Sixers end 1-5 road trip with loss to Pelicans

A depleted Sixers team closed their extended road trip with yet another loss, falling 112-99 to the New Orleans Pelicans before their trip back to Philadelphia. With the Nets losing to Dallas and the Raptors winning a tight game over the Wizards, the Sixers’ loss to the Pelicans was important for draft lottery positioning. The tank rolls on.

Here’s what I saw.

The Good

— The game ended.

— Chuma Okeke’s second 10-day contract is nearing its expiration, so I want to express my admiration for how he has played during his stint in Philadelphia. Do I believe he’s suddenly the 50 percent three-point shooter that the numbers said he was coming into the night? Definitely not. But there are a lot of little things, mainly the offensive glass and team defense, that he did well consistently that I think will translate moving forward.

Bring him back on an Exhibit 10 deal next year, please and thanks.

The Bad

— The game started.

— Justin Edwards had a fine enough volume-scoring game on Monday, I just think he missed some makable threes and needed a featured guy to shoulder the load so he wasn’t just shooting through a slump the entire second half.

— Even if you think there’s a degree of “big stats, bad team” happening with Quentin Grimes, I think this game should show you that his production as a featured guy with this depleted roster is anything but a given. He deserves credit and consideration for a huge run over the last few weeks.

The Ugly

— The Pelicans may be the only team in the league with a claim for worse luck than the Sixers have had this season. New Orleans has been absolutely ravaged by injuries from start to finish, and they added another one shortly before halftime on Monday, with Jordan Hawkins rolling his ankle in gnarly fashion as he went up for a layup in transition.

(Give some credit to the kid for coming back out for the second half, by the way. Their season may be over, but he wants to be out there. Love to see that type of grit.)

It’s this type of season that always has to be considered when people are trying to legislate tanking out of the game on “ethical” grounds. There has been nothing the Pelicans could do to prevent ending up in their unfortunate position near the bottom of the standings. Are they supposed to go all out and make win-now moves down the stretch for no realistic upside? Of course not. Unless you’re a believer in eliminating the draft entirely, and few of you are, you have to let teams make short-term decisions for long-term gains.

— It is excruciating to watch a team that has no chance to protect the rim or slow teams down at the point of attack. It makes it difficult to place the blame on any specific player or even position. When their big is back at the rim and in a relatively good position, the guards and wings are getting torched at the point of attack. When the guards and wings do their job, the center is nowhere to be found, allowing the opposing ballhandler to chew up space to get to the rim or hit the rolling big for an easy dunk or layup.

This team is just not good at any type of paint protection right now. The Pelicans had 40 points in the paint in the first half of Monday’s game, and that’s without their best downhill attacker (Zion Williamson) and with most of their best offensive players sitting on the bench. Even still, Yves Missi and others just waltzed right down the middle of the floor, depositing shot after shot in the hoop before Philadelphia knew what hit them.

When the Sixers did manage to play strong initial defense, they nearly always left themselves exposed to offensive rebounds, with Missi absolutely killing them with second-chance points all night. So aside from defending the initial shot, rebounding, and contesting the follow-up, they’re doing an awesome job of defending this year.

— The Sixers are capable of making anyone look like the greatest shooter you have ever seen. Antonio Reeves is a good low-volume shooter, and he absolutely broke Philly’s back in the second half.

— There are a few guys suiting up for the Sixers right now that probably don’t need to stick around beyond this year. Let’s go through them very quickly.

I still love Ricky Council IV’s blend of power and speed, but I think his decision-making has not gotten noticeably better in two years on either end of the floor. This is a bad environment to try to judge him, as he needs to be put next to the higher-volume guys he can defer to, but I don’t feel any better about his ability to play connected basketball than I did to start the year. Feel like he won’t be back.

Jalen Hood-Schifino is a more talented shot creator and shot maker than Council IV, but he doesn’t do absolutely anything else. He has played with total tunnel vision in his limited run with the Sixers, and he has been one of their worst culprits with bad off-ball defense. Fine with him as a potential two-way guy, but nothing beyond that at this juncture.

I feel a bit better about Jared Butler playing “winning basketball” and think his acquisition made sense at the deadline, with the team still hoping their vet stars would be healthy at that point. But with Quentin Grimes’ emergence and the potential for another backcourt add in the draft, I’m not sure what Butler’s purpose would be next year. Cover for injury as a fourth guard, sure, but if they draft a ballhandler he hasn’t shown anything special enough to hold onto him. Good game on Monday, though!

— I watched the Hulu original series Paradise over the last week, and I think it’s worth a watch if you have that as one of your library of streaming services. It has a good premise, a nice blend of action and drama, and enough mystery without turning into another mystery box show. Easy watch, and just eight episodes.