Sixers notch 10th straight loss despite Adem Bona’s career night vs. Bucks

Adem Bona scored 28 points and was a two-way force against the Milwaukee Bucks, but the Sixers dropped their 10th straight loss anyway, falling 126-113 to Milwaukee on Thursday. It was the most watchable loss of their recent collection by a mile, giving Sixers fans the best of both worlds, defeat and entertainment.

Here’s what I saw.

The Good

— Adem Bona was given the toughest possible task a player can have against the Milwaukee Bucks, drawing the Giannis Antetokounmpo assignment on defense from the opening whistle. It was a follow-up on another game earlier this year, in which young Bona was asked to stand chest-to-chest with one of the league’s most dominant physical players. The rookie big man did more than hold his own in a tough spot, looking like the best player on the floor for a good chunk of Thursday’s first half.

But much of that distinction comes down to what he did on the other end of the floor. Bona’s offensive game is growing by leaps and bounds down the stretch, with this tanking stretch giving him lots of time with minimal pressure to experiment and attack. This is far from a volume shooting outburst, though. Bona seems to be improving his mechanical skill, whether it’s timing his picks, catching passes as the roller, or showing more comfort as an attacker off of the dribble. Against Milwaukee, he hit baby hooks in the paint, dunked after putting the ball on the floor, and was generally a menace for the Bucks to deal with. He surpassed his career high for points in a game (16) early in the third quarter, even after being forced back to the locker room with what looked like an ankle problem.

It has been said a lot lately, but deserves repeating — Bona may carve out a long career in this league by simply playing super hard all of the time. He runs hard in transition, rolls hard out of his screens, competes hard on defense, and wears his emotion (most of it positive) on his sleeve. Combine that with his athleticism, and he’s never really out of a play, even if he makes an initial misread.

Against Giannis, I think you could see the value of not just the time he has gotten on the floor, but the work he has put in to study the game away from it. Aside from getting caught on a silly reach-in foul two minutes into the game, Bona did an excellent job of sliding his feet, beating Giannis to spots, and playing with discipline. If the Greek Freak scored on Bona, it was generally with an up-and-under move or a step-through where he had to get him leaning 3-4 times before finally finding an opening.

The best testament to Bona’s defensive impact is that the second he hit the bench for rest or any other reason, Giannis was pulled to the rim as if by magnets. Poor Colin Castleton checked in for his first Sixers minutes to spell Bona in the second quarter, and on the very first possession, Giannis blew by him for a hellacious dunk. Bona at least made Giannis work, and that’s all you can ask for a rookie at the end of a brutal Sixers season.

— Guerschon Yabusele is a player many people want back next season, and I think that’s what will happen as long as price allows it. The big question is what position and what role he can play while having a positive impact. Though he was brought here as a power forward, lineups with Yabusele at center were much more successful for the part of the year that wasn’t a tankfest. The jury is still out on his ability to help them win minutes as a four.

Thursday, we saw some very good Yabusele minutes at the four. It helped to have Bona absolutely cooking the Bucks, but Yabusele tapped into his versatility against a Bucks team that starts a big frontcourt of their own. He knocked down threes when Milwaukee helped off, posted up smaller players, and moved as well as he has in a while on both ends, showing good burst to close gaps and chew up space.

— Give some credit to the Sixers’ collection of guards for helping Bona on his journey to a career-best 28 points. Between Quentin Grimes, Lonnie Walker IV, and Jared Butler, the Sixers hit him with some easy drop-off passes to finish off possessions with dunks and layups. Butler is the only guy you’d really consider a point guard of any kind, but they did a competent enough job of navigating pick-and-rolls and DHOs with the intent to set their guy up.

Say this about Grimes — he was on an ungodly heater for roughly a month, but as they have gotten closer to the finish line and he has cooled off, he has not just tried to shoot himself out of slumps. Most of what he is getting comes within the flow of the offense, and he has been a willing passer as their current offensive hub. That bodes well for when the reinforcements arrive next season.

— The game ended.

The Bad

— The game started.

— We now know what a Ricky Council IV pocket pass looks like in a pick-and-roll with Adem Bona.

— Rough night for Justin Edwards, who has cooled off after his recent hot stretch.

The Ugly

— I feel like I say this every time the Bucks come to town, but Giannis is one of a handful of players in the league that I feel you always get your money’s worth from if you’re. paying to see him in person. Every time Milwaukee is in town, he is competing his ass off, whether that’s vacuuming in rebounds, diving for loose balls, or coming downhill with destruction on his mind.

On the other hand, Kyle Kuzma is the least serious basketball player I can recall watching. Roughly 30 feet away from me, he took a mid-post fadeaway rather than simply passing the ball to Giannis with Jared Butler as the closest defender to him in the paint.

— Nick Nurse got ejected for a quick pair of technical fouls in the fourth quarter, and boy, have there been games this season where I wish I could have earned the same fate. Let’s see what happens next time Tony Brothers is in town…