Six Thoughts: Sixers Give One Away Against Raptors Despite Maxey's Heroics

Tyrese Maxey scored 38 points to give the Sixers every chance to earn a win, but a slew of mistakes in crunch time cost them a victory against the Toronto Raptors on the first night of a back-to-back.

Here are six thoughts on the game.

Maxey's trek to the foul line

The Sixers took on water early in this game because they did not finish defensive stops with good positioning and awareness on the glass. They let the Raptors sneak behind them for position on misses or tap the ball out, creating quality shots on the second opportunity.

That could've been neutralized if the Sixers came out lighting the nets on fire, but they had no rhythm going as a team and no one to go to to hold the fort down until the shots started falling. Maxey didn't get frustrated by the strict defense the Raptors deployed on him. He didn't get handsy when the off-ball physicality picked up. He freed himself as he could and then put the ball on the deck, finding the seams in Toronto's defense to get downhill.

His decision-making was very good as the game threatened to run away from Philadelphia, Maxey applying pressure with speed and then daring the officials to not reward him with free throws when he picked up his dribble for continuation on contact to the arms.

Slowing the game down helps you restore order in that you're not pressing with bad shots and audacious home run decisions. But foul-hunting can be a dangerous bet. If the officials aren't feeling gratuitous, it's often a missed shot or a live turnover. But in a league where stars get rewarded for taking contact as long as they're aggressive in their attack, Maxey decided to leverage his star equity to slowly put points on the board for the Sixers while the offense was lost at sea.

Missing a third guy

The Raptors are a bad matchup to not have three guys going strong on offensive, and the Sixers could not scare Toronto with anyone besides Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. With Joel Embiid and Paul George both out, Philadelphia needed Quentin Grimes to not shoot a tour date in the first half. He could not make the Raptors pay for chasing through screens or losing balance in one-on-one duels.

The lack of a solid third option put a strain on the two lead guards as they tried to manufacture scores against capable individual defenders and helpers shading toward them. It's very difficult for guards to attack a side of the floor when a rangy defensive team is loading up to stop them.

For a long stretch of the second quarter, it certainly looked like the Sixers weren't going to be able to keep pace. Toronto heightened up the ball pressure and extended themselves high into passing lanes. The Sixers were their own worst enemies, making sloppy passes that were deflected for open-floor turnovers. If it wasn't a bad pass, it was a dribbling turnover.

Maxey comes to life

There are no moral victories in this one, but the Sixers are stacking good third quarters these days. They won the third by 18 points on Sunday, turning a 10-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. It started with Kelly Oubre Jr., who got the Sixers going early with seven points in a row to open the third quarter.

As the momentum swung back in the Sixers' direction, Maxey began to seize control. When he's in control of the game, he's dancing with the ball the right way. He changed speeds possession after possession, shaking the likes of Jamal Shead. It's not easy to shake a defender of that caliber. Maxey couldn't just speed through ball screens and explode. He had to make Shead commit to the chase and snake screens, making him chase the ball out into space. From there, he had to get creative, using hesitation moves and other tricks to get around him.

The other weapon in Maxey's arsenal was playing out of the post. He was able to protect the ball as he backed his way to his spots, making decisions with his back to the basket. A game like this one put Maxey's growth as a mid-range shooter on film. He can get to a high-arcing fadeaway if he wants it, stretching his defender out to try to contest. It's not unblockable, but it's a more difficult contest than trying to bother a shot that is straight up and down.

Energy is a skill

There is no question that Adem Bona's play late in the game hurt the Sixers. But that doesn't wipe away his effort in the second half. It's probably a commentary on the situation emerging behind Embiid. Andre Drummond has come back down to earth in the last month, and Bona has done a good job filling in behind the Sixers' starting big. But with Embiid out, Drummond was the starter. He quickly proved he couldn't handle the lion's share of the minutes, and that put Bona in a position to have to play a lot.

His energy keyed a lot of Philadelphia's momentum in the second half. Bona fought hard for interior positioning on the glass, forcing the Raptors to foul him as both sides pursued rebounds. His improvement as a rim protector was on display as Toronto's offense screeched to a halt in the third quarter. Bona timed his attempts to swat shots away for when the ball was on the way up instead of on the way down. He also showed to the strong side in time, careful to tease the Raptors into committing to shots in the paint before actually emerging to spike the ball away.

The hero plays bite back

As good as Bona was for most of the game, he made three terrible mistakes late in regulation and in overtime. It was the same mistake all three times, too. He got so focused on stopping the ball that he lifted away from the rim to shut down drives while his teammates were still with the ball-handlers.

If his teammates are chasing and keeping up with the ball, though, Bona doesn't have to help. The lifting opened up dump-off passes for Raptors who were in position to score at the rim. The first one tied the game on the final possession of regulation. The second one gave the Raptors a one-point lead late in overtime, and the third one expanded that lead to three points.

Tough day for Nick's in Philadelphia sports

I don't think there's any criticism of Nick Nurse for hanging with Bona as much as he did. No choice there with Drummond struggling. But as the game transitioned to overtime, Jabari Walker, who played quite well, was nowhere to be found. The Sixers really could've used the size to help Bona in overtime.

It was pretty clear that Nurse had to ride out the game with Maxey and Edgecombe trying to cobble together the offense, but it felt like the team just accepted that Edgecombe had to be the play finisher on a lot of possessions when he didn't have rhythm. It's not easy to get the ball to Maxey when the Raptors are trying to sell out to cut off his water and make literally anyone else beat them. But too many Sixers possessions started and ended with Edgecombe catching on the perimeter, sizing up and attacking without consistent success.

Credit to the rookie for continuing to attack despite not getting the whistle on contact and having his shots stuffed repeatedly.

The game ended on Nurse's team not being prepared to rebound an intentionally missed free throw, allowing the Raptors to tip the ball out and let the clock expire on the Sixers' night.