The Philadelphia 76ers fell on the road to the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday evening. The loss, which came by a final score of 123-109, is the Sixers sixth straight, and thanks to a recent rash of injuries, the light does not seem much brighter ahead.
While Philadelphia has had a brutal slew of injuries all season, they came into tonight’s matchup particularly shorthanded.
All of the following players were out tonight for Philadelphia: Joel Embiid, Paul George, Guerschon Yabusele, Caleb Martin, KJ Martin, Jared McCain, Andre Drummond, and Kyle Lowry.
That left the Sixers with a starting lineup of Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre, Eric Gordon, Ricky Council IV, and Adem Bona—the first career start for the rookie out of UCLA. With Justin Edwards, Jeff Dowtin Jr., Pete Nance, and Reggie Jackson off the bench, Philadelphia had only nine players available against a red-hot Bucks team.
Despite the loss, there were a few things the Sixers did well. The team as a whole improved on their three-point shooting, going 35.6% from deep compared to last night’s 29.4%. Tyrese Maxey, in particular, had his best shooting night in weeks, putting up 37 points while tying his season high of six made triples. Young players Council, Bona, and Edwards made the most of their rare starting opportunities, with Bona continuing his 100% field goal streak from last night and Council IV going 3-5 from beyond the arc.
Despite a first-half double-double from Giannis Antetokounmpo that put the Bucks up 59-50 at halftime, it never felt like the game was that far out of Philadelphia’s reach.
But that changed in the fourth quarter when Damian Lillard finally came alive. The 34-year-old was effectively shut down for the first three quarters, putting up nine points total and making just one of seven three-point attempts. In the final quarter, though, the future Hall of Famer came scorching back with 16 points off 4-5 field goals, including 3-4 from deep.
The Bucks were already up, and Lillard’s late-game resurgence allowed Milwaukee to pull away late in the game. And while Philadelphia put up a fight – who knew Pete Nance could shoot? – it just wasn’t enough against the NBA Cup Champions.
Up next for the Sixers
Philadelphia will have the opportunity to lick their wounds as they travel to Denver to face reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, who have won six of their last seven games.
Tipoff is set for 10 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game on TNT or TruTV, or you can listen live as always on 97.5 FM, the Fanatic.
