All-Star Maxey takes ill, Sixers’ record worsens
PHILADELPHIA » Sixers AllStar guard Tyrese Maxey sat out just his fifth game of the season Friday night, this one due to an illness. Maxey is averaging 25.6 points per game, which was 15th in the league heading into what would be the Sixers’ 127-121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Wells Fargo Center.
In Maxey’s absence, the Sixers started 29-year-old veteran point Cam Payne, acquired from the Bucks in a deal that sent Patrick Beverley and a 2027 second-round pick to Milwaukee. Also in the starting lineup was threepoint shooter Buddy Hield, acquired from the Pacers for Marcus Morris, Furkan Korkmaz and three second-round picks.
Hield missed his first shot, had his second shot blocked but drilled a three-pointer and a layup to get the Sixers within 8-5 in the first quarter. Both he and Payne would finish with 20 points in their Sixers debuts.
Forward Paul Reed, who had a double-double in the first half, watched Hield light it up at Oklahoma.
“We all knew what he could do, that he was a great shooter,” said the 24-yearold Reed, eight years younger than Hield. “With (De’Anthony Melton) hurt, it will help fill a void with a shooter out there on the court. Both of those guys, Buddy and Cam, come in and shoot the rock pretty well. And then Cam, he’s a playmaker, a good facilitator of the ball. So, he’ll be a good guy to go out there and playmake for us.”
The Sixers played their 17th game without superstar Joel Embiid, sidelined after surgery to repair his left meniscus. Basketball operations chief Daryl Morey is “hopeful”
Embiid’s season isn’t over. The big guy will be reevaluated in four weeks.
Until then Sixers coach Nick Nurse intends to pull out all the stops.
“Any time you can get three-point shooting and pretty good experience with Hield, and Cam also shoots the ball well, that’s certainly an upgrade for us,” Nurse said. “I’m excited about it. They are shooters. We want them to be aggressive. And they are capable of scoring. And we need scoring obviously, so we’ll try to turn them loose.”
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NOTES » Nurse has his fingers crossed that Melton (lower back) and Nic Batum (hamstring) could return before the Feb. 15-21 All-Star break. “I hope so,” Nurse said. “I think that there’s a decent chance of that, that both (Melton) and Nico return before the All-Star break.” … Forward Robert Covington (knee) is sidelined indefinitely. … Now that the trade deadline has passed, much has been made of the Sixers being active in the buyout market. Maybe even finding a big man to make better use of the minutes available with Embiid sidelined. But it’s a pipe dream. “There really were no bigs traded,” Morey said. “I was shocked by that. We were aggressive in doing that. They just weren’t available, so it didn’t happen. We’re going to have to continue to be creative. I think we’ve got the best coach in the league in being creative. I think that position has been lighter than others. That’s why I mentioned we’re going to have to get creative.” That said, the Sixers still could add a player from the buyout market. Possibly even 37-year-old relic Kyle Lowry, the point guard who long, long ago played for Villanova.