Sixers Bell Ringer: Jared McCain fouls out but stellar otherwise yet again in loss to Magic

The Philadelphia 76ers fell 98-86 to the Orlando Magic in NBA Cup group play on Friday night, but rookie Jared McCain put up yet another impressive performance.

Sixers Bell Ringer regular season standings:

Jared McCain – 4

Tyrese Maxey – 2

Paul George – 2

Guerschon Yabusele – 2

Kelly Oubre, Jr. – 1

The Philadelphia 76ers wasted another brilliant Jared McCain performance on Friday night, falling 98-86 to the Orlando Magic in NBA Cup group play.

It was a very similar story to the Sixers’ loss earlier this week to the New York Knicks—a competitive contest until early in the fourth when Philadelphia got ice cold and let their opponents go on a big run. Orlando went on a 15-0 run from the end of the third into the final frame. The Sixers could never quite catch back up.

Joel Embiid and Paul George were back in the lineup for the Sixers after missing Wednesday’s contest (the second of a back-to-back) for injury management. Tyrese Maxey remained sidelined with a hamstring injury but will be re-evaluated early next week. The Magic had some notable injuries of their own for this one, with All-Star Paolo Banchero out with a torn oblique and big man Wendell Carter Jr. sitting due to plantar fasciitis.

The Sixers also shook up the starting lineup a bit for this one, with the rookie McCain getting the start and Kelly Oubre Jr. moving to the bench. McCain had another head-turning outing, leading the way with 29 points on 10-for-17 field goal shooting (5-for-10 from long range). Embiid looked physically better to start tonight than earlier in the week, seemingly more comfortable with a noticeable increase of limberness and bounce in his step. Unfortunately, his 20-point performance was really a tale of two halves — 16 points on 5-for-8 field goals in the first half, four points on 0-for-7 from the floor in the second. Paul George also struggled mightily with 13 points on 4-for-15 field goal shooting.

The 2-10 Sixers will have the weekend off before returning to action against the Miami Heat on Monday evening.

Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer. Spoiler alert: It’s McCain again.

Jared McCain: 29 points (5 triples), 1 rebound, 4 assists

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Between writing articles about him and posting endless highlights of him on both the Liberty Ballers’ X page and my own, I am running out of ways to explain how impressive this kid has been. But I’m going to again because I can’t stop myself.

Tonight, he scored 29 points, likely only missing out on his second-consecutive 30-piece because he fouled out late. He shot 58.8 percent from the floor (10-for-17, 5-for-10 from three-point range) and had four assists. These numbers are great but the ways he is accomplishing these things is even more impressive, especially from a rookie.

Let me try to explain.

The points and shooting percentage are great, not taking away from that at all. The thing is that he is able to accomplish these because he has a game awareness and basketball intelligence that exceeds that of most guys fresh out of college. McCain is constantly moving and finding open space, and he’s rewarded for it with numerous comfortable looks. A perfect example is below, where McCain kicks out to George and seemingly midair already knows he is going to reset outside the arc to give George an option. He’s open, he gets the pass from PG and he sinks yet another triple. Simple, smart basketball.

Of course, that scoring has been what has been turning heads even of people that just glance at box scores. Something they might not get the full picture of from just stat-watching, however, is how good his passing is proving to be. I posted a few of my favorites from the first half of tonight’s contest below, with the most promising for the Sixers’ being his ability to find entry passes to Embiid. Getting the ball into the arc to Embiid, especially down low, should be a top priority to give the big man a chance to go to work. Unfortunately, it’s something the Sixers seem to struggle with here and there. Small sample size, of course, but McCain showed a lot of potential in his ability to do that already tonight.

Oh, and he also got his first NBA dunk tonight, much to the pleasure of teammate Tyrese Maxey who was on the broadcast.

And none of this even is mentioning the other little things he’s doing well, like staying active and engaged defensively and not being afraid to fight for offensive boards. We would just be here all night if I talked about everything this kid is doing well right now.

The only bad thing about McCain’s performance tonight was that he fouled out with five minutes left to play and the Sixers battling to keep things close. His sixth foul especially was one that probably could have been avoided, but it’s something one can imagine he’ll become better with in time if the rest of his ability and awareness is any indication.

Just another night of McCain being insane. It’s a shame the Sixers let it go to waste.