Sixers squeak out win over Wizards behind Maxey, Yabusele

Tyrese Maxey delivered the late heroics after a slow start to earn the Sixers a 109-103 win over the Wizards. It’s not a game anyone will think about tomorrow.

Here’s what I saw.

The good

– It was a mixed game for Guerschon Yabusele. On the one hand, he had virtually no chance of stopping Jonas Valanciunas from destroying the Sixers on the offensive glass. Watching the burly Lithuanian stick one hand up and carry claw rebounds as Yabusele jostled for position would have been pretty funny if it weren’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’m still confused that teams aren’t updating their scouting reports on him after 30+ games of good to great shooting from the front court. He’s willing and able, and with Washington playing far away from him most of the night, Yabusele kept bombing away for great scores.

One of the few things that has worked 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 these looks, allowing them to flow in and out of screens on dribble handoffs as well.

With the game on the line, Yabusele looked dead in the water trying to chase down Bilal Coulibaly on his way to the rim. But the Frenchman saved his best defensive play for last, stonewalling Washington’s young wing for a crucial block to close out the game.

Enjoy the dancing bear while he’s here because he’ll almost certainly be playing his way out of their affordable lineup next summer.

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

— The task before Tyrese Maxey on Wednesday night was not an enviable one. With Philadelphia down two stars and multiple role players, the Wizards wanted 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 in a crowded part of the schedule. But we have to be honest about the kind of season he’s having right now. The raw totals, especially in the points department, overshadow terrible efficiency and troubling habits when we think long term. Each passing play raises questions about what kind of player Maxey is and will be, and whether he can carry the torch for the organization in an Embiid-free future down the road. But let’s deal with 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 game was marred by poor decision-making and poorer execution. When he has the opportunity to use even speed without anyone at the rim, Maxey can look great in isolation, but most teams won’t give you those options.

As a focal point, Maxey’s weaknesses are much more noticeable. Weaker defenders have a chance to stay in front of him as long as you can keep him from getting to his right hand, with Corey Kispert stonewalling Maxey at least a few times Wednesday in a matchup where Maxey should easily sprint past. Turning the corner to the 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 it as a pivot when you’re hitting nothing but the 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 whipping passes back to open sliders. He certainly has his eye on Guerschon Yabusele, who punished the Wiz for playing so far away from him as a shooter.

And in the end, you still have to give him credit for eventually get this one over the line. Maxey put it together in a stretch in the third quarter, driving all the way to the basket for a pair of layups before draining a stepback three with Valanciunas in no man’s land on a switch. He certainly didn’t catch a heater, but it gave him enough confidence to turn it on in the fourth and ultimately see this game out. When he absolutely had to, he pulled his teammates over the line, which is why he falls into this part 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, where a young child followed around Franklin the dog and imitated his every move. Give the young man a 10-day contract, Daryl.

The bad one

— Despite all the things I said about Maxey on top of that, I will admit 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 trust and rely on, so Maxey playing with a bit of tunnel vision and selfishness isn’t exactly a shocker.

— I respect the leadership we have seen from Kelly Oubre over the past month and a half. He’s played with the kind of defensive commitment required of any team with real playoff hopes, and even as the lineup has shifted between “hospital” and “star-studded,” Oubre has shown great restraint and picked 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 fired up in this one after starting the game well, and the Sixers weren’t exactly spoiled for offensive options Wednesday night. I’m not sure it was a decision problem as 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 bank on his shot selection, we should definitely expect Oubre to show some restraint in a big spot.

Oubre’s emotions often help this team, but he was a little on edge 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 closely contested game against an opponent you simply have to hit, you have to be smarter than that.

— I love how hard Adem Bona plays, but he’s far from a reliable rotation guy. A little too wild, which we all expected coming into the year.

The Ugly

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

— I’ve been to something like 300 games at the Wells Fargo Center in the last eight years, and I can’t remember a game with less juice than this one. Before the game, during the game and after the game, just a big old ball of nothing emanating from the home faithful apart from shouting at the refs.

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

– The Sixers have had an open roster spot for the entire regular season to date. I don’t know how you can look at a guy like Jared Butler and say there’s nobody in the world who is worth “compromising your flexibility” for at the end of the bench. You were destroyed by a two-way player on one of the worst teams in the league! Any impact trade the Sixers would make would likely send out more players than they would 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 field goal by Richaun Holmes on a Maxey layup attempt, and Kyle Kuzma carried the ball as a slot receiver going over the middle on the play that put Washington ahead with just over a minute left.