Maxey’s 37 not enough vs. Bucks as shorthanded Sixers continue to spiral

Tyrese Maxey did all he could, but the shorthanded Sixers remain hilariously overmatched in a loss to the Bucks Sunday.

The first half of the 2024-25 season is finally in the books.

The Sixers dropped their sixth in a row, losing to the Milwaukee Bucks 123-109 Sunday night. They are 15-26.

Paul George and Guerschon Yabusele remained on the inactive list as the Sixers had nine players available, including their two-ways.

Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 37 points, shooting 14-of-28 from the field and 6-of-15 from three-point range. Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 17. Adem Bona was perfect again from the floor, finishing with 10 and six rebounds going 4-of-4 from the floor. He fouled out in 24 minutes guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 34 points and 15 rebounds. He shot 13-of-17 from the field.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• Maxey got off to a quick start by knocking down a couple of jumpers but the rest of the team started the game 1-of-5 from the field and 2-of-4 from the free throw line. Eric Gordon was one of those that split a pair early — this funk from the line has affected even the most reliable shooters on this team.
• Kyle Lowry was one of those unable to suit up as he missed his eighth straight game with a. hip injury. He did make the most of the green hoodie he was sporting.

• It was a similar start for Milwaukee — no trouble for Antetokoumnpo but the rest of the Bucks opened the game 3-of-10 from the floor. Bona did not have much success slowing him down early, but got it back on the other end with a couple of and-1s. He really struggled from the line in the quarter, going 1-of-5 from the stripe.
• Who better than Pete Nance to snap a field goal drought that lasted well over three minutes. Oubre followed it up with a layup on the next possession, but the Sixers still found themselves trailing by nine after the first.

Second Quarter

• They took advantage of Giannis’ first trip to the bench, ripping off a 15-2 run. Sandwiched in between Maxey pull-up threes, Justin Edwards got on the board with a backdoor cut, taking advantage of some nonchalant defense.
• Given the offense almost entirely came down to what Maxey could give them, things slowed down a bit after that run. Gordon was able to tack on with a couple of deep threes, Ricky Council IV nailed one as well, though it wasn’t as pretty.
• Bona had to sub out with a couple minutes left in the half after picking up his third foul, but not before he had another massive dunk down the lane. He’s able to get very high very quickly when he’s able to get downhill. That ended up being the last Sixers’ field goal of the half, and they went into the break still trailing by nine.

Third Quarter

• Bona used that same move to get down the lane, but this time he pumped faked to lay it in around Antetokounmpo. Outside of that, the offense struggled save for a couple fast break opportunities out of the half.
• After failing to do so since November, Council hit multiple threes in two consecutive games. He drilled two more as the Sixers continued to climb back every time the Bucks’ lead threatened to reach double digits.

• Khris Middleton drew Nance’s fourth foul with the Bucks in the bonus, putting both available big men for the Sixers four fouls. After picking up a shot clock violation on their final possession, they went into the final quarter still trailing by nine points.

Fourth Quarter

• Milwaukee finally was able to keep that lead at double digits once Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez each got a couple of threes to go down. Maxey checked in about a minute into the quarter, finishing the night at 41:26. This was the 14th time he’s played at least 40 in the 34 games he’s played this season.
• Maxey continued to fight, knocking down a couple of buckets as the game was starting to turn. He also got robbed of a fast break because the refs decided to honor the shot clock violation. They couldn’t string enough stops together though as they had no answer for Lillard.

• One more stop on this trip as the Sixers head to Denver to take on the Nuggets Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET. The intellectuals out there have already accused Joel Embiid of ducking Nikola Jokic again.