3 observations after the Sixers got smoked by the Clippers without Embiid and George originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers never flirted with the idea of snapping their first winning streak of the season on Sunday night.
Instead, they got smoked by the Clippers and fell to 3-13 with a 125-99 loss at the Wells Fargo Center.
Jared McCain scored 18 points and Tyrese Maxey had 17.
James Harden had 23 points and eight assists for the Clippers 11-7. Derrick Jones Jr. added 18 points and Ivica Zubac had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sixers were still missing Joel Embiid (left knee swelling)Paul George (left knee bone bruise) and Kyle Lowry (right hip sprain). Lowry watched from the sidelines wearing a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt and giant Eagles hat.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said before the game that Embiid and George were “progressing.” He said George was on the field Saturday and the swelling in Embiid’s knee had gone down.
The Clippers were missing Kawhi Leonard (recovering from right knee injury) and Norman Powell (left hamstring strain).
Next up for the Sixers is a matchup with the 12-6 Rockets on Wednesday. Here are observations from their loss to the Clippers:
The Sixers immediately fall into a major hole
The Sixers used the same starting lineup as their win Friday night against the Netsplaying Kelly Oubre Jr., Caleb Martin and Guerschon Yabusele with a Maxey-McCain backcourt.
They soon found themselves playing catch-up. Put-back layups by Zubac and Jones caused Nurse to take an early timeout. The Clippers racked up nine second-chance points in the first six minutes and the Sixers certainly looked undersized.
A 1-of-9 start from three-point range compounded the Sixers’ problems. Yabusele and Andre Drummond were also whistled for illegal ball screens in the first quarter.
On the other side, the Clippers had no problem picking apart the Sixers’ defense when they covered and bombarded Harden in the pick-and-roll. Harden scored a dozen points in the first quarter, including three pull-up points that increased the Clippers’ lead to 32-13.
No recall for McCain and Maxey
The Maxey-McCain duo did not pick up where they left off on Friday. Much of their production came when the game was out of reach in the second half.
McCain’s streak of games with 20 or more points ended at seven games.
At times, McCain was not in his usual way of forcing the opposition to react, hesitating and being a little too deliberate against slender defenders. He also simply missed the jump shots he used to hit. McCain fell to 1-for-8 from the field in the second quarter with a three-point attempt that went around the rim and out.
Maxey was too peripheral during a scoreless first quarter and started 1 of 5 from the floor. He played 30 minutes in his third game since returning from a right hamstring strain.
There is no shortage of trash time
The Clippers missed several long-range shots in the second quarter when the Sixers switched to zone defense. However, the Sixers failed to put together a serious run and went into halftime with a 12-point deficit.
In the first minute of the third quarter, Maxey clutched his right ankle after missing a layup and landing awkwardly. The game looked momentarily worrisome – about everything injury-related at the moment for the Sixers – but Maxey stayed in and looked fine physically.
The Clippers were vastly superior to the Sixers in all areas to start the third quarter. Two of Harden’s 12 free throws increased Los Angeles’ advantage to 20 points. A quick layup by Kris Dunn put the Clippers up by more than 30 points and some of the home crowd reacted with boos.
Maxey and McCain scored late in the third and early in the fourth quarter, but the Clippers obviously had a completely assured victory.
Adem Bona and two-way contract players Lester Quinones and Justin Edwards all played in the fourth quarter. They won at least one victory on Sunday… with the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats against the Westchester Knicks.
