3 observations after Sixers suffer 5th loss in 6 games, fall to Bucks on Super Bowl Sunday originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Super Bowl Sunday started with a defeat in Philadelphia sports.
Ahead of the Eagles’ matchup with the Chiefs, the Sixers fell to a 135-127 loss to the Bucks at Fiserv Forum.
After their fifth loss in the past six games, the Sixers sit at 20-32. Milwaukee moved to 28-23.
Tyrese Maxey posted 39 points and five assists. Joel Embiid recorded 27 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
Damian Lillard led Milwaukee with 43 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
The Sixers’ only player out was Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery). Milwaukee was down superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo (left calf strain) and Pat Connaughton (left calf strain).
The Sixers will come home and face the Raptors on Tuesday night. Here are observations on their loss Sunday:
Fantastic start for Embiid-Maxey pair
Embiid made more field goals in the first two minutes then he had in the entire first half of the Sixers’ blowout loss Friday to the Pistons. He swished his first three field goals, hitting two mid-range shots and a top-of-the-key three-pointer.
Embiid added two more triples in a 15-point, sweet-shooting first quarter. A Maxey jumper gave the Sixers a 27-20 lead.
The Embiid-Maxey duo posted 30 of the Sixers’ first 32 points. The two totaled 50 first-half points.
Individually, Maxey lit up Milwaukee for 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting in the first quarter. Strong early work by the Sixers’ best players in a game where their team sorely needed a much-improved start.
Paul George, sporting a bit of a black eye after taking an elbow to the cheek area in Detroit, didn’t take a shot until the 2:36 mark of the first quarter. He posted just two points in the first quarter, though he did chip in four assists and two steals.
Down day for Sixers’ supporting cast
The Sixers’ defense did not have an exemplary first quarter.
Quentin Grimes allowed an and-one layup to Lillard and fouled Gary Trent Jr. on a three-point attempt. Kyle Kuzma’s buzzer-beating layup off a baseline out-of-bounds play put the Bucks at 40 first-quarter points.
The Sixers mixed up their defenses, sprinkling in some zone and using different players and varied pick-and-roll coverages on Lillard. Nothing was effective for long.
Jared Butler (seven points in 11 minutes) debuted at the start of the second quarter, playing next to Kyle Lowry and Grimes. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse used a 10-man rotation and Guerschon Yabusele’s minutes were a little lower than his norm at 25. He scored all 18 of his points in the second half.
In part because of those minutes with smaller lineups, the Sixers again struggled on the glass. Milwaukee had a 31-10 edge on second-chance points in the game.
The Bucks were also decisively superior in bench scoring, tallying 54 second-unit points to the Sixers’ 35.
Bucks shoot Sixers out of the game
After two Bobby Portis offensive rebounds in the third quarter, Lillard canned a corner three that built the Bucks’ advantage to 87-76. Milwaukee led by as many 13 points in the third quarter following a deep Portis jumper.
Maxey and Embiid couldn’t sustain their immense scoring from the first half and the Sixers didn’t have much meaningful production from anyone else. Starting wings Kelly Oubre Jr. and Justin Edwards combined to score 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting.
The Sixers took a few hasty jumpers and began the fourth quarter poorly. When Trent drained his seventh three, their deficit exceeded 20 points. Milwaukee got up 55 triples Sunday and made a season-high 24.
The Sixers did stop the Bucks from completely sealing the game until the final moments. They played full-court, trapping defenses and scored regularly. Yabusele drilled a three, took a charge on Kuzma and kept battling.
Milwaukee was never truly threatened in the fourth quarter, though. For the Sixers, there’s now just 30 regular-season games left to get back on some kind of positive track and gain ground in the standings.
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