Sixers Road Trip Check-In After 3-0 Start

Space is after dark. How are we feeling on this fine Wednesday evening? Yeah, I mean it's after nine o'clock if people are listening, well, the people who are listening live where I am. It's after nine o'clock. But Lauren is joining from Portland. The Sixers in the middle of a road trip that they've won the first three games of Utah, the Lakers, then the Clippers, so we're speaking after this Clippers win. We will hear from Tobias Harris

some of his postgame thoughts. I'm looking forward to hearing that talking about Tyrese Maxie as well as his own performance, because he was a standout from this Clippers game. Get your messages into us by clicking on our icons. Get your tweets in by clicking the chat icon in the bottom right corner. We want to hear from you anything that stood out from the trip so far. The Sixers over their last twenty games are sixteen and four, which

is the best in the Eastern Conference. Matt, you mentioned it, but please get us your messages early so we can make sure that we cover everything you guys want to hear about. So you can send us a DM. You can click on my icon or Matt's icon to send said DM, or you can look at that bottom right hand corner. The chat feature is also open, so let us know what stood out to you on this trip as we move through. Matt, I'm gonna put you on the spot. Do you have a favorite of the three

wins thus far? Oh? I would say the clip well you said in the pre show Clippers was perhaps the most impressive. I'm gonna pick the Clippers game though ten point, when Paul George was back in the lineup, and when the Clippers seemed like they were going to make a run or did make a run in the second half, the Sixers answered the bell and got some clutch shooting from the likes of Tyrese Maxie and George Niang, and

clutch play from everybody. I mean that that pick and roll right now with Joel Embiid and James Harden, it's been amazing to watch their connection just grow in their time playing together. And it hasn't been that many games, like everyone's been saying. So now that it's back and going again and the Sixers are rolling to this sixteen and four stretch over the last twenty they're playing really

good basketball. You could pick moments from any of the three games, but maybe it's since he bias, my pick is the Clippers game. Closing games has been a theme thus far on this trip. The team set out with the mission of getting to know one another better on and off the court. They've certainly done both. Matt, you mentioned Joel and well rather you mentioned Tyrese's abilities last night in the fourth quarter. I would rather have Joel talk about it than have me talk about it, So

Joel said, I like how we're closing games today. These guys coming off the bench. Tyrese Maxie, he really took over in the start of the fourth quarter, and by the time we had to come in. We just had to finish the job. And finish the job they did last night. Let's dive into some stats from that victory. The Sixers take a one twenty to one ten victory over the LA Clippers last night. Joel Embid led the way once again, forty one points, nine rebounds, three assists,

and two blocks. Those forty one points came in just thirty three minutes of play. He shot twelve for twenty two overall, fifteen to eighteen from the foul line. Tobias Harris twenty points, six rebounds, six assists, ties a career high five steals. He shot very efficiently eight for twelve from the field, two for four from three point range. And then the third and final double figure scorer last night was none other than Tyrese Maxie. Off the bench

for the second consecutive game. He finished with twenty two points, two rebounds, two assists, and a steal. He shot seven for twelve. He shot three for five from deep, all three of those coming in that early fourth quarter that probably my favorite little stretch of the trip thus far, and finished at a game high plus twenty three. And that's not to say that there weren't other key contributors. George Niang added nine points six apiece for PJ. Tucker

and James Hardened. James shared a team high nine assists. But Matt, it was a really well rounded victory. You mentioned it. The Sixers got off to a very strong start, took a thirty four to twenty seven lead out of the first quarter, but the Clippers crept back in in the third. They took a ten point advantage in the third quarter to set the stage for Tyrese Maxie to do what he does with est heat up quickly, score three quick three pointers, and yeah, that was That was

definitely my favorite moment of the trip so far. But Matt, what stood out to you as I went through those stats, I'm seeing some messages come in. People are finding out about this space that we're doing at a different time than we normally do. That's late for some people, that's early for other people, depending where you're listening in the world.

So hello to everybody who's sending tweets and messages. Send us your thoughts on the Clippers game or the Lakers in jazz and we'll read some of those out and answer some questions as well. My box score. Takeaway from what you just read in the win over the Clippers, which gets the six Ers to twenty eight and sixteen currently as of Wednesday, January eighteenth, third in the East, only a half game back of the Bucks. Boston is first at thirty three and twelve. My takeaway was the

three point shooting of the guys. I mentioned a moment Ago Maxi and Niang because they were six for nine combined from three and they were all late in the game. Maxi was three for four from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter and George Niang had two big threes in the middle of the third and another one for good measure in the fourth. So I'm picking those two when it comes to looking at the box score, particularly the three point field goal column, because they were six

