3 observations after Sixers finish preseason with comeback win over Hawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers’ next one counts.
The team wrapped up its preseason Friday night by coming back from a 17-point deficit for a 120-106 win over the Hawks at Wells Fargo Center, ending the exhibition season at 2-2.
De’Anthony Melton scored 29 points on 11-for-16 shooting. Playing his first and only game of this preseason, Joel Embiid added 21 points.
James Harden missed all four Sixers preseason games. Still a Sixer despite his trade request, Harden is away from the team due to a personal matter, a Sixers official said Thursday.
Terquavion Smith and Filip Petrušev were out with minor injuries, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame. The team was otherwise at full strength.
The Sixers’ regular-season opener will be next Thursday night in Milwaukee against the Bucks. Here are observations on their preseason finale:
Embiid gets one under his belt
Unsurprisingly, the Sixers’ offense didn’t start in first gear.
The team generated plenty of decent looks, including a Tyrese Maxey floater off of an opening-play dribble handoff, but began 1 for 6 from the floor. Embiid fell to 0 for 6 when he failed to convert a couple of close-range tries late in the second quarter.
On a positive note, Embiid made an impressive pass early when he posted up, drew help and then tossed a high-velocity dish to Tobias Harris in the opposite corner. Harris didn’t hit his jumper, but Embiid’s read and delivery were both sharp. In Embiid’s first year under Nurse, processing the action around him, anticipating openings and setting teammates up for open jumpers will all be key.
The Sixers’ starters played aggressive defense in front of Embiid. Maxey picked up two steals in quick succession during a frenetic, hustling stretch. The Sixers have made mistakes and shown expected growing pains defensively, but guards like Maxey and Melton have done encouraging work flying into passing lanes and generally sniffing out potential turnovers.
Melton’s also been productive finishing off fast breaks, which was a notable weakness at times last season. The 25-year-old combo guard caught fire from three-point range in the third quarter and was excellent overall for a second consecutive game.
Maxey’s playmaking was a highlight Friday, too. He racked up 12 assists — pocket passes, lobs, drive-and-kicks — and looked more comfortable alongside Embiid as the game wore on.
Embiid played the entire first quarter, though he certainly didn’t look fresh when the period ended, walking slowly to the sidelines with his hands on his hips. He went 33 minutes on the night.
While preseason results mean next to nothing — the Sixers lost their first three regular-season games last year after a 4-0 preseason — the team will hope Embiid shakes off rust and ramps up substantially in the final stretch before their opener.
Springer further strengths his case
Jaden Springer was perhaps the Sixers’ best story of the preseason.
Just like in the team’s exhibition opener, Springer immediately jumped out Friday night. Seconds after entering the game early in the second quarter, Springer made a patient drive toward the middle, Danuel House Jr. cut along the baseline, and the 21-year-old found him for a layup.
Springer also took little time to notch a steal and sink two three-pointers. Remarkably, Springer ended the preseason 7 for 8 from three-point range. Especially given his defensive skills and ever-growing confidence reading the game and making good, instinctive decisions on both ends of the floor, he’s looked worthy of NBA rotation minutes.
Where exactly might those minutes be? With Nurse always seeking variety and versatility, there’s surely quite a few lineups where Springer would make sense. One example: He played in the the third quarter alongside Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid, and that unit felt reasonably balanced. Though he appears most well-suited to pressuring guards, Springer doesn’t tend to seem overmatched against larger wings (such as Jaylen Brown in the Sixers’ first preseason game). His much-improved outside shooting is also a serious boost when considering where he might fit for the Sixers.
The bottom line is that it’s currently hard to make a compelling case for Springer being fully excluded from the Sixers’ regular-season rotation.
Final auditions
Before the game, Nurse named Furkan Korkmaz and House as players he wanted to watch. Korkmaz hadn’t played in the preseason until Friday, while House was sidelined for the past two contests because of left knee soreness.
Neither player seems likely to surge up the Sixers’ pecking order in the near future, although each had a couple of nice fourth-quarter moments. Korkmaz posted eight points on 3-for-6 shooting, two rebounds and two assists. House recorded two points and three assists.
For the time being, Nurse has a better feel for Oubre, and he’s liked much of what he’s seen. He knows Danny Green very well from their championship-winning days on the Raptors and understands the value of Green’s shooting next to attention-drawing stars like Embiid.
Petrušev’s absence didn’t lead to an opportunity for Mo Bamba, who was a DNP. Paul Reed looks set to be Embiid’s primary backup and to play some power forward minutes, as he did late in Friday’s third quarter. PJ Tucker remains a small-ball center option. After that, it’s not yet clear what the Sixers’ big man depth chart will be to start the regular season.