Observations after Sixers smoke Wizards, Maxey scores 35 in 29 minutes originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
After suffering a double-overtime loss Sunday vs. the Hawks, the Sixers cruised to a low-stress win Tuesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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They notched a 121-102 victory over the Wizards and moved to 11-9 on the season.
Tyrese Maxey posted 35 points, six assists, four steals and four rebounds.
The Sixers were down Joel Embiid (right knee injury recovery), Quentin Grimes (right calf soreness), Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain).
The 3-17 Wizards were shorthanded on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Sixers will host the Warriors on Thursday night. Here are observations on their win over Washington:
Strong second unit
The Sixers ran plenty of first-quarter plays for Paul George and he was aggressive as a jump shooter. George sunk two catch-and-shoot three-pointers in the first.
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Sixers head coach Nick Nurse turned to his bench relatively early. Justin Edwards, Jared McCain and Adem Bona were all on the floor after a little over five minutes.
Bona committed a foul on his first defensive possession, biting on a Marvin Bagley III pump fake. The Wizards took the game’s first six free throws and went up 18-12 on a CJ McCollum mid-range jumper.
The Sixers’ bench then started to cook.
McCain swished a three off of a baseline out-of-bounds play and made two driving layups in his first stint. Edwards also knocked down a pair of threes in the first quarter, breaking through a recent slump. He’d gone 4 for 24 beyond the arc over his past seven games. Bona had several possession-earning hustle plays that didn’t show up on the stat sheet, including a forced backcourt violation.
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Maxey in his comfort zone
Jabari Walker and Eric Gordon joined the mix in the second quarter. Walker drilled two straight corner threes and a Maxey jumper gave the Sixers a 54-40 lead.
Maxey looked extremely comfortable leading the Sixers’ offense.
He followed up a season-high six turnovers Sunday with zero giveaways and seemed to get wherever he wanted to go.
Seconds after Maxey sat late in the second quarter, he had the pleasure of watching an explosive, audacious Edgecombe slam.
Regulars rest in the fourth
The Sixers led by a dozen at halftime, but the Wizards scored the first seven points of the third quarter. George and Drummond missed jumpers late in the shot clock. Drummond picked up his fourth foul with 9:16 left in the third.
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Edgecombe’s effort and athleticism helped the Sixers snap out of their funk and avoid another poor third quarter. He grabbed gritty offensive rebounds on consecutive possessions. The first board led to a George three, the second a Dominick Barlow and-one layup.
The Sixers blew the game open late in the third quarter. McCain drained a transition three. Maxey found a groove and rapidly piled up points. After burying a step-back three, he snagged a steal and coasted the other way for a fast-break dunk that put the Sixers up 99-73.
Maxey subbed out to start the fourth quarter and it was soon abundantly clear he (and all the Sixers’ regulars) would be able to stay on the sidelines the rest of the night.
Drummond threw down a put-back dunk and splashed a corner three. The Sixers led by as many as 36 points, rookies Johni Broome and Hunter Sallis checked in, and Maxey finally finished a game with under 30 minutes. The NBA’s minutes leader logged a season-low 29.