for nine and they were all clutch. What about you? Quick quick shout out to Jordan who says two am in the UK and I'm listening to this space. It's worth it. I watched the win against La at five am yesterday. It was too or it is too fun. It's a fun time. Great to hear that Jordan is listening international internationally. We love hearing from international listeners. On spaces. I know some of you guys can't always see the games themselves, so we try to be as descriptive as

we can on this auditory only media. But we love hearing where you guys are from. Please continue to let us know. Matt, I'm going to actually let Tobias Harris answer your question for me. It was a really well rounded victory. Cool to see Tyrese adjusting so well to what's being asked of him these days. Cool to see Tobias Harris continue to grow. Um. And so when Tobias came to the mic last night, I asked him about

those two topics. So take a listen. Here is Tobias Harris ain't going out there because he's still gonna play. He's doing a hell of a job with it just so and embracing it and staying ready. I mean, after the game, I told George, I was like, we might not win that game if he doesn't go on that stretch there, um early in the fourth quarter, hitting three

threes in a rogue into the three to align. Um. You know, so like for him and the development of his game is just to understand, like you know, obviously, everybody in the whole NBA, every team and everybody knows he's a starter player. I mean, you know he's a start player in the NBA. UM. But for him, it's just understanding that, you know, in this situation, no balance is key and and just showing what he can do, um and going out there because he's still gonna play

start of minutes for our group. UM, and he's so um you know, just uh full of life and everything that he does. So he's always gonna have a positive attitude and continue to be great and whatever role that he's in. And you saw that tonight just by what he was capable and able to do out there for us as a whole group. I mean, you know, that

stretch was huge, and he's gonna embrace that. And you know Doctor said as well, like we're gonna have different lineups and you know, sometimes he's gonna come up the bend, sometimes he's gonna start. So he just has to embrace all those types of roles right now. That's all You're gonna help his career in the long end, the long run. Where do you see that yourself? Oh, definitely on the defensive end, just being able to go out there and

you know, guard some of the best guys in the league. Um. You know that took a lot of time to develop and and really get better at on that side of the floor. UM. And then overall just just having patience and uh you know weathering obviously, you know. Uh, when he had me here, it was, like I said after the game, this was a place for me that, UM, I was able to blossom into the player that I was and get a great opportunity and I always embraced that,

um and extremely thankful for that. UM. And then this all this, you know, playing here also taught me highs and lows of the NBA of uh, you know, through through a whole season and just embracing that as well. So UM, those are key areas that I think I've had the biggest growth and for myself personally. That was Tobias Harris last night after the win over here his former team, he discussed his own growth. Defensively, he discussed what Tyrese Maxie has been able to do for this team.

Always a pleasure to hear from, Tobias. Mark says on the topic of Tyres Maxie, amazing to see that young man embracing his role. Sounds like something Tobias would say, actually, Mark, but indeed great to see him embracing what's being asked of him currently. Doc Rivers, of course an and to those that are that are new here, Tyrese Maxie's come off the bench for the last two games after the

first one that was against the Lakers. Doc Rivers suggested that there will be more lineups unveiled in the coming of days and weeks as well as a team figures out the best way to win against the best opponents and that or rather the best way to win against various opponents and Matt it's a it's a testament to their depth, it's a testament to the amount of options that they have. In so far it's worked out pretty well, especially when you have unselfish players like Tyrese. So what

have you seen right? Tyrese was the topic of a question from Sally and then our friend Winona is here. Winona met Citizen said, Tyrese is true to his word, we not me and it shows every night, with a bunch of exclamation points that Winona sent as well. Yeah, so I think like it's definitely something that people are interested to see how it plays out, and something Tyrese said postgame was about how you can see the game develop.

Obviously he plays in the first half and all that, and like he's gonna get his minutes, which has been a common refrain from he and his teammates, but in the end his minutes will look similar. But when he's on the bench kind of watching what the defense is doing, and you saw it payoff late. So he was really taking advantage of the drop coverage Moses Brown of the

Clippers and hitting threes over it. And I think that directly relates to watching the defense, what their coverages look like and being ready to go in pivotal moments of the game. And you heard it from Tobias talking with George Niang about how they don't know if they win that game against the Clippers and keep this winning streak going on the road without those buckets from Tyrese Maxie. And it's something that Kawhi Leonard called out as well.

Kawhi Leonard of the losing Clippers called out Tyrese Maxi's important buckets in the fourth quarter the beginning of the fourth Yeah, really cool to hear from one of the all time greats. I'm going to try to actually find that quote really quickly. I'll read it to you guys. Kawhi Leonard on playing against the seventy six ers. Kawhi said, I know in the fourth quarter, Tyrese Maxie really got away from us. He hit about three threes in a row, got to the paint, got fouled. He did a really

good job of starting that fourth quarter for them. That Kawhi Leonard on Tyrese Maxie. Let's also Matt just because he could speak for himself in this situation. Let's hear from Tyrese Maxie postgame talking about the adjustments that he's made. Um, yeah, I just shoot, we just trying to make a run. I think now into this different role, I'll look at how the game's going, like when I go in so I can see like the kind of flow the game.

