Sixers squeak out win over Wizards behind Maxey, Yabusele

Tyrese Maxey provided the late heroics after a slow start to earn the Sixers a 109-103 win over the Wizards. It is not a game anyone will be thinking about past tomorrow.

Here’s what I saw.

The Good

— It was a mixed bag game for Guerschon Yabusele. On the one hand, he had basically no chance to stop Jonas Valanciunas from destroying the Sixers on the offensive glass. Watching the burly Lithuanian stick one hand up and bear claw rebounds while Yabusele jostled for position would have been pretty funny if it wasn’t for the fact that it kept Washington in the game.

On the other hand, Yabusele was Philadelphia’s best offensive option for the majority of this game. I remain perplexed that teams are not updating their scouting reports on him after 30+ games of good-to-great shooting from the frontcourt. He’s willing and able, and with Washington playing far off of him for most of the night, Yabusele kept bombing away to great results.

One of the few things working for Maxey the last week or so has been combining with Yabusele in pick-and-pop actions. You can see their reps together starting to add up to something bigger — Maxey has the timing down on behind-the-back passes in those looks, allowing them to flow in and out of screens on dribble handoffs as well.

With the game on the line, Yabusele looked like he was dead in the water trying to chase Bilal Coulibaly on his way to the rim. But the Frenchman saved his best defensive play for last, stoning Washington’s young wing for a pivotal block to seal the game.

Enjoy the Dancing Bear while he’s here, because he is almost certainly playing his way out of their affordable range next summer.

— Eric Gordon knocked down open threes, which is about all you can ask for out of him.

— The task in front of Tyrese Maxey on Wednesday night was unenviable. With Philadelphia down two stars and multiple role players, the Wizards were going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at him. There is very little support for him in the backcourt or otherwise right now, forcing him to play tons of minutes during a crowded part of the schedule. But we have to be honest about what sort of season he is having right now. The raw totals, particularly in the points department, are overshadowing horrible efficiency and worrying habits as we think about the long term. Each passing game begs questions about what sort of player Maxey is and will be, and whether he can carry the torch for the organization in an Embiid-less future down the road. But let’s just address the short-term for now.

We can throw out some possessions that resulted in good looks with bad results — a missed three in transition from the left wing, a missed three from the right corner after an offensive rebound swung his way. He can be forgiven for those, and I trust him to hit those shots in the macro. Outside of plays like that, Maxey’s play was marred by poor decision-making and worse execution. When he has an opportunity to use straight-line speed with nobody at the rim, Maxey can look terrific in isolation, but most teams are not going to hand you those opportunities.

As the focal point, Maxey’s weaknesses are a lot more noticeable. Weaker defenders have a chance to stay in front of him as long as you can stop him from getting to his right hand, with Corey Kispert stonewalling Maxey at least a couple of times Wednesday in a matchup Maxey should easily sprint past. Turning the corner going left is a much bigger challenge for Maxey, and while he usually uses that hand to set up his stepback jumper, it’s hard to use that as the focal point when you’re hitting nothing but rim on most jumpers.

There have been signs of life from him as a playmaker, with Maxey doing a better job of “Nash-ing” to get all the way to the rim and then whip passes back out to open shooters. He certainly has an eye for Guerschon Yabusele, who punished the Wiz for playing so far off of him as a shooter.

And at the end of the day, you still have to give him credit for eventually getting this one over the line. Maxey put it together for a stretch in the third quarter, driving all the way to the basket for a couple of layups before cashing a stepback three with Valanciunas in no man’s land on a switch. He didn’t catch a heater, certainly, but it gave him enough confidence to turn it on in the fourth and ultimately see this game out. When he absolutely had to have it, he dragged his teammates over the line, and that’s why he falls in this section of the recap.

I just wish I felt better about this whole experience. I don’t see a player growing from these reps, but a good player struggling to navigate a bad situation.

— The best part of the game was the TV timeout that featured a young kid following around Franklin the Dog and mimicking his every move. Give the young man a 10-day contract, Daryl.

The Bad

— All of the things I said about Maxey up top notwithstanding, I will concede that there are often no good options for Maxey to turn to. This is a team that was forced to play Jeff Dowtin, Ricky Council IV, Reggie Jackson, Adem Bona, and rookie Justin Edwards. There are only so many guys you can actually count on and trust, so Maxey playing with a bit of tunnel vision and selfishness isn’t exactly a shocker.

— I respect the form of leadership we have seen from Kelly Oubre over the last month and a half. He has played with the sort of defensive commitment required for any team with real playoff aspirations, and even as the lineup has toggled between “hospital” and “star-studded” Oubre has shown great restraint, picking his spots within the flow of the offense.

Well…at least that’s usually what happens. I don’t blame him for getting a little shot happy in this one after starting the game off well, and the Sixers weren’t exactly spoiled for choice with offensive options on Wednesday night. I’m not sure it was a decision-making problem so much as a numbers problem. Still, too many possessions ended with a contested Oubre three, and he was ice-cold from deep all night. If we’re going to ding the lead guard for his shot choices, we should certainly expect Oubre to show a bit of restraint in a big spot.

Oubre’s emotions often help this team, but he was a bit on tilt toward the end of this game, taking a silly frustration foul after feeling like he didn’t get a call on the other end. In a tightly-contested game against an opponent you simply have to beat, you have to be smarter than that.

— I love how hard Adem Bona plays, but he’s a long way from being a trustworthy rotation guy. A little too wild, which is what we all expected coming into the year.

The Ugly

— This team does not have any of the marks of a well-coached group. They execute poorly out of timeouts, the rotations are chaotic and seemingly random, and on we go down the list.

— I have been to something like 300 games at the Wells Fargo Center in the last eight years, and I cannot recall a game with less juice than this one. Prior to the game, during the game, and after the game, just a big old ball of nothing radiating from the home faithful, other than yelling at the refs.

Beyond the terrible product on the floor for this individual game, it was a good reflection of the city’s attitude toward the Sixers right now. It’s a symptom of a bad season, sure, but also the growing restlessness of the fanbase after a lot of false starts, roster turnover, and failed attempts to win now. With Jared McCain in street clothes, there’s also no future hope to tune in for. Either the Sixers win these games, which is the minimum requirement, or there’s nothing all that positive to take away. No development, no building hope, just victory or suffering. Tough way to do business.

— The Sixers have had an open roster spot for the entire regular season to date. I’m not sure how you can watch a guy like Jared Butler and say that there’s nobody in the world who is worth “compromising your flexibility” for at the end of the bench. You got destroyed by a two-way player on one of the worst teams in the league! Any impact trade the Sixers would make is likely to send out more players than they’d take back, so spare me the trade-related explanations.

— The officiating at the end of this one was, well, less than ideal. They missed a clear goaltend committed by Richaun Holmes on a Maxey layup attempt, and Kyle Kuzma carried the ball like a slot receiver going over the middle on the play that pulled Washington out in front with a little over a minute to play.