3 observations after Sixers play their worst defense of season in blowout loss

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3 observations after Sixers play their worst defense of season in blowout loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers conceded a season-high 144 points to the Nuggets and concluded their three-game road trip in miserable fashion Tuesday night.

A 144-109 loss in Denver stretched the Sixers’ skid to seven straight defeats.

Tyrese Maxey led the 15-27 Sixers with 28 points and 10 assists. Guerschon Yabusele tied his NBA career high with 22 points.

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic notched a triple-double of 27 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the 27-16 Nuggets.

The Sixers’ sidelined players were Joel Embiid (left knee injury management), Caleb Martin (right hip sprain), Kyle Lowry (right hip sprain), KJ Martin (left foot stress reaction) and Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery).

The team has a back-to-back coming up on Friday and Saturday nights: First vs. the Cavs, then at the Bulls.

Here are observations on the Sixers’ blowout loss in Denver:

Transition defense terrible

Paul George, Andre Drummond and Yabusele all returned after missing the Sixers’ loss Sunday to the Bucks.

Eric Gordon stayed in the starting lineup and scored six of the Sixers’ first eight points with a pair of long-range jumpers.

Soon, the team’s transition defense emerged as a gigantic problem. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse called his second timeout after a Jamal Murray layup gave Denver a 23-14 lead. The Nuggets posted 18 fast-break points in under 10 minutes. At that stage, the Sixers had zero.

According to Cleaning the Glass, the Sixers’ transition defense ranked as the NBA’s worst entering Tuesday. (Opponents had added 4.5 points per 100 possessions through transition play.)

Some of the transition struggles can be chalked up to factors beyond the players’ control — an older roster; a deluge of injuries; few chances for a core group to get on the same page about anything. Still, especially in light of all those challenges, the Sixers need to be much better with the basics of hustling back, communicating and limiting the opponents’ easy points.

Trading buckets

Denver also recorded the game’s first six…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/3-observations-sixers-play-worst-003356226.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2025-01-22 00:33:00

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