Are the Sixers… figuring all of this out?
With their hard-earned victory on Wednesday, a 117-104 triumph over the Sacramento Kings, the Sixers are suddenly winners of four straight games and will likely finish the night tied for a Play-In Tournament spot in the Eastern Conference.
For the second straight night, the Sixers successfully defended their home floor against a surging Western Conference team with a record above .500. They did so behind Tyrese Maxey, who continued his torrid stretch of play with another gem. Maxey had plenty of help along the way, though, as the Sixers' cast of role players keeps finding increased comfort. Once again, veteran sharpshooter Eric Gordon provided a particularly significant lift, continuing his stellar month of January.
Here is what stood out from yet another strong Sixers win on Wednesday:
Eric Gordon has become the player the Sixers hoped for
When Gordon turned 36 years old on Christmas, he was in the midst of an extended absence due to a dental issue. He was also firmly out of the picture as far as Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's rotation was concerned: the team was finally reaching something resembling full health otherwise, and despite Gordon's reputation as a brilliant three-point marksman, he had only made 27.5 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Gordon returned to action on Jan. 1, and his production ever since has been night and day compared to what he had given the Sixers during the first two months of the season.
Entering Wednesday's game, Gordon had made a stunning 49.3 percent of his three-point tries in the month of January, catapulting his season-long three-point percentage above 40 percent. But Gordon has also found other ways to impact winning — he has leveraged the attention defenses pay to his jumper to create driving opportunities and has shown some improved passing chops. Thanks to his impressive strength and quick hands, he has also taken on a role as a defensive option against bigger wings despite being listed at just 6-foot-3: the night after defending LeBron James and holding his own, Gordon did the same against DeMar DeRozan.
Ultimately, though, Gordon will have enough value to stick in the rotation for the Sixers or any other team if he is going to routinely knock down shots like this one:
(LOGO)rdon. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VdygQfqrg4
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 30, 2025
"I think that he's getting really good shots," Nurse said last week. "Obviously, he's making a lot more of them. I think maybe our guys are noticing a few other ways to use him… I think a lot of it's probably just, he's a really good shooter and just was not shooting it well. And now he is."
Maxey's excellent stretch continues
Maxey spoke openly and honestly on Tuesday night about how earlier in the season, all of the controversy and adversity the Sixers faced prevented him from playing the game with the unbridled joy he has been known for always carrying with him. But he said he has found that side of himself again, and it is evident with each and every game. Maxey has been on a phenomenal heater over the last several games, making a strong late push for an All-Star nod. (All-Star reserves will be announced on Thursday night, and Nurse has repeatedly made the case for Maxey to earn his second straight selection).
Maxey at the buzzer! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/szAEePoPj7
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 30, 2025
Right now, Maxey is just doing it all. The defensive leap which helped uplift his overall production during a rough shooting stretch has stuck, but his efficiency is climbing by the day. Maxey has once again become a true threat to score at all three levels — plus the free throw line, where his attempts have gone up dramatically of late.
One of the most confounding aspects of the Sixers' dreadful start to the season was Maxey's massive struggles. But he has looked all the way back for several games now, and once again carried much of the heavy lifting at a satisfactory level without Joel Embiid or Paul George available.
Odds and ends
Some more notes from the action on Wednesday night:
• Kyle Lowry gave the Sixers a massive lift after a rough start to the opening frame, knocking down a triple and a pair of free throws, grabbing an offensive rebound on a missed free throw and dishing out three assists in the first half. For multiple reasons, Lowry's stints on the floor are usually short these days, but his first half stint in this one lasted just over eight minutes. An unconventional lineup of Lowry, Reggie Jackson, Gordon, Justin Edwards and Adem Bona staged a 9-3 run in the final 92 seconds of the opening frame. Jackson also gave the Sixers another strong jolt in the second half; the veteran guard seems to have finally found a rhythm himself.
• Nurse constantly talks about how impressed he has been by Justin Edwards' feel for the game and overall basketball instincts. The undrafted two-way rookie wing exhibited his smarts once again in this one, with quick triggers on three-point tries, a perfectly-executed cut to the basket after noticing the defense's rotation and sturdy defense. The hometown kid is a keeper.
• Bona's flashes of potential are brilliant, and the makeup of a quality backup center is obviously there. But his inability to stay out of foul trouble is just brutal. The rookie center has been removed from the action due to foul trouble at some point in five of the team's last six games, and with Bona and Guerschon Yabusele in foul trouble in the first half in this one, two-way center Pete Nance had to close the first half. The path to being a viable backup center is clearly existent for Bona, but his fouling is going to have to be cut down a ton before he can be someone Nurse relies on.
Up next: The Sixers will return to the floor on Friday night when they host the Denver Nuggets, looking to avenge one of their worst losses of the season last week in The Mile High City.
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