Instant observations: Sixers run out of gas in Game 2 loss to Knicks

Tyrese Maxey struggled to impact the game during a poor second half in Game 2, with the Sixers losing 108-102 in a hard-fought loss to the New York Knicks. Maxey led Philadelphia in points (26) and minutes played (46:48) but had nothing left to give by the time crunch time rolled around.

Here’s what I saw.

Not enough from Tyrese Maxey

With New York’s offense taking a bit to get rolling, it was Paul George who starred early for the Sixers on offense. After making a jumper over Anunoby’s outstretched arm from the left block on his first touch, George got going in a hurry, punishing Karl-Anthony Towns in down coverage with a pull-up three. The veteran wing put on a shotmaking clinic to start this game, operating on the left side while shooting over both OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges on any given possession.

(Unfortunately, he also completely melted down in the final minute, giving away the most important possession of the game with a poor passing decision before a ridiculous three-point attempt that effectively ended the game.)

He would cede control of the offense to Tyrese Maxey in the second quarter, and the first half of Tyrese Maxey’s second quarter on Wednesday night is easily my favorite stretch of his in these playoffs, even if we include his game-winning performance in the seventh game vs. Boston. He had a level of ruthlessness that has been missing from his game at times in the postseason, pouring salt in New York’s open wound as they tried to navigate significant foul trouble for their available bigs.

Thanks to some silly fouls from Karl-Anthony Towns and Ariel Hukporti, who went into halftime with seven combined violations, the Knicks were forced into small-ball lineups for a huge chunk of the second quarter. The second that Towns checked out of the game with his third, Maxey’s eyes lit up, and he sped downhill to draw free throws at the rim with New York flailing at his arms all the way there. It was great recognition of floor balance and skill set, and Maxey kept on hammering the Knicks inside the arc as they struggled to deal with his speed and strength.

Maxey flashed a desire to play out of the post at times during the regular season, occasionally drawing raised eyebrows as he attacked bigger players in that fashion instead of blowing by them. Those turned out to be meaningful reps, I suppose, because Maxey took Deuce McBride and Jose Alvarado to the torture chamber from the mid-post. Maxey looked like he felt disgusted that New York would stick small players on him down there, with No. 0 backing them down, creating separation, and shooting over his man as the Sixers preserved a narrow lead.

The downside is that those possessions and the pace of the game seemed to take a toll on Maxey, who was visibly exhausted halfway through the quarter and even more tired by the end of it, allowing the Knicks to chip away at the lead. The second half was considerably worse, and for the second consecutive game, Maxey struggled with turnovers, wilting under the pressure of New York doubles and traps. There were some positive moments for Maxey when the Knicks sent two, but those were few and far between the deeper the Sixers got in the game, with Maxey overreacting to pressure and throwing wayward passes into the arms of the Knicks.

Handed some huge opportunities to swing the game with open catch-and-shoot threes in the fourth quarter, Maxey was left wanting, failing to connect on looks that might have changed the trajectory of the game. And with the Sixers chasing the game in crunch time, Maxey defaulted to hero ball rather than trying to read the floor, missing opportunities for open shots that turned into misses and turnovers of his own.

I think a game like this drives home that part of the value of having Joel Embiid is that Maxey can save some energy for the closing kick, the big man absorbing touches and responsibility for the first chunk of the game. It’s tough being the undisputed No. 1 guy while playing close to the entire game, and their inability/unwillingness to get Maxey a sub loomed large in the fourth.

A two-way leader

After Jalen Brunson got off to a monster start in New York’s Game 1 victory, Philadelphia’s top priority to start Game 2 was finding a way to slow him down. And they managed to do so with a very simple change, sending VJ Edgecombe to guard him far further up the floor to disrupt New York’s offensive flow.

At a minimum, the rookie was getting into Brunson for the first time at the halfcourt line, changing the timing of the initial on-ball screen, but the Sixers made sure they were showing him different levels of pressure depending on the possession. On made baskets, Edegcombe often defended Brunson for all 94 feet, and they even threw the occasional full-court trap at him on made free throws, forcing the ball out of his hands as Edgecombe shadowed him all the way up the floor.

Philadelphia could have tried this with other defenders on the roster, but the technique on display on Edgecombe was outrageous for a 20-year-old rookie, special for a player of any basketball experience. He tracked Brunson around screens, repeatedly flipped his hips and slid alongside him, darting and diving through traffic to stay within striking distance while keeping his hands back and avoiding cheap fouls.

It would have been enough for the night if Edgecombe had simply slowed down Brunson and given the Sixers a chance on the defensive end, but with a 30-point scorer on the shelf with injuries, some of the opportunity on offense fell into the rookie’s lap. Edgecombe got into a rhythm early and canned threes from both corners while also serving as their most reliable decision-maker when Maxey got trapped near the logo. Edgecombe’s in-between game has matured as the season has gone on, and they needed him to hit a couple of bail-out shots in the second half, with the rookie rising to the occasion in those moments, twisting around defenders and banging in jumpers. Although he missed shots late, I put some of his struggles on his veteran teammates, who left him twisting in the wind by standing around flat-footed as Edgecombe looked for an outlet.

Edgecombe is going to have to play at this level on both ends for Philly to have a chance to beat New York even with Joel Embiid, and he should feel good about where he’s at as the series heads back home.

Good play from the backup bigs

After Adem Bona committed five fouls in under four minutes of basketball in Game 1, suffice it to say my expectations were low for him in this series. But the Sixers were given a gift shortly before tip-off, with Mitchell Robinson ruled out due to illness, removing his worst stylistic matchup from New York’s rotation. What would Bona have to offer in a game better suited for his strengths and weaknesses? A whole lot, apparently.

Whatever you think of his offensive contributions, Bona has been a huge difference maker on defense for Philly in these playoffs, with the Sixers getting stops at an elite rate when they’ve been able to keep him on the floor. Several times in Wednesday’s first half, Knicks players thought they’d emerged through the crowd for an easy layup, only for Bona to teleport into the frame and send the shot back, sparking Sixers transition opportunities.

And Bona was a dominant force on the offensive glass, piling up six offensive rebounds in the first half through his athleticism and activity, high-pointing multiple boards and scooping several more off the wood in thickets of limbs. For once, it was Philadelphia winning the second-chance battle against the Knicks, and that helped the visitors hunt more threes and drain some energy out of a deeper New York group. The downside is that his energy eventually pushed him into foul trouble, an inevitability of the Bona experience.

Dominick Barlow didn’t play a second of basketball until the Sixers were desperate for a solution with Bona and Drummond both in foul trouble. Masquerading as a center for the final five minutes of the third, Barlow managed to keep Philadelphia afloat on both ends, showing some savvy playmaking in the short roll and excellent defense all over the floor, switching onto Jalen Brunson for some hugely important possessions late in the third quarter.

My only Barlow critique is that I thought they switched too freely late in the game, giving Brunson the same look far too often. With a forward on Brunson instead of a smaller guard, Brunson eventually found out how much space he could take before rising into his midrange jumper, carrying New York down the stretch.

Other notes

— Philadelphia’s big defensive shortcoming in this series has been their off-ball communication, with the Sixers botching a lot of switches in the first two games on the road. Edgecombe and Maxey had a particularly bad miss in the third quarter that prompted an on-court conversation between the guards at the start of their next offensive possession, with Edgecombe seemingly conceding that he had missed his teammate’s callout.

Has to be cleaned up the rest of the way.