And as soon as like they started coming back on a little run, I was telling like the bench mob me, George shake, it's gonna be a big stint from us at the third quarter. It's gonna be very important that we go out here and you know, trying to try to build this lead or get the lead back and answer. We went out there and did. Yeah, we've been We've

been friends for a long time. First for a long time, and I think what really helps that chemistry is we really want to see each other succeed and we want to see the team succeed. So because of that, we're able to play off each other. We're able to the first one another, but still both of us being aggressive at the same time. That is Tyrese Maxie discussing his adjustments that he's made over the last few games, those big threes in the fourth quarter, and his relationship with

Shake Milton Matt. I know we've talked about Shake Milton quite a bit in recent weeks and months, but playing alongside Tyrese a little more a look that could be really exciting for this team moving forward. Shake's beIN pretty efficient with his shooting. Obviously, the minutes aren't as heavy as they were when the team was a little shorthanded, and he really really stepped up. But they call him

the microwave. He took the Sixers microphone around campus on the road and was interviewing some people, including tyres So they have the chemistry on the court and they have the chemistry off the court as well. I've got to drop that video in obviously there to it. Well, yeah, just play it here and then we'll drop it in towards the Yeah, I'm sure everyone's seen him right now,

but I just pulled it up. But let's let's hear from Shake, who who yesterday after shoot around to ask for my microphone and did some big things with it. He did a great job. So here he is talking to Tyrese before. Of course they ended up playing really well together in the hours that would follow. This is Shake Milton from seventy six or TV, and we're about to interview some guys follow me? Can I interview? So how important is it to be around a group of

guys was such a good team chemistry? How does that play into winning? You know, Shaking Bank, I think it's extremely important because one thing with this group is everybody cares for each other, and everybody's extremely competitive with each other, and then with the other team as well. You have a way in this ability to get extremely hot, extremely fast and you score in bunches. Where do you attribute that ability to? So this is one of guy that

they called him Microwave. So in my rookie year I did a lot of like watching, not a lot of playing and he did the same thing, and I remember him telling me my time will come, and now that every time, how am I going? Those little scoring birds? I see him every time tapping for me and encouraging me.

And sometimes in a game when me feeding me was a good look, Matt the irony that Shake would tell Tyrese how great he is scoring in bunches, and then later on that evening he would go on to do exactly that in a very pivotal moment for the Sixers in that game, a great vibes moment for the whole team. That video. If you haven't seen it yet, maybe when you log off this space or finish listening to this podcast, you can check it out on the Sixers feed. I put some of the photos into the space here for

our live listeners on Twitter. You can see Shake Milton looking comfortable with the microphone. I know that I credit George Niang and his humor a lot of the time, but my favorite part was him talking to the dog, the husky and interviewing a husky on camera, which the husky correctly picked that the Sixers would beat the Clippers later on. The vibes were absolutely immaculate, and of course when you've won a couple of games in a row, you're in the California Sunshine. You can expect that they

did the same thing last year. So hopefully next season in LA we can expect some more wholesome content from this group as well. Matt, Should we look ahead to the games ahead before we start to wind down? We

shall so. I mentioned Portland being next, Obviously that's where you are coming to us from right now, and then Sacramento Portland is a Thursday night game, depending when you're listening to this right now, could be game day, could not be Game Day ten pm Eastern on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus and on the radio side ninety seven five The Fanatic, same thing on Saturday, same start time, same

places to watch and listen against the Sacramento Kings. And what in your research, Lauren, did you uncover about the Portland Trailblazers at present? They had a really hot start to the season, but not so much lately. Even though Damian Lillard's offense is back at high level, he's been humming.

Tomorrow night and matchup between two of the NBA's top ten scorers, currently Joel Embiid second overall in scoring, behind only Luca Dombad, of course, averaging thirty three point six points per game Done averaging thirty three point eight, so a narrow margin there, and Damian Lillard averaging twenty nine point three points per game this season. The six time All Star is the eighth highest scorer in the league

at present. Matt, you said it, the Blazers have struggled a little bit lately, three and seven in their last ten. But of course, when you have a scorer that can score the way that Damian Lillard is able to, you could always end up in a little bit of trouble, especially on the road, especially if you if you're caught slipping after you're rolling. But this is a team that's really been humming lately, so I certainly like the Sixers

chances tomorrow morning. I will add that the Sixers have a clean injury report for tomorrow night, so knockwood, of course, but good to see the team that has struggled so much with injuries this season thus far being able to play with any options and any combinations and lineups that they want to after having to adjust so many times.

