Maxey leaves game with injury, Sixers fall to Blazers

Tyrese Maxey took an awkward fall on his back and left the game while the Sixers dropped the contest to the Blazers Monday night.

Put everyone in bubble wrap until mid-April.

The Sixers dropped Monday night’s game 119-102 to the Portland Trail Blazers as Tyrese Maxey left the game midway through the third with a back contusion.

He finished with five points and six assists on 2-of-13 shooting. Andre Drummond led the Sixers with 25 points and 18 rebounds. Quentin Grimes had 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting but had a career-high nine assists.

Justin Edwards went for 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting, but also left the game in the closing minutes with an ankle injury. Anfernee Simons led all scorers with 34.

Paul George was out for Philadelphia with groin tightness, as well as Kelly Oubre Jr. who had an illness. Jerami Grant and Robert Williams III were unable to suit up for Portland.

Here are some thoughts from the Center.

First Quarter

• Whether his hand was feeling any better or not, Maxey took three early threes and made one of them, both of those already more than his last game. The Sixers started well as a whole as pick-and-rolls with Drummond were getting good shots at the basket.
• Early on the three-point shooting carried over from the Warriors game, thanks in large part to Guerschon Yabusele hitting his first two of the night. Back in the starting lineup, Edwards was pretty active as well, making two of his first four jumpers while grabbing a steal.

• With Yabu and Drummond both starting, it meant Adem Bona was due for the backup five minutes. He had a nice rebound and a roll of off Maxey, but Duop Reath punished him sagging off by knocking down a couple of threes. Lonnie Walker IV was able to find Bona on a baseline cut for an and-1 just before the quarter ended, giving the Sixers a three-point lead after one.

Second Quarter

• Portland came into the night as the third best offensive rebounding team in the league, per Cleaning the Glass. Moments into the second quarter and they had already brought down their 10th rebound on that end.
• Despite that, the small lineup the Sixers opened the quarter with turned in quality minutes. Walker seemed to settle in, making three of his first four shots with two stocks on the other end.
• Excluding garbage time, Jared Butler hadn’t seen the floor since Feb. 12, and it looked like that would continue as Jeff Dowtin Jr. opened the quarter. Butler checked in, likely to aid Maxey who was not as aggressive as he was in the opening minutes. He had an assist and a rebound but missed his two contested shots in the lane.
• It was quite a quarter for Drummond, who knocked down his second three of the year on his way to a 10-point quarter. Despite pulling down 10 it still felt like the Blazers could grab any board around him. His poster attempt on Donovan Clingan was unsuccessful, but he was able to throw one down over Toumani Camara. The Sixers held a five-point lead at the break.

Third Quarter

• Simons had begun to heat up towards the end of the first half, and that continued as he powered a 14-1 Portland run to begin the second. The Sixers’ defense was a little relaxed, but their offense was very sloppy. Edwards just dropped an outlet pass at one point, and Drummond ran into him as he was cutting which also caused him to lose the ball.
• Well, his right hand might not be his biggest concern anymore. Maxey took a hard fall trying to get up an up-and-under layup, and came down in a lot of pain holding his back. The Sixers called a timeout to help him back to the locker room. He was ruled out for the night at the end of the quarter.

• It was Dowtin who replaced Maxey, and he knocked down a three shortly after checking in. Even with that, the Sixers’ offense had gone into a rut. They were still running a lot of offense around Drummond to diminishing returns.
• Grimes’ jump shot had come back down to earth, but his downhill attacking was needed, especially once Maxey left the game. He put up eight in the quarter despite having nothing going on from outside. Nothing else was going right for the Sixers though as the Blazers took a 10-point lead into the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

• The offense was able to get to the basket against the Blazers’ smaller lineup somewhat often, but they weren’t coming up any stops on the other end, so it didn’t really matter. Despite Bona’s return it was just as easy for the Blazers to get to the rim.
• After a Drummond putback, they were able to take advantage of a quick miss by getting the ball up the floor for an Edwards’ three. That’s the closest the Sixers got to a run mid-quarter as stops continued to be a struggle. This time it was dump off passes to Clingan that they couldn’t come up with an answer for.

• One last timeout down 10 wasn’t able to do the trick as the Sixers nearly took a shot clock violation coming out of it. Simons responded by knifing his way to the basket on the other end. Yet another night where the Sixers couldn’t defend up to standard against a subpar offense.
• All they had to do was get to the finish line, and even that proved difficult. Edwards appeared to roll his ankle and went down in pain. It’s scary looking because he didn’t really make contact or trip over Shaedon Sharpe. Hopefully he did just roll it.
• The Sixers are right back in action as they head to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves Tuesday night. That is set to tip off at 8 p.m. ET.