The Sixers take lessons for life without LeBron James in their win over the Bucks
Without James, who sat out Saturday to manage his sciatica, the Sixers got a triple-double from Joel Embiid and more ballhandling from Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.
The 76ers spent a significant portion of Saturday morning’s shootaround focused on getting organized on the offensive end. They were about to play against the Milwaukee Bucks without the sciatica-managing LeBron James, who is still a master at facilitating and pushing the pace.
After a 127-116 victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena to improve to 3-0, coach Nick Nurse estimated there were about a dozen possessions that he “wasn’t real happy” with the Sixers’ execution.
“But there was a lot of good ones,” Nurse said, “especially in the second half again.”
It was another important early-season step for the Sixers’ revamped roster. They will face this again a handful of times because, at age 41, the legendary James is not expected to play both games of a back-to-back. Ditto for former MVP Joel Embiid, who is not expected to play Sunday night against the Detroit Pistons but playfully asked the media assembled in the Sixers’ locker room Saturday to “start writing articles and put pressure on them so they’ll let me play.”
“We just run the next action, run the next action, and then make the right play,” Nurse said after the game. “So the organization, I think, rightly so, was taking a bit of time. … It’s just, we’re trying to learn things that we’ve got to polish quick.”
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Without James, more offensive creation came from Embiid, who compiled his 11th career triple double (28 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) including a game-clinching helper on a Jaylen Brown three-pointer. All-NBA guard Tyrese Maxey was more of a ballhandler, yet still scored a steady 26 points. VJ Edgecombe also took on some lead guard responsibilities and finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, another area where James had been impactful during in the Sixers’ first two games.
The Sixers did not score any fastbreak points until late in the second quarter but did finish with 13. And they finally found rhythm from beyond the arc, going 19-of-44.
It’s worth considering the opponent, given the Bucks are projected to be an Eastern Conference bottom-dweller after trading two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat during the offseason. But Nurse evaluated the Sixers’ offense as progressing from “totally unorganized” in Thursday’s dreadful first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers, to “much more organized” during their furious rally from down as many 29 points to win, to more organized for “most of the game” against Milwaukee.
Maxey can trace his new-look team’s readiness to play without James back to training camp, because their starting lineup was healthier than in years past. That allowed them to install more offensive sets, and switch up personnel groupings during drills and scrimmaging to get used to playing alongside a greater variety of teammates.
“We know what to run. That’s one thing I will say,” Maxey said. “ … You can’t really do that if everybody’s not healthy. It’s very, very hard. And then once you get into the flow of the season, shoot, you have a back-to-back and you either don’t want to practice, and then once practice comes, you don’t want guys on their feet too long. So it’s hard to do it.”
Maxey, who had remained the Sixers’ scoring engine even alongside his star-studded teammates in their first two games, was more of a table-setter Saturday. He acknowledged that “feels great, honestly” because he “didn’t have the opportunity to do that a lot last year” as mostly the bona fide top offensive option while playing heavy minutes. Even with James out, Maxey trusts Embiid, Brown, and Edgecome to get buckets.
“Having those guys to where sometimes I can get them more involved and then take over when I have to, it’s really good,” Maxey said, “especially when you have a back-to-back tomorrow.”
One of the teammates Maxey wanted to catch early rhythm on Saturday was Brown, who on his 30th birthday scored 27 points and also became more of a distributor with with five assists. The All-NBA wing characterized his own play as “OK,” noting he is still getting comfortable with spacing and decisively finding his spots on the court.
Embiid, meanwhile, quipped that his triple-double “just happened” by playing within the flow of the offense.
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Nurse commended “a couple really, really nice passes” from the big man, and that he played two-man actions from the top of the key with multiple teammates. After a “kind of static” first half Thursday against the Cavaliers, Embiid emphasized side-to-side ball movement against Milwaukee and reiterated he gets “more fulfilled when I play team basketball.”
“It just feels so much better as a basketball player,” Embiid said. “So nights like tonight … that’s the way I like to play. The ball moving, everybody touching it, side to side. That’s good offense.”
Though building cohesion with this new group is an early-season priority, getting James and Embiid to the playoffs healthy is more important than playing games in late October. That is why another test presumably arrives Sunday, with Embiid expected to rest against a Pistons team that last season posted the East’s best record but will be missing All-NBA big man Jalen Duren (along with the traded Isaiah Stewart).
Beat reporters Gina Mizell and Chris Hine break down their most intriguing quotes from LeBron James and Tyrese Maxey during the preseason, along with what they most hope to learn about this revamped roster during the first month of the season. Watch here.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Embiid and Brown both stressed that the Sixers need to have a more energized mindset at tipoff. Maxey has acknowledged in the past that it can be challenging to switch styles while playing with or without Embiid.
But now the Sixers have Brown. And a more experienced Edgecombe.
And, on Sunday, James back in the lineup.
“You need that guy that can kind of put us in the best positions,” Embiid said of James, “and kind of settle the game and go from there. And that’s what he’s been able to do.”
