By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers were highly active this offseason in creating a deep and athletic roster for the 2024-25 NBA regular season. In their opening contest against the Milwaukee Bucks tonight that deepness and athleticism was tested. Despite showing admirable fight throughout this game, Philly just did not have enough to compete with Milwaukee tonight. The Bucks pulled away late in the second quarter and did not look back, beating them 124-109.

The Sixers did not have Joel Embiid (knee management) and Paul George (knee hyperextension recovery) available in tonight’s contest and still gave the Bucks all they can manage. Philly made Milwaukee work for everything they got and kept this game remarkably close in the first quarter. They were able to outhustle and outrebound the Bucks early in the contest. As a result, they were able to stay within striking distance of them, but you can only do so much when you are unable to take advantage of wide open three-pointers. Philly only made eight three-pointers in this contest. They will have to make their three-pointers if they want to win a game during opening week.

Tyrese Maxey (25 points) did all he could to keep the Sixers in this contest, but he did not get much help. Maxey clearly put in work over the offseason because he was explosive and was creating shots for himself via the crossover dribble. Continuing to develop a consistent shot off the dribble will take his game to another level. He did not get much help in this game tonight, but the Sixers bench was still impressive, especially Guerschon Yabusele. He played impressive defense on Giannis Antetokounmpo to help the Sixers get back into the game and cut Milwaukee’s lead to 12-points.

Yabusele, Martin, and a few other bench pieces played admirably throughout this contest, but it just was not enough to keep Damian Lillard in check. He scored 30 points and single-handedly powered the Bucks to win this. The Sixers could not manage his pick and roll that would get him open enough to put a shot up and could not keep the Bucks off the offensive end late in the contest as well. The Sixers will have to figure out how to deal with teams with bigger line-ups without Embiid and George. Adapting and learning how to matchup with opposing teams will be huge for the development of this team. Especially in the post season where the matchups determine who wins and loses games.

Now the Sixers will prepare to face the Toronto Raptors on Friday night, and they will need to cash in on high percentage opportunities created from their ball movement. Additionally, Tyrese Maxey cannot be the only player putting points on the board. Nick Nurse will need to find a way to get more players involved in the offense if the Sixers can implement these things into their gameplan on Friday night. Philly should be able to get their first win of the season on Friday in Toronto.