The Sixers wrapped up their 2026 Summer League with a 96-94 loss at the buzzer to the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday evening.
Labaron Philon Jr. got the day off, ending a solid summer for the rookie after four games. His shooting numbers got very skewed by a rough final outing. He ended up averaging 18.5 points per game shooting 38% from the field and 25% from three along with 3.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists.
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In three appearances, Johni Broome averaged 14.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game on 45%/13%/25% shooting splits. He also sat out the finale.
In Saturday’s game, Gerald Ayayi, who’s had a long career overseas, led the Sixers with 22 points shooting 7-of-13 from the floor along with three assists. Dante Maddox Jr. put up 15, shooting 4-of-10 from the field. Brayden Burries, the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft, led all scorers with 27, including the game-winner.
While both Burries and Nate Ament were able to get theirs to varying degrees of success, the Sixers being able to turn the ball over prevented the Bucks from running away with the game early. Each team turned it over 19 times — Ament had five of them.
The Sixers had their own issues completing passes at the start of the game, but flipping that script is what allowed them to go on a 20-4 extended run that started in the second quarter and ended in the third.
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After shooting well from deep in the first half at 46%, the Sixers found a lot of success attacking the rim in the third quarter. Duke Miles started the game off making three of his first four shots, all from beyond the arc before Maddox found his stroke from outside. He may have been on a bit of a pitch count, only playing 11 minutes in this one.
Similar to Miles, Isaac Johnson only played 12 minutes of this game, but had a bit of a bounce-back with 10 points and six rebounds. Nick Townsend, an undrafted forward out of Yale, got more run in his second appearance of the summer. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Their shooting would regress though — they only made one three-pointer in the second half — a big reason why they weren’t able to put the Bucks away. They kept their determination in attacking the rim. Ayayi slashed for a big and-1 that cut the lead to four with under two minutes. A minute later, Maddox drove to find Townsend cutting baseline to make it a two-point game.
After getting another stop, Ayayi drew a foul and went to the one with a chance to tie the game. He drilled both (which you still have to do despite the G League rule). Unsurprisingly, the Bucks went to Burries and he got all the way to the basket for the game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. For as good of a day he had, Maddox had the ball tip off his feet before he got a heave off. An unfortunate end to Summer League, but at least one that didn’t go to overtime.
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