By: Kylan Watson
After beating the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night the Philadelphia 76ers faced off with the Charlotte Hornets tonight in Charlotte. The Sixers dominated this game from start to finish and were able to use a late game scoring explosion from Tyrese Maxey to beat Charlotte 110-104 and extend their win streak to two games.
The Sixers jumped on the Hornets from the opening tip off and were able to find their offensive rhythm early in this contest. Paul George had his best game of the season tonight as he scored 29 points (season high), had 8 assists, and made 6/9 three-pointers in this game. Since George returned to the line-up on Saturday against Detroit the flood gates have opened for Philly’s offense.
His playmaking ability once again jumped off the screen tonight he created a number of high-percentage scoring opportunities for his teammates in tonight’s contest. He probably would have had a double-digit assist total if his teammates could have converted a couple more shots in this contest. Its only the second game since he came back and everyone is now seeing what the Sixers offense can be with him. Tonight his scoring ability also was a huge difference maker for Philly in this contest. He finally found his offensive rhythm for a complete game and when George is putting points on the board it adds another dimension to Philly’s offense. Additionally, once Joel Embiid returns the Sixers should have one of the most dominant offense and defense in the league.
Despite the George scoring explosion the Hornets were able to overcome Philly’s offensive prowess to make this a game. They could have easily given up in this contest especially when the Sixers had a double-digit advantage, but they kept fighting and were able to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. Brandon Miller (34 points) and Nick Richards (22 points) combined for 56 of Charlotte’s 104 points and refused to let the Hornets go quietly in this contest.
Miller in particular just could not be stopped throughout this contest. At one point in this contest George and him went bucket for bucket in the third quarter to see who could keep their team ahead in this contest. Miller is a star in the making for the league and despite the absence of LaMelo Ball did all he could to keep his team in this game. Combine that with Richards grabbing most of the 50/50 rebounds throughout this contest and you have a recipe for near disaster for the Sixers.
Philly was able to turn the defensive heat up late in this contest to force the Hornets into ill-advised shots and turnovers to win this game. Tyrese Maxey( 21 points and had seven assists) was able to score 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to close this game out. Maxey also hit multiple pivotal free throws to close this game out for the Sixers.
The Sixers will now prepare for the first of a two-game series starting tomorrow night against the Orlando Magic. Philly will need to match the intensity of the Magic on both ends of the floor, if they want to get their first victory of the season over them.
In addition, the Sixers will have to convert their high-percentage shooting opportunities like they did tonight. Also winning the rebounding battle will be a key factor in determining who wins the game between these two Eastern Conference powerhouses. Philly did not win the rebounding battle when they faced Orlando two weeks ago and they lost that game. Implementing these things into their gameplan should put Philly in great position to beat the Magic on Wednesday.