Third Quarter
It wasn’t the smoothest start to the second half, but a pair of Sixers hit their first threes of the night to buoy things in Maxey and KJ Martin. KJ taking multiple threes in a game as a starter is a step in the right direction. He needs to get some up at some point.
Guerschon Yabusele couldn’t buy a three tonight. He was 0-of-6 from beyond the arc through three quarters, but grabbed 11 rebounds including four offensive along with two assists and a block in 22 minutes. The guy just always finds ways to contribute, even when his shot isn’t falling.
A heater from McCain helped the Sixers run up their lead again. He made his first five shots from the floor. Maxey continued to struggle however, and a couple turnovers let the Hornets bring the lead right back to 11 as the third came to a close.
Fourth Quarter
The offense was pretty frustrating to start the fourth — all they got to fall was a three and a layup from Caleb Martin. It was a lot of Paul George initiating at the top of the key and with McCain on the floor, it might be a better use to flip that.
With that being said, it was pull-up threes from George that again kept the offense alive as the quarter progressed. It was fitting that George was dueling with a younger version of himself in Brandon Miller, a guy who’s said he’s looked up to George in many ways.
As Miller was eating into the Sixers’ lead quicker by the second, it appeared that Nick Nurse did not intend for McCain to close this one. Even if he wasn't having one of the best shooting nights of the team, it doesn't make a ton of sense. The kid has just been flat out one of, if not the best player on the team this year.
The Sixers stretched their lead to 19, their largest lead of the night with 3:36 in the third quarter. Over the next 12 minutes of game action, the Hornets outscored them 36-17 to tie the game up at 95. They let this one get away from them because they stopped being able to put the ball in the hoop.
Charlotte finally took the lead on a three from Miller with a minute and a half remaining. Maxey split a pair of free throws a few possessions later, and the Hornets tied it up again with free throws with 44 seconds left. Maxey finally got another layup to fall to give the Sixers a two-point lead.
The Sixers were able to force Miller into a contested floater that missed, and pushed their lead back to four which ended up being enough. This team needs wins anyway they can get them, but there was a lot they got away with tonight.
The Sixers are back in action at home tomorrow night. They’ll kick off a two-game set with the Orlando Magic at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Is that two wins? In a row????
The Sixers avoided disaster, knocking off the Charlotte Hornets 110-104 Tuesday night despite blowing a 19-point lead in the second half. Paul George finally saw another good shooting night, leading the Sixers with 29 points shooting 10-of-16 from the field. He also had two rebounds, two steals and a team-high eight assists.
Tyrese Maxey struggled all night, but hit the go-ahead layup as well as clutch free throws in the fourth quarter. He finished with 21 points on 5-of-16 shooting along with seven assists.
Jared McCain had 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting but did not play the final 8:33 of the game.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
The only starter for either team who could get a three to fall early was Kelly Oubre Jr., who knocked down his first three of the game. Oubre was all over the place, chasing down rookie Tidjane Salaun in the back court for a steal and getting a piece of a Nick Richards layup at the rim.
Amongst those slow starters was Maxey, who opened the game just 1-of-6 from the floor. He’s still struggled from inside the arc but has been very good from long range as of late. Tonight however he opened the game 0-of-3 from three.
While the Hornets are a pretty small team in general, they welcomed the 7-foot Mark Williams back tonight, his first game in nearly a year. Down their first two centers on the roster, Adem Bona was tasked with going up against him early. He again, looked really solid early — turning a couple dump offs into layups and not committing any defensive fouls. Their other rookie also hit his first three in three games towards the end of the quarter as the Sixers were up 12 after one.
Second Quarter
While they have their limitations as half-court offensive players, KJ Martin and Ricky Council IV getting more playing time has made this team’s transition offense so much better. Turns out having guys that can dunk the ball helps in that regard!
The true mark of a good PG game as a Sixer so far turns out to be when his heat check goes in. It happened when he had 29 against the Knicks, and it happened in the first half tonight. George started the night 6-of-8 and 4-of-5 from three.
After a couple of KJ Martin dunks grew the Sixers’ lead to 18, the offense went cold to end the half. They scored just two points, a PG layup, over the final 4:12 of the quarter, but the Hornets were only able to cut the lead to 11 at the break.
Paul George lead all scorers with 29 points as the Sixers narrowly handing the Hornets a win in the final minute of the game.
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