The Sixers got off to a rocky start in Orlando.
After four months of effervescent optimism from the fanbase, the Sixers returned to midseason form in all the worst ways Saturday night. The Indiana Pacers clinched the tiebreaker in the hunt for the No. 5 seed with a 127-121 victory, spurred by T.J. Warren’s career-high 53 points.
The Sixers had an overwhelming size advantage and a mostly healthy roster, whereas Indiana was short two starters in Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon. Joel Embiid contributed a superstar-caliber stat line, dropping 41 points and 21 rebounds. It mattered not. Philadelphia struggled to find rhythm all night, and the Pacers’ six-point victory, frankly, felt closer than the Sixers deserved it to be.
This was a stark departure from the scrimmages, in which Philadelphia’s starters hummed along just fine. Shake Milton was non-existent for various reasons, the defense crumbled in important moments, and the offense couldn’t get over the hump late.
As for Warren, there’s only so far you can go to blame the defense when someone drops 53. He was hot, and he wasn’t going to go quietly into the night. But the Sixers certainly didn’t defend him well. Not consistently enough, at least.
Here are some takeaways from a brutal return to reality for the Sixers.
3. Shake Milton… yikes
After a solid, if not great, scrimmage slate, Saturday marked Shake Milton’s first official run as the Sixers’ starting point guard. The results were not what you would call ideal. In fact, Milton was easily the worst Sixer on the floor when he was on the floor, which wasn’t very often.
Milton botched a couple possessions in the first quarter, including one turnover where the ball was stolen while he was arguing with Joel Embiid in the backcourt. He then proceeded to pick up an offensive foul the next possession, not earning any brownie points.
On his way to the bench at the end of the first quarter, Milton exchanged words with Embiid, with whom he was clearly upset (and vice versa). Milton was held back by Matisse Thybulle, among others. Embiid, not looking at him, muttered the phrase, “I’ma slap the s— out of you.” Not! Great!
After the game, Brett Brown said sometimes families fight, a nice, very Brett Brown-ish way of putting it. And it’s true. Families do indeed fight, and there’s no reason to expect long-term chemistry issues stemming from this incident. It’s heat-of-the-moment stuff. Still, it was not a great start to Milton’s tenure as starting point guard.
Raul Neto started the second quarter at point guard and ended up outplaying Milton, who registered an inopportune five fouls and was unable to stay on the floor for extended stretches because of it. Neto was unspectacular, but he filled the void and it’s clear Milton will need to earn his minutes.
The final stat line for Milton was 0 points, one rebound, three assists, and five fouls in 19 minutes. He only attempted one shot and missed it. He needs to be better, and his composure will need to improve down the stretch.
2. Joel Embiid, superstar
If there’s one person you can’t fault in this loss, it’s Joel Embiid, who was at his absolute best after playing just 12 minutes across three scrimmages in Orlando. Embiid looked perfectly up to speed, abusing the Pacers’ undersized and understaffed frontcourt. He scored 41 points, grabbed 21 rebounds, and blocked four shots for good measure.
The most impressive of those blocks was this gem…
👋 @JoelEmbiid pic.twitter.com/6VqboszOwI
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) August 1, 2020
If there’s a broader positive to take away here, it’s that Philadelphia won’t lose many games in which Embiid scores 41. The Pacers were an atypically favorable matchup, but Embiid is a top-10 player when he’s sharp. He was sharp in this one.
Embiid can bully his way to the rim against most teams, and he did a fairly good job of handling double teams in this game. He could stand to pass it more often, but the Sixers will take four turnovers juxtaposed to 41 points any day of the week.
On the night, Embiid registered a +21. He was of only two Sixers (Neto, +14) to register a positive plus-minus. The Sixers still collapse whenever Embiid sits. That’s a problem, especially when Horford is paid $109 million to back him up at this point.
Alas, this was a stellar Embiid performance. He is truly the one good thing about this game from Philadelphia’s perspective.
1. Sloppy, sloppy, and more sloppy
The Sixers committed 21 turnovers, looked out of sync defensively, and never established a rhythm in the halfcourt. After going up 10-2 to start the game, most of everything else was downhill or some variation of it. Embiid kept Philadelphia alive, and the Sixers even led for stretches of the third and fourth quarters. But at no point did the Sixers feel “in control.” It was chaotic in the most Sixers way.
There are multiple players worthy of blame. Simmons committed four turnovers to only four assists. Milton, Josh Richardson, and Alec Burks all struggled as ball-handlers. Neto was the only passable lead guard. I’m sitting on a hot take, and I’ll give it a few games to breathe, but let’s just say I’m on the Neto train. Again?
Philadelphia struggled to properly space the floor for Embiid, and entry passes were a big sticking point for anyone who watched the game. For such a basic, essential basketball skill, the Sixers’ inability to consistently get the ball to Embiid or Simmons in the post would suggest incompetence. Some bad, bad passes were made.
Milton looked lost at point guard (see: slide one), Simmons was unusually flustered, and the offense outside Embiid stalled time and time again. Tobias Harris mustered 30 points, but even he faded in and out of the game.
On defense, the Sixers never figured out how to properly defend T.J. Warren despite his hot hand. He ended the game with 53 points on 9-for-12 shooting from deep. He even hit the dagger in the final moments — a 3-pointer the Sixers afforded him far too much space on.
Beyond Warren, the Pacers were able to blitz the Sixers’ discombobulated offense and take advantage of their quickness. If the Sixers weren’t able to get it to Embiid with a size advantage inside, the advantage belonged to Indiana.
The Sixers need to get it together. Quick.