On Tuesday night, we finally got to watch Sixers’ basketball again. The team flashed their defensive capabilities but also displayed some new pick-and-roll to their offense as well. Shake Milton looks like he could be the sixth man of the year already. Rookie Tyrese Maxey impressed fans and teammates with his athleticism. Overall, this new and improved Sixers’ team is glaring with potential after their first taste of action this season.
Up next, they face an Indiana Pacers squad that has dropped both of their preseason games thus far. Playing two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Pacers may not have beaten them at all, but have shown their own flashes of potential. Domantas Sabonis led the Pacers in each of the team’s first two games, tallying 16 points and 13 rebounds Saturday, and 18 points and nine rebounds Monday. Along with him, Victor Oladipo looked solid in his first preseason action as well.
These two teams will tip-off at 6 pm for a Friday night matchup. You can catch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia or hear it on 97.5 the Fantatic. However, there’s some can’t miss storylines to look for as well:
Sixers’ Rookie Tyrese Maxey
As mentioned earlier, Maxey looked stellar in his NBA debut. His 8 points, 3 assists, and 1 board may not scream anything spectacular to the naked eye, but he just looked comfortable. This continued to his post-game press conferences as well, as the rookie confidently took on the media:
Despite having a positive COVID test not too long ago, Maxey has excelled during practices and looked like he deserved to be in the NBA on Tuesday. Since coach Doc Rivers pretty much saw what his starters are capable of against Boston, the youngster will look to get even more time than his 12 minutes played a few days ago. Make sure to look out for how Maxey handles the extended playing time.
The Sixers’ Rotation
For Tuesday night’s game, Doc Rivers put out what is likely to be his opening night starting lineup:
- Ben Simmons
- Seth Curry
- Danny Green
- Tobias Harris
- Joel Embiid
His first substitutions of the game were where some lineups got interesting. Shake Milton, Furkan Korkmaz, and Dwight Howard were the first three off the bench. Milton was easily the star of the game for Philly, scoring 19 points in 23 minutes and provided a scoring spark in the third quarter. In essence, he lived up to the Doc Rivers’ hype.
However, we saw Milton start the second half in place of Danny Green, which is something we could see at the start of Friday’s game. Rivers will likely want to continue to see what he has in terms of lineups and chemistry, so fully expect Shake to possibly start the game with Green coming off the bench. Dwight Howard started the second half as Embiid rested, which will likely be the trend Friday as well. As for the other bits and pieces, the Sixers will likely try to extend Maxey’s minutes a bit while sitting out their starters for the entirety of the second half again.
Just Vibin’
Honestly, the most important thing to watch for in this game is just for the Sixers to look like they’re having fun. In Tuesday’s game, their offense had much more flow than in previous seasons. They ran pick-and-rolls, had smooth ball movement, and got everyone involved.
The Sixers will likely need some time to find their team identity, but it could definitely end up being just that. This isn’t to say that their teams in the past haven’t gotten along, but after Daryl Morey was “just riffin,” this team looks like they’re going to have a ton of fun. In Friday night’s game, look for this trend to continue. Expect the offense to continue their crisp passing and scoring, all while playing a team game on the defensive end. Coach Doc Rivers mentioned before that he wants the team to have a balanced identity, and they for sure seem to have embraced that idea.
Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
