76ers crushed by Bucks in season opener, 124-109

The 76ers drop their season opener at home against the Bucks. Milwaukee won by a final of 124-109.

The Sixers lose their first game without Joel Embiid and Paul George after a tremendous effort from Damian Lillard who had 30 points on 6/12 from three. The Sixers get ready to embark on a two-game road trip, first at Toronto on Friday.

Here are some quick thoughts on this loss.

Drummond provides a refreshing skill

Andre Drummond notches a double-double in Embiid’s absence, putting up 10 points and 13 rebounds. The largest concern for the Sixers at the end of last season was their inability to rebound. They went out and got an all-time rebounder to essentially replace Paul Reed, and it seems he hasn’t lost a step since the last time he played here. This should provide some optimism for Sixers fans as they start to cope with the load management plan for Embiid.

Maxey plays… so-so

A lot of pressure will fall on Tyrese Maxey as they navigate Embiid and George’s absences. A big point of emphasis on Maxey heading into the season has been: How can he step up and be a number 1 from time to time? For a majority of the game tonight he looked like he struggled quite a bit. To his credit, Gary Trent Jr. played phenomenal defense on him. Trent thwarted a lot of Maxey’s attempts to get downhill from the arc, and he was a real pest in disrupting the DHO game. Maxey finishes with 25 points on 10 of 31 from the field. The main thing all around that was concerning was that he was getting pushed around into taking tough off-balanced shots. A lot of the Sixers’ possessions whole were forced to the end of the shot clock. Moreover, with only 3 assists for Maxey, this number is probably off, the Sixers as a whole shot poorly.

Three-point shooting woes

The Sixers really missed a bunch of opportunities to take over this game. A lot of open-good-look threes were missed. As a team, they shot 8 of 31 from beyond the arc, just 25.8%. Again, some of this could be attributed to Embiid’s absence and a lot of late shot-clock chucks, but they got a good share of open looks that they did not convert. Guys like Eric Gordon and Caleb Martin, that’s really the reason they’re out there is to make catch-and-shoot threes, they just didn’t fall tonight. 

Oubre is still Oubre

Kelly Oubre without a doubt had the best game on the team tonight. 21 points on 8 of 18 from the field. Oubre brought a lot of toughness as he typically does and was really scrappy throughout the game. At times was tasked with guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo and did a good job stopping him early before he went to the paint. The Sixers overall did a fair job at stopping Giannis, he finished with 25 points on 8 of 11 from the field with 14 rebounds to boot. Giannis got to the stipe 16 times and converted 9 times. A guy like Giannis is going to roll out of bed with that statline so all-in-all the effort Oubre, Martin, and Drummond displayed against him was awesome. 

Role-players will look sweet with George and Embiid

All in all, the Sixers did a fine job managing the Bucks. Losing by 15 without Embiid and George should leave fans feeling good about the team. When those two eventually return, and guys like Martin, Gordon, and Guerschon Yabusele aren’t relied on as much, their impact will look even greater. Yabusele fouled out in his debut in what was otherwise a good game. 10 points, 3 steals, and 4 rebounds in his return to the NBA. Each role player showed flashes of energy and intensity which is something past Sixers teams have missed. 

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