Sixers suffer humiliating defeat to shorthanded Raptors

The Sixers stunk it up in their first road game of the season, losing 115-107 to the Toronto Raptors behind another horrific game from Tyrese Maxey.

Here’s what I saw.

The Good

— The game ended.

— Pretty good Kelly Oubre game on offense, I suppose? He had some bad, contested jumpers that he hoisted but I suppose somebody had to get shots up. And I liked his energy as an off-ball cutter, which was markedly better compared to the opener.

The Bad

— You felt like there was no way Tyrese Maxey would follow up a night one stinker with another bad game, especially against a team as undermanned as this Raptors group. And it was nice to see him get off to a fast start if nothing else. His first make of the game was a tough, lofted floater through contact, and I have to imagine it felt good when he got the whistle for a foul after the refs shortchanged him on Monday. The first quarter featured a pair of nice pull-up threes, and I was ready to see something closer to star-level Maxey.

Unfortunately, that guy has yet to show up for the season yet. Some of the fault is on their offensive structure because their off-ball movement and synergy are basically non-existent right now. That’s somewhat to be expected for a group learning how to play off of one another, but it’s certainly disappointing for a Nick Nurse team after we saw a free-flowing group take the floor to start last season.

The major problem to my eye, though, is that their first two opponents are playing Maxey almost exclusively as a scorer. The Bucks and Raptors are both heavy drop teams with Jakob Poeltl and Brook Lopez as their primary bigs, which should give a pull-up shooter like Maxey plenty of options. But he was rarely able to get enough space to launch from the perimeter, and with Toronto collapsing on his drives, Maxey’s floor reads left a lot to be desired. He didn’t get into midrange pockets quickly enough, settling for contested jumpers and shots around the basket. And after a good first quarter as a playmaker, Maxey spent most of the game blind to passing angles that may have set up his creation-challenged teammates.

Maxey is being asked to do something very difficult right now, but it is something he should be expected to do as a max player and pillar of the franchise. His responsibility as the lead guard is to find the soft spots wherever they might be — it could be racking up assists one night and scoring 35 the next game, but he hasn’t managed to make a positive impact as a scorer or playmaker yet. Inefficient volume scoring is not going to cut it.

(Here’s something to monitor — a lot of Maxey’s jumpers are coming up way short right now. That normally suggests dead legs, but I am keeping an eye on him after the thumb contusion he suffered in the final preseason game.)

— I am not necessarily the biggest Jared McCain believer, but there’s no real way to justify playing Eric Gordon over him if the trends of these first two games continue. Gordon has been impotent on offense, turned away at the rim basically every time he drives, and he compounded that against Toronto with a brand of apathetic defense that would get any young player glued to the bench.

On one sequence midway through the second quarter, Gordon just sort of meandered around the floor while the Raptors got up a corner three in transition. On the ensuing rebound opportunity, Gordon remained stuck in the mud, and combined with shared apathy from Tyrese Maxey, it allowed Toronto to get an extra possession and a wide-open three that was immediately cashed.

There is no room for a no-effort veteran in the rotation, no matter what other skills they ostensibly bring to the table. It’s the second game of the year with a roster that is deep on paper. Send the message that BS effort will not fly no matter what your seniority level is.

— Kyle Lowry got the start in this game after their loss to Milwaukee, and you’d understand why Nick Nurse wants an organizer on the floor watching this group play right now. But he was as liable to make a silly, unforced error as anyone else in this game. Lowry was halfway into his motion for a semi-open three in the third quarter before he passed to Oubre in the corner, leading to a wild turnover from Oubre as the shot clock wound down.

I would take a semi-contested Lowry three over most outcomes they’re getting on offense right now. He should know better.

— Caleb Martin had roughly the same lack of composure as Lowry. So much for Heat culture!

— If anyone earned consideration for a spot on The Good list, it was Guerschon Yabusele, but I don’t think you can ignore the fact that the Raptors consistently had success in the paint and offensive rebounded well during most of the minutes when he was the nominal center. He’s in a position he shouldn’t be in quite yet.

The Ugly

— Make your effing free throws, fellas.

— I’m all for piling on Tony Brothers, who made some weak calls in this game, but Philadelphia’s inability to defend without fouling was ridiculous in this game. They were forced to make five different substitutions for foul purposes in the first half, going through their first two bigs, multiple backup guards, and a starting wing as a result of lazy or downright bad defending. It had a comical effect on who Nick Nurse put on the floor — at one point in the second quarter, we were “treated” to a 1-3 grouping of Kyle Lowry, Reggie Jackson, and Jared McCain. I’m not sure those guys would have ever even thought about playing together in a pickup game.

On nights without George and Embiid, the Sixers might have to recalibrate their aggression on the defensive end. The Raptors absolutely killed them with back cuts throughout the night, and without Joel Embiid out there to clean up the mess, Toronto walked untouched into too many layups and dunks.

While I would concede that Nurse didn’t have the best options, it has felt quite like he’s just throwing stuff at the wall in the first two games of the year. KJ Martin continues to get opportunities even though he is apparently allergic to the three-point line. Reggie Jackson getting off-guard minutes is downright bizarre. There’s too much small ball even with all the caveats about fouls and absences.

Maybe I’m just getting old, but perhaps the preseason needs to be used more effectively if the first two games of the season are defined by lineup chaos. I get that losing two of your top three for the opening stretch makes life tough, but it shouldn’t be this tough.

— Okay but seriously, Tony Brothers is committed to making basketball games as excruciating as possible. Genuinely impressive that one man can ruin a sport this comprehensively.

— Embiid and George’s absences obviously loom large, but there is simply no excuse to lose this game to this team. The Raptors were missing probably four of their five best players and have nowhere near the alleged talent of the Sixers. They should have to row across Lake Ontario to their next game.