3 observations after the Sixers’ misery at the start of the season was made worse by their loss to the Clippers

3 observations after Sixers’ early-season woes deepened with loss to Clippers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers’ misery at the start of the season worsened on Wednesday evening.

They suffered a 110-98 loss to the Clippers at the Intuit Dome, falling to 1-6 in seven games, and Tyrese Maxey was sidelined early in the fourth quarter with right hamstring soreness.

The Sixers, Bucks and Jazz now have the worst record in the NBA.

Norman Powell scored a game-high 26 points on 8-for-10 shooting and six assists. James Harden added 18 points and six assists.

In his first game against the Clippers since his decision to leave Los Angeles this summer for the Sixers, Paul George scored 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting and seven rebounds.

Joel Embiid served the first game of his three-game suspension for shoving Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes. Since the start of last season, the Sixers have gone 17-33 without Embiid.

The Sixers will complete their three-game trip to the West Coast on Friday night against the Lakers. Here are observations about the team’s loss on Wednesday:

Sad offense

George sank his first two shots of the night, both from long range. He secured the first goal by grabbing an offensive rebound after a missed free throw from Caleb Martin, and he secured the second goal as the shot clock expired.

George also scored his only two jump attempts in the second quarter. Unsurprisingly, he had a far more efficient outing than his 4-for-14 Sixers debut on Monday in a loss to the Suns.

In his second game, after suffering a bone bruise in his left knee, George was again not used for a long period of time. As soon as he sat, Maxey increased his aggression. The Sixers really wanted Harden to bring in Maxey, a player he once showed many of the tricks of his trade. Maxey hit a step-back jumper over Harden and raced to the rim for an and-one layup.

While the talents of Maxey and George shined in the first half, the Sixers’ offense was anything but exemplary. They had plenty of sloppy, out-of-sync turnovers – 10 in the first 15 minutes – and their possessions on the half of the pitch were often stagnant and severely isolated. The Clippers had an 18-4 point lead at halftime with no turnovers.

The Sixers’ assist percentage this season is the lowest in the NBA at 52.5. With 19 assists and 40 made field goals, they were under 50 percent on Wednesday.

Aside from George being back on the court and Embiid’s expected season debut on the horizon (November 12 against the Knicks), there is almost nothing positive about the state of the Sixers’ offense.

This time there is not much hit rate in the second unit

Harden and the Clippers asked Andre Drummond to defend numerous pick-and-rolls in drop coverage. Martin did well individually against Harden, who started 2-for-11 from the field. Martin generally picked the right spots to be physical and the right spots to settle for solid defense.

After subpar play in his last two games, Drummond (nine points, 10 rebounds) was better in Los Angeles. After a 15-minute night on Monday, Drummond played 32 minutes against the Clippers. The evening featured his first regular third season since the 2019-20 season.

Off the bench, the Sixers didn’t score nearly as much as they did against the Suns.

Senior guards Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon combined for one point on 0-5 shooting in 37 minutes total. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse played Guerschon Yabusele just 10 minutes after his outstanding 19-point performance in Phoenix. Although KJ Martin put in a brilliant first-half performance, highlighted by two quick dunks, it was strange that Yabusele was used exclusively in the middle and saw his playing time drop so much.

Nightmarish second half

The Clippers were clearly superior at the start of the third quarter. Less than three minutes into the third period, Nurse called a timeout after Terance Mann made a layup in transition.

Maxey went scoreless in the third quarter and the Sixers shot 0 for 8 from three-point range in the quarter. Because of his early exit, Maxey played 10 minutes less than his NBA-leading average of 41 at the start of the game.

The nurse told reporters in Los Angeles that the decision to take Maxey with her was a precautionary measure.

The Clippers’ lead increased in the third quarter as Harden found his rhythm. And when the Sixers attacked Harden on LA’s final possession of the third period, the Clippers got the ball in the corner to Kris Dunn, who pushed it in for a dunk. The Sixers began the third quarter tied and ended it trailing by 16 points.

Jared McCain played the entire fourth quarter and every available Sixer saw the floor Wednesday night. They are still looking for a second win and have to play two more games without their big superstar.