3 76ers takeaways from preseason vs. Timberwolves

The Philadelphia 76ers confronted the Minnesota Timberwolves of their second sport of the 2024 preseason. After a tune-up sport towards the NBL’s New Zealand Breakers through which they dominated all through, the Sixers fell behind early and by no means recovered, dropping 121-111.

Paul George made his first look as a Sixer whereas Anthony Edwards made his preseason debut. Though All-Star bigs Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle have been out, this was a superb probability for 2 of the titans of their respective conferences to sq. off.

Listed here are three takeaways from the Sixers and Wolves’ showdown in Iowa, a sport that was not publicly televised and was solely watchable by means of an abysmal stream on League Move. Many of the first half was interrupted by technical difficulties however the present, as they are saying, should go on. NBA motion, it is FANtastic!

1. Paul George does his factor

Below the duvet of broadcast darkness, George took his first spin along with his new staff. He scored his first bucket off a drive, slithering by means of the protection after getting a excessive display screen. All through his minutes, he created loads of offense, wanting each bit just like the star the 76ers waited for.

Andre Drummond set to work setting screens for George, who stayed affected person and labored the Minnesota protection. Any sliver of area was an invite to drag up from deep however he saved his head up and swung it to an open teammate when he was met on the degree of the display screen. He had 13 factors within the second quarter, together with eight straight for Philly.

Having George run the offense benefited everybody, particularly Maxey, who received’t be the one authentic supply of offense when Embiid sits out. George getting the protection to buckle opened area for Maxey to cook dinner, punishing defenders off the dribble for a mini-individual run within the third quarter. Even when it wasn’t No. 8 straight making performs for No. 0, his presence was massively useful. The protection respects him always and the Sixers ought to discover it straightforward to get beauty.

George’s closing stat line in 26 minutes: 23 factors, six rebounds, two assists, one steal, 8-15 from the sector, 4-9 from deep. Great things!

2. Protection experiences its personal difficulties

Even with the caveats that the 76ers have been lacking their greatest defender and have been implementing a brand new star participant, their defensive efficiency was actually dangerous. The Wolves led the Sixers 70-53 at halftime. Edwards caught hearth on the finish of the half however that solely explains a part of it.

All however 4 of Minnesota’s first-half two-pointers got here outdoors of the paint. Most of these got here inside 5 toes of the ring and the Wolves, in fact, shot rather well on these appears to be like. The spacing from Naz Reid opened up the ground within the halfcourt and the Wolves additionally pushed the ball up and received nice appears to be like (based mostly on what little footage at-home viewers might see). There have been a number of cases the place the Wolves scored on three or extra consecutive possessions.

It is powerful to diagnose the issues on protection with so many new components — oh, and since the printed pooped its pants for the primary 30ish minutes — however 70 factors in a half for a rotation of principally starters and rotation gamers just isn’t good.

The starters started the second half and performed aggressively, forcing back-to-back-to-back turnovers to ignite a 10-2 run. By the point the backups and younger guys got here in, the sport was again into single digits. It was good to see Philly flip its depth up when it is backed right into a nook. Nevertheless, it ought to concentrate on not getting cornered subsequent outing.

3. Andre Drummond rebounds the heck out of the ball

With 5 minutes left within the third quarter, Drummond had 15 of the Sixers’ 33 rebounds. Seven of them have been offensive boards and three of them become second-chance factors for the massive man. He stated he was the most effective ever on this space of the sport and goes out and reinforces his case nearly each single time.

Drummond shot 4-9 from the sector, all of which have been pictures within the paint. He received three of his misses out of the way in which within the first two minutes — smart to get your errors in when the printed goes haywire — however capturing effectivity that poor on that kind of shot food regimen should enhance. His playmaking was seen on a terrific backdoor feed to Jared McCain that led to free throws for the rookie. Nonetheless, he additionally solely had a single help.

On protection, Drummond flashed fast palms, notching two steals in his 24 minutes, and held his floor effectively on defensive boards. He wasn’t superb down low (at the least from the components of the sport that have been seen) and he will be much more weak when he has to step out and guard a stretch huge like Reid. If his rebounding and ball expertise make up for his defensive deficiencies, the Sixers might be in fine condition every time Embiid has to relaxation.

The 76ers have a back-to-back on deck as they face the Boston Celtics in TD Backyard on Saturday at 8:00 P.M. EST.