Brett Davis
Paul George left the game early with a knee injury, inducing panic from the locals. But, the Sixers survived a brick fest to get a 104-89 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in preseason play.
Here's what I saw.
- Many people will not like Andre Drummond taking an early-clock three out of a pick-and-pop with Tyrese Maxey. But, honestly, Drummond's hands are so fickle when he's trying to control the ball on the move that Philadelphia might have a higher probability of getting value out of possessions if he just takes the three instead of trying to drive through traffic to get in the paint.
- Caleb Martin is the exact archetype of wing that the Sixers have been unable to get their hands on for years despite desperately needing multiple players of his ilk. Nico Batum, maybe even Dario Saric, were on the right track of that type of player. But, Batum was more ground-bound than Martin is. Saric was far less adept on the defensive end.
Martin stands out because he's 1) still in his 20s and 2) not on an expiring contract. In fact, he's on a team-friendly deal for a number of years. Image that! The best thing Martin did in this game was keep his dribble alive. There was no stopping the ball in unfavorable positions. Simple enough. But, Martin had a number of angled drives in the first half, attacking the paint and putting pressure on the rim or circling out to the other side of the floor. Not doing anything extraordinary, just keeping his options open.
Surprise! Good things happen when you don't stop the ball! It's very, very early and the outcomes of these games do not matter. But, Martin does all of the little things you want a supporting cast member to do. He makes connective plays and quick decisions, and he shoots the ball without thinking about it.
Teammates cut around him because they trust him to find them, and so it makes for an offensive catalyst that doesn't rely purely on the likes of Maxey and Paul George when Embiid is off the court.
Beyond that, Martin is prideful and relentless on defense. There were a number of Atlanta possessions in the first half in which Martin got beat or was out of the picture, but stuck with the play to deflect the ball from the blind side.
- The early growth in Maxey's playmaking is the lob pass. He mentioned at training camp that he's developing chemistry with the likes of KJ Martin and Drummond on lobs. Frankly, any step in leveraging his speed to create opportunities for others is great. He punished Atlanta for shifting toward him on drives, leaving the ball where only his teammates could get to it on the plunge for easy dunks. He's had some missed connections thus far, but you can see he's consistently comfortable making that read.
- Speaking of Maxey, he attempted nine threes in 26 minutes. Fully endorsed by this writer.
- George left the game in the second quarter and did not return. The official word from the Sixers is that he departed due to a hyperextended left knee.
- Both teams shot some absolute bricks in this game. Not talking about prideful misses off the rim, either. There were shots that were all backboard, like the shooters had never touched basketballs before in their lives.
- Do my eyes deceive me or did Drummond gallop into a ball screen? Or perhaps he was skipping into it? Are the Sixers giving themselves style points for ball screens this season? Or is Drummond just that enthusiastic about setting picks?
- Plenty of fans on the younger end of the spectrum will be irate when/if Maxey receives a fine for the hand gun celebration on made threes. Then again, I don't remember ever seeing a press release for Mikal Bridges being fined for his hand gun celebration. So, let's hope the youngster doesn't get a deduction from his next paycheck.
- I respect Kyle Lowry's reaction to air-balling a transition pull-up three. Bold shot, way off the mark and he just got back on defense and kept it moving. Alec Bohm might've ripped his jersey if he did that.
The Sixers (2-2) will host the Brooklyn Nets (1-1) on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., Eastern time. You can watch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
