Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
Finally, this west coast trip is over and the Sixers are returning home to Philadelphia. Here’s what stood out in their matchup against the NBA-best Golden State Warriors:
Pro: Joel Embiid reportedly nearing return to action
We’ll get to the game, but first let’s tackle the big news of the day:
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Joel Embiid is targeting the Sixers’ next game, Saturday night in Philly against the Minnesota Timberwolves, for his return to play.
This will end a three-week absence for Embiid, who the Sixers have missed badly over their last several games in which they’ve piled up close losses.
It goes without saying that Embiid will give the Sixers a massive boost, as their best and most important player on both sides of the ball.
It’s unclear when the Sixers will reach full strength -- if they ever do at all -- but getting most of your key rotation players back in the fold will go a long way as this team jockeys for favorable seeding in the Eastern Conference.
Con: Turnovers plague offense
The Sixers struggled quite a bit with taking care of the ball tonight, frequently turning it over and allowing a Warriors team that can be lethal in transition to get out and run.
Even Tyrese Maxey, who has been so methodical about not turning the ball over, committed three turnovers in the first half alone. Andre Drummond was the biggest culprit when it came to unforced errors, as he put in one of his worst performances of the year.
This will almost certainly not become too big of a long-term issue: with Embiid’s return on the horizon and the roster eventually getting closer to a clean bill of health, I trust this offense to find its groove again as far as turnovers go.
Pro / Con: The duality of Matisse
For the first time on Pros and Cons, we have… a pro / con?! Just go with it.
Tonight’s game showcased a perfect encapsulation of Thybulle, in all his glory and all his struggles. Thybulle was absolutely outrageous on the defensive end, doing an admirable job defending Stephen Curry on the ball while also making excellent plays as an off-ball defender.
His offense, however, was… not great. Thybulle was borderline disastrous on that end of the floor, showing the incredible discrepancy between his defensive production and offensive woes.
Thybulle is a no-doubt rotation player, as his defense is simply too good to put on the bench. But his offense is at times so abysmal that it limits who he can share the floor with. Tonight, the Sixers’ offense turned for the worse when Thybulle and Andre Drummond, two players who negatively contribute to the team’s floor spacing, were on the floor.
Thybulle’s game entails a fascinating dichotomy between his offense and defense. The only constant is that when he’s involved in a play, it will likely turn chaotic.