Tyrese Maxey leaves game early as Sixers drop preseason finale to Magic

Tyrese Maxey exited the matchup early with a right thumb contusion and the rest of the Sixers struggled against a full strength Magic squad.

The preseason is over. Good riddance.

The Sixers 2024 concluded with a 114-99 loss to the Orlando Magic Friday night and left with yet another injury to deal with. Tonight was only available on the Magic broadcast, so unless you live in that market or have League Pass, you weren’t able to catch this one.

Tyrese Maxey played just the first five minutes of this one, shooting 0-of-1 before leaving with a right thumb contusion.

Kelly Oubre Jr. was again the leading scorer for the Sixers, putting up 17 points along with four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Andre Drummond went for 12 points and 20 rebounds.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• It was surprising to see the veterans out there at all, given how the last two exhibition games have gone. Philly used the same starting lineup as Wednesday, with Eric Gordon starting instead of Caleb Martin and KJ Martin starting in place of the injured Paul George. So it looks like that is the rotation Nick Nurse will go with on opening night.
• The halfcourt offense was off to a dreadful start, able to get out to an early lead thanks to transition, but soon went on a three-minute scoring drought. Kelly Oubre Jr., who had a sloppy start with two turnovers, ended that drought with this dunk. His aggression against the rim doesn’t take the preseason off.

• It was already a little surprising to see the vets out there, and that feeling was only amplified when Maxey was favoring hand the entire time out there. It was hard to see what may have caused it. He had a weird fall with Paolo Banchero a few possessions before, but started to grab at it after a couple more trips down the floor. Hopefully this is nothing more than a nick we forget about when the regular season rolled around.
• Maxey was the first to check out of the game halfway through the quarter, and was held out in the second. The offense continued to look expectedly clunky for a preseason finale, shooting 36.4% from the field and trailing by seven after one.

Second Quarter

• Guerschon Yabusele has shot the three ball well so far, but the time he takes to get them up is some cause for concern. He looked to be getting them up slightly quicker tonight in comparison. The first one he took in the first quarter was the quickest and most contested three as a Sixer, and he did airball it. He was wide open in the second quarter, but was still quicker to get it up and he did knock this one down. That make also set up his ability to pump fake and hit KJ Martin with a nice bounce pass a few possessions later.

• The Sixers had a much easier time scoring in the second, thanks in large part to Oubre really getting going after that dunk. He went for 10 points in the second, bringing him to 17 points in the half. It was a whole lot of “let Kelly cook” and he did that efficiently by shooting 6-of-10 from the field while getting to the line six times. Ricky Council IV also did a good getting to the line with six attempts of his own in the quarter.
• There seems to be a bit of a competition brewing for the third point guard spot, though it could just be some more lineup tinkering. Jeff Dowtin Jr. checked in first tonight. He missed both his shot attempts and had one assist in the first half. Reggie Jackson shot 2-of-2 along with three assists, as the Sixers trailed by three at the break.

Third Quarter

• Oubre’s night was done along with Maxey’s, but the rest of the starters were out there to start the second half. They only scored two points over the first four minutes of the half, but those points were quite the adventure for Drummond.

• This team just looked so done with the preseason, and if that wasn’t extremely evident, their only field goals they made for the first half of the quarter were putbacks. Somehow Orlando, who’s played half the preseason games, pulled their regulars first.
• Nothing to speed things along though like a review for a flagrant foul, and then a coach’s challenge a few minutes later. Why do coaches even feel the need to challenge in the preseason? Shouldn’t they want to move things along as quick as possible as well? The Magic led by 14 after three.

Fourth Quarter

• Justin Edwards was out there to start the fourth and he probably should have been playing the whole second half along with the rest of the Blue Coats. Edwards has had himself a nice preseason, averaging over five points per game coming into tonight in limited minutes, but he finished with just two points on two shots tonight.
• Sixers, and I do not use this term lightly, legend Mac McClung checked into this game about halfway through the fourth. McClung has spent the majority of his time since he was a Blue Coat with the Magic’s G-League team, and signed a training camp deal with them this September. He took just one floater tonight but made it to finish with two points.
• Ricky Council IV’s ability to get to the free throw line seems to be a pretty real thing at this point. He finished with 13 points tonight despite shooting 1-of-7 from the field, and that’s becauase he was able to take 12 free throws. It’s just so impressive that he’s been able to do this at every level of ball he’s played.
• Well, we finally made it. The next time the Sixers take the court, it will be for a game that counts. They’ll kick off the season next Wednesday against Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks at 7:30 on ESPN.