LeBron James had a turn-back-the-clock game in what could be his final visit to Philadelphia, scoring 29 points to lead the Lakers to a 112-108 win over the Sixers. Joel Embiid was 4/21 from the field in a shockingly bad shooting night for the big man, playing a big role in the 76ers’ defeat.
Here’s what I saw.
The Joel Embiid problem
You can look at Joel Embiid’s performance several different ways. Most of them are bad. Should I be alarmed that his touch was nonexistent anywhere but the free-throw line? Heartened that he sold out for multiple rim protection moments, including a block of LeBron James late in the first half? Perplexed that he was still the featured guy down the stretch?
In the box score, he didn’t appear to be any more useful as a rebounder, but I thought this was a more encouraging game for him on the glass. He went up and attacked the ball in the air instead of remaining with feet planted on the ground every possession, and if he wasn’t in hot pursuit, Embiid nearly always got a body on a Lakers player and boxed out, giving the guards and forwards better opportunities to end possessions. It’s the sort of fundamental work that has lacked in the past, and I thought it made a big difference.
One of the more interesting subplots with Embiid is that teams continue to send two at him and overhelp as a result of his reputation, and I don’t really see a case to do so anymore. He hasn’t been able to beat single coverage consistently for the last year, but as teams continue to send double and shade coverage toward him, he has done a good job of playing the decoy role. In a stretch without Maxey to open the second quarter, Embiid was the ball screener on several nice VJ Edgecombe moves to the hoop, and he executed an excellent DHO fake to spring Jared McCain for a left wing three, and Philadelphia won the minutes with Maxey seated for what felt like the first time all year.
That said, a 2/11 half is a 2/11 half, and it didn’t get better after the break. Shooting touch should be the least of Embiid’s concerns, as that’s not something that should just leave him because his knees are failing the rest of his body, but he was all over the place with his jumper. Pushing shots left and right, forcing attempts up through anticipated contact that never came, he was missing jumpers every which way one could. Embiid also struggled with effectiveness around the rim, too, unable to generate enough leverage to score in tight spaces. The Lakers went on the inevitable third-quarter run that comes every night against the Sixers, and Embiid’s inability to buy a bucket helped extend what could have been a pedestrian run in the opening minutes.
They keep involving him as a hub of the offense, even as evidence grows that he’s better off as more of a connector. Watching him smoke DeAndre Ayton and then, well, smoke the layup in a pivotal moment of the fourth quarter was tough to take. And a big jumper from Embiid late in the fourth empowered him to eat up another critical possession, one where he clanged it off the rim after shaking Austin Reaves in the post. Just not good enough.
The backcourt of the future
As Tyrese Maxey adds more and more big games to his scorecard, it has been heartening to watch the Sixers get more deliberate about their actions for him. On the first possession of the game, the Sixers ran a slow-developing play, running Maxey through screens along the baseline before he flashed from the right wing, rising into a three to open his account for the evening. A bit of early scripted offense that would make an NFL coach proud.
You know how it goes from there: Maxey gets hot to start the game and stays hot the rest of the first half. The scoring arsenal is something to behold at this point. Against the Lakers, he scored 15 first-half points on a combination of deep pull-up shooting, scoop layups at the rim, blurry moments in transition, and even an outrageous runner along the baseline.
Credit to the Lakers for making his life difficult in the second half. They opened the third in zone look after zone look, baiting the Sixers into playing side-to-side offense for most of the second half. When they could, they threw two at him on-ball, and unlike Luka Doncic, Maxey has neither the height nor the passing bag to consistently find his open shooter deep in the opposite corner. He still managed to score 13 more points in the second half, including a huge three to extend the game with under 10 seconds left, but he needed more touches, more shots, more everything (except for late-game turnovers) if Philly wanted a chance to win.
(Loved his effort and productivity as a help defender, though. He made some awesome reads to blindside Lakers players in the second half, including on a LeBron James turnover where the King never saw Maxey coming. The pupil has learned a lot from the master.)
Helping him out with the scoring load was rookie VJ Edgecombe. Even as he was missing some midrange jumpers in the middle portion of the game, it felt like he did a much better job getting to his spots, attacking bigger or slower matchups on the perimeter with urgency. I adore Adou Theiro, the Lakers’ second-round pick and defensive wall, but Edgecombe punished the wing-sized defender several times in first-half matchups, and I thought he was unfortunate not to get a foul call or two around the basket. High atop the list of things I want to see VJ Edgecombe work on is initiating contact as a driver, rather than letting defenses shield him away from the basket and force him into difficult floaters. As he gets stronger, he will iron out some of the finishing issues.
Edgecombe’s shooting also continues to be way ahead of schedule, and I was a believer in the shot despite an up-and-down year from beyond at Baylor. He hit his first triple of the night off movement, a very positive developmental sign, and another big one in the second half to keep the Sixers within striking distance as the Lakers attempted to pull away. Far from perfect out of him, but a rock-solid game in his first big-minute evening in a while.
His main problem? Being too small to guard Luka Doncic. He’s not the only guy, but Doncic picked on him on probably four or five possessions in the mid-post, ultimately forcing the Sixers to use Quentin Grimes and others to try to slow the MVP candidate down.
Confusing lineup decisions
We tend to write a coach-agnostic recap around here — I am more worried about the macro than the micro from coaches in the regular season — but I was pretty baffled by one specific Nick Nurse decision in this game. Here’s how the third quarter played out:
- The Lakers sat in a zone for most of the third quarter
- The Sixers struggled to make any shots for most of the third quarter
- Jared McCain remained on the bench
All three of those things should not be true at the same time. McCain is one of the clearest zone busters you have on the roster, some shooting ups and downs this season aside. Worse yet, McCain had a good first half, knocking down two of his four threes, including a pull-up three as the lead ballhandler that brought back visions of last season. So there wasn’t an in-game argument to keep him on the bench as the lead dwindled to nothing, even if Nurse views him as lower in the pecking order for the duration of the season.
Other notes
— I had a good laugh from my seat on the baseline when VJ Edgecombe got caught reaching in against Luka Doncic, grinning at getting caught by a master, only to get a firm smack on the behind from Doncic as he smiled at the rookie on his way by. A teaching moment for the rookie, who knew he’d been had the second the whistle blew.
While we’re on the subject, man, Luka is an absolute baller. The Sixers threw every posible matchup at him and he broke them all down.
— Has Tyrese Maxey ever been madder than he acted after the missed call around the three-minute mark of the first quarter? Austin Reaves made a clear attempt to deliberately foul Maxey after the faster guard went by him, but the officials let it go before Jaxson Hayes rose to swat the ensuing layup attempt.
Maxey made a beeline to the official on the baseline and gesticulated wildly while giving the ref an earful, to the point that it looked like he might make contact on his initial swing. He picked up a tech for his troubles and thankfully avoided a larger incident — can you imagine if something worse had happened and the Sixers had to play without Maxey for any period of time? I shudder at the thought.
— I can’t tell you if this will be LeBron James’ last time stopping through Philly, but the usually boisterous Lakers fans in Philly put just a little bit extra into their cheers and screams for the gray-bearded legend on Sunday night. Can’t lie, it was cool to watch him turn back the clock and throw a signature one-handed dunk down from a seat 20 feet away, 2 hours before a shotmaking clinic from the future Hall of Famer put this one away. What an incredible player and career.
