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Sixers vs. Bulls: Contextualizing Just How Bad that Collapse Was
By Sean Barnard
Published:
Through six and a half games, you pretty much could not ask for a better start to the season than what the Sixers have put on display. But some past demons showed up in the second half in Chicago on Tuesday, as the Sixers watched a 24-point lead evaporate, their offense completely stalling out en route to their second loss of the season.
The Sixers exploded out of the gates, scoring a season-high 45 points in the first quarter. This came against a Chicago team that was also off to a 5-1 start and has embraced a similar identity of up-tempo basketball with multiple ball-handlers on the floor. Philadelphia took a 75-56 lead into halftime and led by as many as 24 points in the first half.
Things completely flipped in the second with the Bulls outscoring the Sixers 28-20 in the third quarter and then 29-16 in the fourth. Chicago did not hold a lead until 3.2 seconds left in the game, which came on a corner three-pointer by Nikola Vucevic. A last-second three-point attempt by Quentin Grimes did not fall and the Sixers completed the collapse.
Per OptaSTATS, the Sixers are the first team in NBA history to lose after this level of dominant start:
The Bad
Concerning third quarters are beginning to become a trend for this Sixers team. They currently average an NBA-worst 22.9 points in the third quarter and their -8.1 average point differential is 29th, ahead of only the New Orleans Pelicans. They were outscored 35-18 by the Celtics in the opener, 38-25 by Charlotte in game two, 38-26 against Washington, and have only outscored opponents in the third period once all year.
The why of this is more difficult to put a finger on. Joel Embiid’s variable workload is at least partially related, but there has been a lack of energy out of the gates in the second half, which is unacceptable. You could make a case opponents are making adjustments that the Sixers have not been prepared for, but realistically it has felt more self-induced. They have not played a complete full four quarters in any game this season. Whatever the case, Nick Nurse and the Sixers have to find a way to change this.
Most concerning last night was the way the offense regressed to poor, old habits. The most exciting part of this iteration of Sixers basketball is how many different ways they can score and the buy-in for team basketball being played. When this game reached crunch time, the Sixers offense completely slipped to standing around watching Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey trying to create in isolation with little success.
As a team, the Sixers shot 4-for-22 in the fourth quarter and 0-for-11 over the final six minutes. This includes Embiid going 0-for-5, Maxey 2-for-8, and Grimes 0-for-3. The last made field goal came with 6:26 remaining on a basket by Maxey and the last Sixers score was on a pair of free throws with 4:26 remaining. They did not score for the final four and a half minutes and did not even really get a decent offensive look over this stretch. Shoutout to Liberty Ballers’ Erin Grugan for clipping these possessions together for a look for yourself:
Embiid and Maxey will catch the most heat for the stale offense but the reality is everyone is the blame for this effort. VJ Edgecombe deferred at far too comfortable of a rate, Nurse did not have a good feel for when to use his timeouts and run set offense, and they went completely away from what was working earlier in the game. Edgecombe especially had a few chances to attack late and deferred to his more experienced teammates too easily. He has been so excellent thus far that it is tough to be overly critical, but the Sixers need him to be aggressive in these spots.
Also, you can’t argue with the look that he got off the play that Nurse drew up, but I question the logic of living and dying with the ball in Grimes’ hands at the end of the games. Their two losses have both come from him failing to make the right read or hit the big shot this season. Grimes is a really solid player who has been excellent in this role for this Sixers team. But given the other offensive options the team has, he probably should not be the automatic last-second guy for the team.
The Good
This Sixers team is still 5-2 and tied for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. They will be right back at it tonight for a matchup against the Cavaliers with a chance to wipe the slate clean. There are lessons to take from this, but bad losses are going to happen over the span of the 82-game grind.
If we do want to look on the positive side of things, Maxey’s ascension continues. He finished with 39 points, five assists, and five rebounds while shooting 14-for-26 from the floor and 6-for-10 from beyond the three-point arc even with the late-game struggles. There is a pretty legitimate case for him being the best guard in the Eastern Conference and he is shaping up to be an All-Star and All-NBA lock in the early parts of this season. It is still early in both this season and his career, but Maxey has blown past most realistic ceilings that were put on him as a player and just turned 25 yesterday.
The only change surrounding Maxey that must happen moving forward is by finding a way to get him more rest. His 42 minutes per game leads the entire NBA and this is an unsustainable rate over the course of a season. For reference, Josh Hart led the NBA last year in MPG at 37.6 and the last player to eclipse 40 per game over a season was Monta Ellis at 40.3 in 2010-11. The last played to put forth the workload Maxey currently is was Allen Iverson at 42.5 minutes per game in 2006-07. To make matters worse, Edgecombe remains second in the entire NBA at 38.7 minutes per game and Kelly Oubre Jr, who continues to be excellent in his role, is fourth in the NBA at 37.3 minutes per game.
The return of Jared McCain will help with this effort and he made his return to the court in last night’s loss. The Duke product played 15 minutes and was held scoreless with two assists, one rebound, and shot 0-for-4 from the floor. McCain will settle in and be just fine, but he looked like a guy who had not played NBA basketball in 11 months with the pace being too quick for him.
While he was a huge source of the struggles in crunch time, last night was still an encouraging performance from Embiid. He finished with 20 points, six rebounds, two assists, three steals, and four blocks while logging a season-high 26 minutes. His efficiency was not great, but last night was by far the best he had looked defensively and his movement is making progress every game. We will see what level he can truly reach physically, but at least part of this is tied to him continuing to gain trust in his body and he got off the floor to leap and deter shots at a much greater rate than has been the case this season. You can sense his competitive drive beginning to push past the concern over injury within his mindset. The Sixers can generate offense from other areas, but need Embiid to be able to be at least a serviceable defender and he took strides in this direction in his fifth game of the year.
Chicago is a respectable basketball team that has legitimate buzz for the first time in quite a few years. The Sixers did not look like the team that wanted it more for the first time this season. To some extent, this is a wash your hands and move on performance, but the breakdown of offense at the end must be learned from. It has been a positive that the Sixers have not just lived and died with the results of isolation-centric basketball in the final minutes. Last night it felt like they did.
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.