3 biggest 76ers takeaways from blowout loss to Clippers

Today at 08:26 PM

The Philadelphia 76ers (3-13) sought their first consecutive wins of the season as they welcomed the Los Angeles Clippers (11-7) to town. After their first win in regulation on Friday, the Sixers got boatraced. The final score: 125-99.

Joel Embiid and Paul George remained inactive, leaving the hopes of Philly fans on Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain’s shoulders again. That went well on Friday against Ben Simmons and the Brooklyn Nets but James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers presented a greater challenge, even without Kawhi Leonard and new leading scorer Norman Powell. The Sixers hardly looked like they had a chance tonight.

Here are three takeaways from the 76ers’ blowout loss.

Maxey and McCain stumble

While nicknames are brewing for the 76ers’ young and exciting backcourt, Maxey and McCain tried to lift their team to victory. Clippers head coach Ty Lue said before the game that Maxey is "dynamic offensively" and that McCain is someone he has to change coverages against in order to contain. Lue saw McCain’s Rookie of the Year declaration and recognizes how dangerous he can be.

Ty Lue on Jared McCain:

"He's an all-around good player and he told you last game, 'I'm the Rookie of the Year.' So we gotta prepare for him. Just can't let it be easy. We gotta mix up our coverages, do some different things…He is really playing well." pic.twitter.com/r0vpd65TMo

— Sam DiGiovanni (@BySamDiGiovanni) November 24, 2024

Unfortunately for the Sixers, McCain went ice cold. He made only one of his first eight shots and none of his five attempts from downtown. The opportunities were there but tonight was not his night. He ended the night with a team-high 18 points but shot 3-15 from the field.

Maxey didn't shoot well but was able to spark some offense running fast breaks. Stellar defender Kris Dunn guarded him for much of the night but the Clippers’ length on the wings made it tough to score in plenty of other matchups. He seemed to tweak his leg in the third quarter but remained in the game and played 30 minutes.

The inefficiency from Maxey, McCain and Caleb Martin — the Sixers’ leaders in shot attempts at the break — nullified the efficient shooting from pretty much everyone else. Those three combined to shoot 4-22 from the field by halftime. Everyone else was 14-23. Nothing changed in the second half, save for a run in the fourth quarter where McCain got to the foul line a bunch. When Philly only has two of its four strong scorers in the game and they both shoot poorly, it’s gonna be impossible to win.

Starting out on the wrong foot

The Sixers had their worst first quarter of the season, surrendering their highest point total (39) and falling into their biggest hole (a 12-point deficit). Their performance on both sides of the ball was poor but the main culprit was their defense, which had no way to keep the ball out of the paint. Whether it be Harden driving or Ivica Zubac receiving a pass on the short roll, LA was dominating from the jump, starting the game with a 14-5 run. They kept doing their thing as the game went on.

Nick Nurse hinted at going bigger with the starting lineup but decided to again start Guerschon Yabusele, who provided important floor spacing. Zubac’s drop defense dared him to shoot and he obliged, making one of his early two attempts. Philly got up plenty of threes early on and otherwise only shot in the paint, where they shot 8-11. But that frigid shooting from deep and porous defense canceled that out.

Of the Clippers’ 25 field-goal attempts in the first quarter, 16 were in the paint. They made five of their attempts from deep while the Sixers went just 2-11 and led by as many as 19 points. Harden had 12 points and a pair of assists in under 11 first-quarter minutes. Zubac had six points and five rebounds, including three offensive boards, in under eight minutes. In a span of over seven minutes, they outscored the Sixers 29-9.

Most of the 76ers’ struggles this season have arisen in later quarters. They’ve mostly played their opponents evenly in the first quarter before getting blown out of the water in the second and third. Tonight, they stumbled right out of the gate. But they also started the third quarter off horribly, allowing seven unanswered points in the first 75 seconds. They still knew where their bread was buttered.

Nurse staggered Maxey and McCain’s minutes last game but, after the worst opening period that his team played all season, ran with Reggie Jackson and Eric Gordon as the backcourt to start the second quarter. Maxey was subbed in after less than two minutes. The Clippers didn't blow the 76ers out of the water in that brief period but it remains perplexing to have the only two reliable scorers rest together.

Misfires from deep time and time again

The irony of a team built by Daryl Morey being so bad at shooting threes is hard to shake. Yes, the primary engine that creates threes for the team (Embiid) and one of the best shooters in the league (George) were out. But being so bad night after night from downtown not only makes it hard for the Sixers to get ahead, but it makes it even harder to dig out of deficits. Their three-point percentage hovered in the 20s for much of this game and ended at 23.1 percent.

McCain and Maxey did not shoot like they normally do, sure, but the Sixers’ lack of shooting outside of them severely holds them back. Even putting aside the awful lack of spacing does for players trying to score inside the arc, it feels like Philly has no chance of getting hot from deep. They’ll have to really earn those runs that help narrow a deficit or shoot way over their heads.

In this game, three-point shooting was the reason the Sixers couldn't come back tonight. The reason they needed a comeback was mostly because their defense, which has been at least fine so far this season, was absolutely ghastly. The Clippers notched 100 points with just under 10 minutes to go and led by as many as 31 points, their largest all season. Over half of the fourth quarter was garbage time. Philly didn't even get to 100.

This game was the absolute worst way to usher in their new City Edition threads, which have gotten universal praise from across the NBA world. Harden is now 2-0 in his old home since being traded.

Other takeaways 

• Nurse said before the game that Embiid and George were "progressing okay." George did some on-court work yesterday and Embiid’s knee swelling is subsiding.
• Tony Brothers upholding that first-quarter foul call on Maxey for his defense on a Harden triple goes into the books as some of his greatest work. Wonderful officiating as always.
• Harden got booed but Nico Batum received cheers in his return to Philly.

The 76ers will face the Houston Rockets on Wednesday before taking a break on Thanksgiving.

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