Tobias actually talked about it last night, Matt. They discussed the way that the question was about how the team was adjusting to having Tarres come off the bench and perhaps will adjust again as they work with the other lineups that Doc Rivers has sort of teased in the last few over the course of the last few games, and Tobias said he doesn't think it's going to be a huge issue because of how many lineups this team has already played with this season and found ways to win.

A reminder that Tobias, who almost never gets hurt, has missed a little bit of time this year, and then of course Joel and b James Harden and Terres Maxie in that order, have missed quite a considerable amount of time, and this team has still found ways to win. So now a cool opportunity for the team to figure out how to win with their full complement of players. As for the Portland Trailblazers, use of Nurkitch and Gary Payton

the second are both probable. Justice Winslow is out, but that rounds out the injury report for tomorrow night as of this evening, Matt, we will keep everyone posted, of course, as lineups, etc. Change and adapt, but I am looking forward to tomorrow night's game looking forward to hopefully seeing the Sixers thwart the Sacramento Kings in lighting the Beam on Saturday, and then heading back to Philadelphia. As we speak, Luca don Chich is playing. I feel like we owe

Joel Embiid some love. You mentioned the league leaders there in that conversation about Lillard and the Blazers and how Joel ranks right with Luca near the top of the league in scoring, of course the reigning scoring champ, but Embiid just making this all look regular being such a big part of these wins for the Sixers and that

combination with Harden. I didn't really get into Utah and the Lakers wins that much because we went through the stats from the Clippers game specifically, but the way that Joel Embiid and James Harden have been playing and Beads scoring, it's like every night it's at least thirty or thirty five, and it's been increasing over the last three all the

way up to the forty one. So I just wanted to talk about that for a second because I did see a question early on from Philly News and it was a simple question, do you think Embiid's going to win the MVP, and yes, I'll just say yes, why not. There's a lot of season left. Joel Embiid my MVP pick, I'm with it. I have no problem with that pick whatsoever. His fifth consecutive thirty plus point outing and Tyrese Maxie

talked about it last night. The idea that we as as a broader Sixers fan base and Joel Embiid fan base that includes us, it includes Tyrese is used, is used to what he's able to do and can take for granted what he is able to do, and everybody has to stop, look around and really appreciate the greatness that we're witnessing with Joel Embiid every night again forty one and nine last night. It feels like it looks like it's so easy, but we know that it is

in fact not. It's been nothing but a pleasure to watch Joel Embiid have yet another record setting season and look for him to do it again tomorrow night against the Portland Trailblazers or tonight if you're listening on game day, and then again Sacramento Kings on Saturday before the team heads back home. Matt, I will let you shut this

one down. There's only a couple more days left to vote for your sixers to be in the All Star Game, So do that on the NBA app, NBA dot com, the landing page for that Sixers dot com slash all Star. I have a quick public service announcement. I want to try to h I guess you could say rig the G League All Star Game, which is called the Next Up Game, because there's no there's no daily limit to

the voting. I've uncovered so between us and our Twitter spaces family, if you go to NBAG, if you go to nbag league dot com, slash vote the NBA, there's a daily limit. I'm almost positive. But for the G League game, which is in Salt Lake City as well, go vote for all the Delaware Bluecoats. You can just type in Bluecoats in the service bar and click on all their players. Because I've already voted, like in the last hour, I voted like five times. So hopefully nobody

listens to this and switches that out. But go do that if you're looking for something to do, maybe because it's cool to have a G League version of the All Star Game called the Next Up Game. You can vote for the six or two way contract players Julian Champenny and Lewis King and the other bluecoats if you feel so inclined as well. Laren, thanks, yeah, thanks so much for the coverage from this West Coast trip so far. Still more to come and hopefully the Embiid and Harden

and the team can keep it rolling. There's really no way to stop Joel Embiid. I think back to the I don't even know how to describe it in the Clippers game Coast to coast in the short corner, like a pump fake three sixty turnaround. When he's hitting these jump shots. There's there's absolutely no way to stop Joel Embiid. So we'll we'll watch and pay attention to the Blazers

and the Kings trying to stop him. But then other guys have been stepping up as well, So the Sixers trying to win the last two and come home with a perfect five and oh West Coast road trip would certainly be something we will hope to be back with you after a couple more wins. But Matt Murphy, I think that's it for tonight. Make sure if you're not following the seventy six Ers insiders podcast feed that you are doing so same with The Big Niang Theory with

George Niang that is his podcast. We just released our first episode of season two featuring Dn E. Melton and Tyrese Maxie, who are thickest thieves and it was really fun to learn about their friendship. So if you're hungry for Sixers content, that's what we have for you. Thank you so much for joining us after Dark. We had a good time and we will hope to be back with you soon. Matt, thank you so much. Thanks everyone, so yeah wooing