The Sixers never flirted with earning their first winning streak of the season Sunday night.
They instead got smoked by the Clippers and fell to 3-13 with a 125-99 defeat at Wells Fargo Center.
Jared McCain scored 18 points and Tyrese Maxey had 17.
James Harden posted 23 points and eight assists for the 11-7 Clippers. Derrick Jones Jr. added 18 points and Ivica Zubac tallied 16 points and 12 rebounds.
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The Sixers were still missing Joel Embiid (left knee swelling), Paul George (left knee bone bruise) and Kyle Lowry (right hip strain). Lowry watched from the sidelines in a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt and jumbo-sized Eagles hat.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame that both Embiid and George are “progressing.” He said George was on the court Saturday and that the swelling in Embiid’s knee has decreased.
The Clippers were down Kawhi Leonard (right knee injury recovery) and Norman Powell (left hamstring strain).
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Next up for the Sixers is a matchup with the 12-6 Rockets on Wednesday. Here are observations on their blowout loss to the Clippers:
Sixers immediately fall into major hole
The Sixers used the same starting lineup as in their win Friday night over the Nets, playing Kelly Oubre Jr., Caleb Martin and Guerschon Yabusele with a Maxey-McCain backcourt.
They soon found themselves playing catch-up. Put-back layups by Zubac and Jones prompted an early Nurse timeout. The Clippers racked up nine second-chance points in the first six minutes and the Sixers certainly looked undersized.
A 1-for-9 start from three-point range worsened the Sixers’ troubles. Yabusele and Andre Drummond were each whistled for illegal ball screens in the first quarter, too.
On the other end, the Clippers had no problem picking apart the Sixers’ defense when they hedged and blitzed Harden in the pick-and-roll. Harden poured in a dozen first-quarter points, including a pull-up three that stretched the Clippers’ lead to 32-13.
“The biggest thing was just a lack of keeping the ball in front of us on the defensive end,” Nurse said. “They just drove it to wherever they wanted to, to start the game. The second quarter, we finally got some physicality, cut off some of their drives … but we just didn’t do that at all to start the game or start the (second) half, which is certainly disappointing.”
No encore for McCain and Maxey
The Maxey-McCain duo did not pick up where it left off Friday. Much of the pair's production came when the game was out of reach in the second half.
McCain's streak of games with 20 points or more wound up ending at seven.
At times, McCain wasn’t in his normal mode of forcing the opposition to react, instead hesitating and being a tad too deliberate against rangy defenders. He also simply missed jumpers that he’s accustomed to hitting. McCain fell to 1 for 8 from the field in the second quarter with a three-point attempt that rattled around the rim and out.
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue threw a variety of defensive looks at the rookie.
“It’s pretty crazy,” McCain said. “I’m just grateful I’m even considered at the top of the scouting report; it’s pretty cool. But now, once I get past the fact that it’s cool, adjust and make sure I’m being myself out there, seeing what’s going on and seeing what coverages they’re in. Sometimes they were late switching. They were dropping sometimes. So I’ve just got to learn it.”
Maxey was too peripheral during a scoreless first quarter and started 1 for 5 from the floor. He played 30 minutes in his third game since returning from a right hamstring strain.
No shortage of garbage time
The Clippers missed several long-range shots in the second quarter when the Sixers shifted to zone defense. However, the Sixers couldn’t summon a serious run and entered halftime with a 12-point deficit.
In the first minute of the third quarter, Maxey grabbed at his right ankle after missing a driving layup and landing awkwardly. The play appeared momentarily concerning — just about anything injury-related is right now for the Sixers — but Maxey stayed in and seemed fine physically.
Martin subbed out with 10:44 left in the third quarter and did not return. He’d fallen hard on his lower back Friday night and went 1 for 8 from the field Sunday.
“His back was a little sore,” Nurse said. “It wasn’t sore enough to keep him out. There’s nothing in the pictures to show that there’s anything seriously wrong. Just playing through a lot of pain and was obviously struggling as well on top of it, so just tried to not go too far with it.”
The Clippers were vastly superior to the Sixers across the board to begin the third quarter. Two of Harden’s 12 free throws extended L.A’s advantage to 20 points. A Kris Dunn fast-break layup built the Clippers’ lead over 30 points and a portion of the home crowd reacted with boos.
Maxey and McCain provided some scoring late in the third and early in the fourth quarter, but the Clippers quite obviously had a win completely secure.
Adem Bona and two-way contract players Lester Quinones and Justin Edwards all played in the fourth quarter. They at least got one victory on Sunday — with the G League's Delaware Blue Coats over the Westchester Knicks.
“There’s nothing you can say about tonight other than it’s really disappointing. I think I was fairly hopeful because it was kind of this group when we played Cleveland,” Nurse said. “We played OK. Moved the ball, guarded hard, played tough. Same group the other night against Brooklyn. Pretty hard-fought game, moved the ball, played tough. And they just didn’t have one more in ‘em.
“Tonight, the energy and the physicality were off, man. Picked a tough night to have everybody go kind of a little bit energy-draining, right? Got to get ‘em back, get to work, and get focused and re-energized. Recovery tomorrow and get these guys ready to go because that group, we’ve seen ‘em play some OK basketball. So we’ve got to do that.”
