It wasn’t pretty at the end, by the combined efforts of Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and a few other Sixers pulled them over the line to defeat the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday.
Jared McCain – 7
Tyrese Maxey – 3
Paul George – 2
Guerschon Yabusele – 2
Justin Edwards – 1
Joel Embiid – 1
KJ Martin – 1
Kelly Oubre, Jr. – 1
The Philadelphia 76ers officially have their first win streak of the 2024-25 season, defeating the Charlotte Hornets 110-104 on Tuesday night for their second-consecutive win.
Joel Embiid (left knee injury management/personal reasons) and Andre Drummond (right ankle sprain) were both out for Philadelphia. Charlotte was without LaMelo Ball, Grant Williams, Miles Bridges and Tre Mann due to injuries.
(This matchup was technically a NBA Cup East Group A game, but both teams had already been eliminated from the championship there before tipoff.)
The Sixers took the lead in this one early and were in control for most of it. It’s nice to see some better patterns emerging from this Sixers’ team — one of which being actually hitting their three-pointers. Philadelphia led by 11 at the break, but there was potential for this to be a lot more comfortable of a lead at halftime, with Charlotte was hanging in there by way of the charity stripe. The Hornets had 13 points on 18 free throw attempts by the break. The Sixers, two points on just three attempts from the line.
Philadelphia entered the fourth period with a 14-point advantage until Charlotte’s Brandon Miller decided to start hitting every triple he threw up there. The Hornets’ deficit quickly narrowed as the period went on, and suddenly we had a tie game with less than a minute to go. You know, just Sixers things. Fortunately, Tyrese Maxey locked in after what was a lackluster game otherwise for him, scoring 11 consecutive Philadelphia points to close the game with the Sixers’ on top, 110-104.
One thing I’m sure will be analyzed to death, deservedly, is why Nick Nurse opted to not use Jared McCain to close out the game. McCain subbed out with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter and never came back in, despite the Sixers’ desperately needing any offense they could get at that point. They won in spite of this decision, but still a very odd one. I digress.
Quick turnaround for this one with the 5-14 Sixers back in action less than 24 hours from now when they’ll host the 15-8 Orlando Magic at the Wells Fargo Center Wednesday night.
Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer.
Paul George: 29 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
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It was a nice relief to not see PG’s name on the injury report for this one seeing that he exited the last Sixers’ contest early after having his right knee bent up a bit going for a loose ball.
Well, it didn’t look like it bothered him at all tonight. From the jump, George seemed to be in the groove, scoring five of the Sixers’ first seven points in the game off a triple and a mid-range jumper (a shot that has been inconsistent from George to start the season). He then assisted his teammates on five more Sixers’ first period points. In the second, PG was feeling it from long range, sinking back-to-back-to-back pull-up triples for a one-man 9-0 Sixers’ run. His 16 points in the first half was the most productive scoring half George has had so far this season.
He wasn’t done, though. After a relatively quiet third scoring-wise for PG, he had another burst of scoring when the Sixers’ desperately needed it. With the Hornets (well, Brandon Miller mostly) getting hot from three point land, George scored 10 of the Sixers’ 12 points from 7:08 left in the period to 2:54. This is where Charlotte really closed in on Philadelphia’s lead and it might have been a very different end result if George didn’t negate the Hornets’ run as much as he could.
George ended up leading the Sixers with 29 points on some excellent shooting, 10-for-16 from the field, 6-for-9 from long range and 3-for-3 from the line. Not only that, but he also had eight assists contributing to another chunk of the Sixers’ points tonight.
This is the bucket-sinking, playmaking Paul George the Sixers need.
Back-to-back triples from Paul George!
— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 4, 2024
PG leads the Sixers with 11 points (4-6 FG, 3-4 3PT) midway through Q2 pic.twitter.com/G8eJPQFgqG
Kelly Oubre Jr.: 14 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
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Oubre was ready to go against his former team tonight from the jump, with him leading the Sixers in the first period. Nine points on three triples was a great sign from Oubre, who has struggled a bit from long range to start this season. He ended up sinking another three in the second for his 4-for-5 night beyond the arc. Oubre still drove into the paint when given the opening, but it was more important that he was able to make the most of when he was given good space from long range. Not only that, but he was active and effective on the defensive end, a side of the floor that has been a bit of a mess for him from time to time, and was a constant thorn in the Hornets’ side. He tapered off offensively as the game went on, but just all-in-all a solid showing from Oubre.
ANOTHER OUBRE 3 AND A DRAWN CHARGE pic.twitter.com/dxaDP5Fg9F
— J🐐 (@SixersJustin) December 4, 2024
Jared McCain: 17 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals
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McCain was not in the starting five for the Sixers tonight but made sure to make an impact as soon as he was called upon from the bench. Within his first four minutes on the floor, McCain ripped off seven consecutive Sixers’ points in under a minute elapsed game time. At halftime, he had nine points shooting 4-for-4 from the floor and 1-for-1 from beyond the arc in just over 12 minutes played. He had another burst of scoring in the third period when he fired off two more triples and hit a step-back jumper to close out the frame. McCain finished the night with 17 points on 7-for-10 field goal shooting and 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc in just 21:38 on the floor.
I will never understand (unless there’s some sort of injury-related explanation) why McCain only played 21 minutes tonight and wasn’t on the floor at all to close out the fourth. He was, at worst, the third-best offensive player the Sixers’ had tonight and he wasn’t in the game at all down the stretch with the Hornets seriously threatening to steal away the win. I’m going to whine about it forever and I’m not sorry.
BACK-2⃣-BACK 3⃣S FOR JARED MCCAIN!
— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 4, 2024
McCain is 6-8 FG, 3-4 3PT with a few minutes left in Q3 pic.twitter.com/h7vQhRQ1eZ
Tyrese Maxey (mostly just the fourth period): 21 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
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If the game was just three quarters, Maxey would not be on this list. It just was not his best game especially when it came to scoring. Maxey was struggling quite a bit both finishing at the rim and from long range tonight especially early on, and though he did find a number of good assists throughout that time, it just wasn’t on the level of being considered a good overall performance by Maxey’s standards at this point.
Then came the fourth period, and thank goodness something clicked for him at that point. The Hornets had taken a one-point lead with about a minute and a half left to play, their first advantage since early in the first period. Maxey then scored the Sixers’ last 11 points of the contest by staying aggressive going to the cup, hitting a layup, drawing fouls and sinking his attempts from the line. He entered the fourth period with just eight points and ended the game with 21.
Overall his best game? No, not by a long shot. But he was calm and clutch when it mattered to secure the Sixers’ win, so he has to get a shoutout here.
