball movement. The offense last season was far too stagnant and relied too much on playing isolation basketball. Embiid would often get the ball in the post and the rest of the offense stood and watched. That is changing under Nurse’s scheme. The offense still ran a lot through Embiid, although there was noticeably more off-ball movement around him. Embiid mostly made the correct read as a passer early on. However, he struggled against double teams once he put the ball down on the floor. Those struggles primarily contributed to the seven turnovers he committed against the Bucks. Improving in that area is necessity for him throughout this season.

Despite Embiid’s solid passing, he struggled to get into any sort of a rhythm offensively. He uncharacteristically struggled from the free-throw line, missing five of his eight attempts. Playing in just one preseason game did not benefit Embiid, likely contributing to his slow start in the first half. He briefly heated up coming out of halftime, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. However, he was clearly fatigued and struggled mightily in the fourth quarter. At one point, he attempted a lazy touch pass that led to a turnover and easy points for the Bucks. In the fourth quarter, he was ice cold until knocking down a pair of buckets in the final few minutes. Embiid’s poor offensive performance can mostly be chalked up to rust from not playing in much preseason action.

– There is one positive thing coming from all of the uncertainty surrounding the Harden situation. Maxey’s role is increasing, both as a scorer and facilitator. He gradually looked more comfortable running the offense as the game wore on, although the offense did look a bit disjointed at times. The main way Maxey put his imprint on this game was as a scorer. He had a lot of success using his speed to attack in transition and get to the paint at will. His combination of speed and outside shooting tormented the Bucks’ perimeter defenders. The Achilles’ heel of the Bucks is their perimeter defense. For as good as Lillard is offensively, he can easily be exploited on the other end of the floor.

Maxey’s development as a scorer each season has been incredible to watch. His outside shooting was not falling against Milwaukee, and yet at times he still was able to score at will. The 22-year old consistently penetrated into the paint, leading to either crafty layups or drawing a foul. He has developed to the point of being a legitimate second scoring option to pair with Embiid.

– The Sixers in recent season have lacked someone who can provide a strong scoring punch off the bench. Those days appear to be in the rearview mirror. Oubre, one of the team’s free agent acquisitions this past offseason, immediately impacted the game after coming off the bench midway through the first quarter. His first few touches resulted in an aggressive drive and finish around the basket and a knockdown corner 3-pointer. The Sixers would have been lost in the opening quarter without Oubre’s 10 points on perfect 3-of-3 shooting.

Oubre’s hot shooting continued throughout the night, providing a consistent spark off the bench. His 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter capped off one of the team’s better sequences of the night.

😘😘😘 https://t.co/wO6MUZaKrU pic.twitter.com/yqSnWQHEJa

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 27, 2023

Nurse rewarded Oubre’s hot performance by giving him minutes over Tucker in crunch time. Oubre is not going to consistently play at this high of a level. However, his potential to provide this level of scoring on any given night makes him a highly valuable player off the bench. The Sixers seem to have struck gold when they signed Oubre for the minimum late in the offseason.

– Tobias Harris quietly had a strong night, finishing with 20 points and seven rebounds. He attacked mismatches in the mid-post and was highly efficient as a shooter, going 8-of-9 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. While he could have looked for his own shot more often, the overall result was still exactly what the Sixers were looking for.

– The Sixers need to give Jaden Springer a bigger role in the rotation. After having a strong preseason performance, Springer showed why he is deserving of consistent minutes. Upon coming into the game, he immediately got his hand on a Milwaukee 3-pointer. A few minutes later, he read the floor like an NFL defensive back, rising up and blocking Lillard on an alley-oop attempt.

JADEN. SPRINGER. pic.twitter.com/MixRkFL7EI

— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) October 27, 2023

Springer recorded two blocks in just five minutes of action. Nurse needs to give Springer more time on the court. Danny Green played 14 unproductive minutes, many of which should instead be going to Springer.