The Philadelphia 76ers are hosting the Charlotte Hornets for their home opener, after both teams won their season openers.
The Sixers saw the duo of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe combine for 74 points against the Celtics, hitting crucial buckets to help the team secure a late-game comeback and victory. The Hornets, on the other hand, dominated the Nets in their season opener on their way to a 136-117 win.
Who: Charlotte Hornets (1-0) at Philadelphia 76ers (1-0)
When: 7:30 p.m. EST
Where: XFinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBA League Pass, NBC Philadelphia, FUBO
Let's get this out of the way to start.
Joel Embiid will not be the MVP center from just a few short years ago, and won't look close to that player any time soon. Embiid participated in just one preseason game before playing in Wednesday's season opener. Embiid looked to be out of sorts, having not played a meaningful game since February.
While Embiid looked in good physical shape, he's not near the shape he needs to be in on the court. His four points were the third lowest of his career, and you'd be hard pressed to find a game where he only made one shot on nine attempts. Embiid is a work in progress, and the team will treat him as such, aiming to keep him healthy more often than not and ready for the playoffs.
Now to the good stuff.
Tyrese Maxey looked as though he's ready to take the team over as his own, from Embiid. Maxey, who started the game slowly, took off in the second quarter and never looked back, on his way to a 40-point game.
When the Celtics held a 13-point, fourth-quarter lead, Maxey fired off three long three-pointers to get the Sixers right back into the game. For Maxey, there's no more operating as the second or third option; he came out and showed that it's his team.
VJ Edgecombe, in his NBA debut, looked like the star that people said he would be three years from now, scoring 34 points. HE shot 50% from the floor, 38.5% on his three-point attempts, but just 50% on his free throws. He had two crucial free-throw misses at the end of the game, but it turned out that the Sixers were able to hold on. Edgecombe is better than advertised, and it might still only be the second-biggest surprise of the season opener.
Free agent Dominick Barlow came to the Sixers on a two-way contract, just looking for an opportunity, and that turned into a starting role against the Celtics, on opening night in Boston. Barlow responded with 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists as the 6'8" 225 lb. forward seemed to be all over the court with energy, quality play, and a game that had fans and pundits alike clamoring for his contract to be converted to a full NBA deal.
In the season opener against the Brooklyn Nets, the Hornets looked nothing like the squad that finished with the third-worst record in the entire league last season. They dominated the Nets throughout the game, winning by 19 points, and look like a opponent for the Sixers.
Brandon Miller led the team with 25 points and seven assists, while LaMelo Ball was right behind him with 20 points and eight assists. Miles Bridges finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Colin Sexton had 15 points off the bench.
The Hornets also have rookie Kon Knueppel, who had 11 points and 5 rebounds in his NBA debut, shooting 4-6 from the floor and 3-4 from beyond the arc. While Knueppel was expected to be a lethal shooter coming out of college, the team has put him in a good position to succeed with Miller and Ball being the primary scoring options.
Knueppel wasn't the team's only rookie to have a good debut, as Ryan Kalkbrenner, the second-round pick out of Creighton, finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go along with two blocked shots in just 27 minutes. Kalkbrenner stands 7'1" tall and weighs close to 260 lbs., which is enough to give the Sixers' smaller lineup fits if the team decides to force things on the inside.
The Sixers, despite getting the win in Boston, have some issues to work on, and the biggest one may be their third-quarter play. For a team that seemed to lose all direction and turn the ball over a lot in the third quarters of games last year, they appeared to be the same team against the Celtics.
A six-point, halftime lead quickly turned into a huge hole, and ultimately, the team was down 11 points by the end of the quarter. Head Coach Nick Nurse will have to fix that issue immediately if the team is going to have success this season.
On the bright side, the Sixers routinely fell apart even worse in the fourth quarter last season, and Maxey and Edgecombe assured the team that wouldn't be the case this year, at least to start, as the Sixers scored 42 points on their way to the victory.
With an increased workload on the horizon for Embiid, the soon return of Jared McCain, and better games from players like Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Adem Bona, the Sixers have the squad to really dictate how they will perform as the season progresses.
For the immediate, as they take on the Hornets, they'd have to figure out their defense, especially on the interior, as the Celtics were scoring at will in the low post. With Kalkbrenner and Miles Bridges in the frontcourt for the Hornets, that will present a problem for a Sixers squad that doesn't have much size or mobility.
In addition, the Hornets opened up against the Nets, shooting 47.2% from three-point range, and the Sixers will have to play a tighter style if they're going to keep the Hornets from running away with this game.
The idea is for Embiid, still on a minutes restriction, to not shoot as poorly as he did on Wednesday while continuing to improve his on-court mobility, combining the defense and rebounding of Adem Bona to keep the Hornets' frontcourt from abusing the low post. Barlow, with his size and athleticism, could have an even better game than he had on opening night, and Quentin Grimes will not have many 3-8 shooting nights.
It will come down to how Nurse utilizes this new lineup and pieces them correctly during the times they're needed. If their win over the Celtics is any indication, Nurse will be just fine as he adjusted better than he had at any time last year.
Prediction:
Sixers: 117 - Hornets:115
