Third Quarter
Oubre, who always seems to play well against his former team, kicked off the second half pretty strong. He had a nice drive to the hoop and then a dump-off with a stop on Brandon Miller in between.
As a team the Sixers were shooting it very well to start the half, opening it 4-of-5 from behind the arc. Eric Gordon, playing in his first game in December, knocked down his first three since before Thanksgiving. He made three threes in this quarter — he had not made three in a game this season before tonight.
One Sixer who may now be slumping from deep is Guerschon Yabusele, who was 0-of-3 through three tonight. He definitely seems more comfortable shooting himself out of those slumps than when he first got here. Even with that, the Sixers still got out to a 16-point lead after three.
Fourth Quarter
This game eerily started to resemble the last meeting between these two as the Hornets opened up the quarter on a 10-0 run. Unfortunately that came to a bit of a halt when Brandon Miller rolled his ankle on a drive to the basket.
While Miller had to leave the game, Charlotte continued to close the gap. The Sixers started the quarter 1-of-6 from the field along with four turnovers. Between the contested pull-ups and aimless drives into basket it wasn’t a pretty sight.
Oubre leaked open for a three, and that was a much needed bucket to steady for the Sixers. PG slipped down into the corner a few moments later and Maxey found him with a pretty nice pass to complete the play. This is the type of performance you look for from All-Stars in times like this where the world feels upside down.
Up next is, you guessed, these very same Charlotte Hornets. They’ll wrap up the season series Friday back in Philly at 7 p.m. ET. Joel Embiid has already been ruled out for that one as well.
To think, what would this team’s record be if they weren’t playing Charlotte every other day?
The Sixers moved to 3-0 in the season series knocking off the Hornets 121-108 Monday night. They are now 8-16 on the season.
Just like last time in this building, Paul George had his highest scoring game as a Sixer with 33 points on 13-of-20 shooting, going 6-of-9 from three. He also went for five rebounds, eight assists and two steals.
Tyrese Maxey picked up the slack as well, finishing with a game-high 40 points on 12-of-28 shooting and 6-of-12 from deep. Kelly Oubre Jr. had another nice night against his old team, finishing with 19 points and nine boards.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
Good starts from PG and Maxey helped the Sixers open the game 8-of-12 from the field. Maxey got on the board with a deep three off the catch then got a few pull-up jumpers to fall which had to feel good. He’s shot just 38% from the field and 21% from three over the last five games.
The two of them were cooking so much so, that it took a while before a different Sixer scored. Oubre took the opening tip right in for a layup and that was it until KJ Martin got a layup in transition as well. It wouldn’t have been that long a stretch had Oubre not missed a pair of free throws, so those struggles continue.
It’s been pointed out before but it’s remarkable how Ricky Council IV is nowhere near the three-point line when he takes shots from the wing. It’s like he’s hovering over to the coach’s line instead. Regardless, the Sixers held an eight-point lead after George hit his third triple of the quarter.
Second Quarter
Things slowed down quite considerably after a fast opening quarter. The two teams combined to start the second 2-of-9 from the floor. The Sixers already make themselves susceptible to getting their shots blocked, and Mark Williams had three blocks in the first half.
It was a lot of pull-ups for George in the first quarter and in the second he started to have success driving to the basket. He had a really impressive and-1 going right at Williams (though of course he missed the free throw) then drew two defenders to get a dump-off into Andre Drummond. He did get another three to fall, and that three put him ahead of Jason Terry for 10th all time in three-pointers made.
Maxey went cold through the middle of the quarter but picked things back up with a couple big threes. The Hornets were able to run out into a couple of fast breaks to close the half, making it a five-point lead at the break.
Sixers forward Paul George moved into 10th place on the all-time 3-pointers made list as he put up 30pts against the Hornets.
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