3 observations after McCain, Yabusele comes up huge in Sixers second OT win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers rode tremendous performances from rookie Jared McCain and makeshift backup center Guerschon Yabusele to their second win of the season Sunday night.
McCain poured in 27 points on 10-for-18 shooting, Yabusele posted 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting and the Sixers pulled out a 107-105 overtime win at Wells Fargo Center over the Hornets.
They improved to 2-7 on the season and Charlotte fell to 4-6.
In his home Sixers debut, Paul George had 15 points (6 for 18 from the field) and nine assists.
Hornets star LaMelo Ball tallied 38 points and eight assists.
The Sixers were left without Joel Embiid (suspension) and Tyrese Maxey (right hamstring strain). Embiid is expected to play his first game of the season on Tuesday night against the Knicks.
Here are observations on the Sixers’ second overtime win of the year:
George finds some flow early
George was in the middle of it all at the start of his home Sixers debut.
He came up short on an opening three-point attempt, then drove in hard for a layup on the Sixers’ next trip.
About four minutes in, George was down on the floor in the right corner after appearing to take an inadvertent blow to the face from Hornets rookie Tidjane Salaun. He was visibly shaken, but George eventually got up, went to the bench and stayed in the game.
As the first quarter wore on, George picked up a rhythm and looked more confident. George’s minutes have been limited the past three games since his return from a left knee bone bruise, which has meant less opportunity to find a sustained flow. Nick Nurse said that pregame George had just discussed that challenge with him. On Sunday, the Sixers’ head coach played George for nearly 10 straight minutes to start the night.
Nurse directed Yabusele to the opposite corner from George at one point to ensure the nine-time All-Star had space to post up Hornets shooting guard Josh Green. George emptied a beautiful faded jersey. He then fed a rolling Yabusele for a layup.
George finished with 33 minutes Sunday and sat out overtime. He’s clearly still nowhere near his best, but life should get significantly easier once Embiid is on the floor and pulling double team after double team.
Dowtin steps up
Offense was a major struggle for both teams in the opening quarter. The Sixers held a one-point lead after the first period with a throwback 16-15 score line.
They forced a whopping 10 Hornets turnovers in the first. Charlotte seemed to have reasonable issues with some non-calls, but the Sixers generally played good, active defense and took advantage of the physicality considered legitimate Sunday.
The Sixers’ first-quarter rotation included two players who did not see the floor Friday night in a loss to the Lakers. Eric Gordon was back in the mix and two-way contract player Jeff Dowtin Jr. got his first minutes outside of garbage time this season. Reggie Jackson remained on the bench.
Dowtin was impressively ready to roll, sinking a catch-and-shoot three on his first shot. He also scored a driving layup and a jumper early in the second quarter.
Dowtin also defended well at the top of the Sixers’ defense. The 27-year-old has shown that he is a solid, low-error player who is capable of contributing when thrown into the fire.
The sudden burst of playing time seemed to hit Dowtin in the second quarter. He bent over and grimaced as Andre Drummond prepared to shoot free throws. Kyle Lowry substituted.
Dowtin was the only Sixer to make a three-pointer in the first half. The team was 1 for 14 from long range over the first two quarters and had misses ranging from in-and-out, wide-open jumpers to tightly contested shots that never had much of a chance.
However, the Sixers had enough close reach to stay in the game. Three consecutive Kelly Oubre Jr. layups in the final minute of the second quarter gave them a 46-45 lead.
McCain and Yabusele each tremendous
Nurse decided to start the third quarter with Yabusele at center instead of Drummond. There was much to support his election.
Yabusele outplayed Drummond on the Sixers’ three-game West Coast trip and did the same during Sunday’s first half. Although he had a pair of muscle buckets inside, Drummond allowed Grant Williams to knock down two three-point shots in the second quarter. The Sixers were outscored by 10 points in the first half with Drummond on the court.
As Nurse acknowledged before the game, Yabusele’s shooting tends to open up the Sixers’ offense. He brought that and much more to the table on Sunday, including playing perimeter defense, decent work on the defensive glass and excellent decision-making on dribble handoffs and pick-and-rolls.
Both Yabusele and McCain made two long jumpers in the third quarter. Always eager to jump in transition, McCain nailed a three with 4.4 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Sixers a 76-66 advantage. His jumper early in the fourth extended the team’s lead to 14 points.
Charlotte quickly bounced back, though. George continued to miss his jumpers, Ball got hot and two Brandon Miller free throws lifted the Hornets to an 87-86 lead with just over three minutes left.
McCain remained very attack-minded and unfazed by the situation. He reached the 20-point mark for the first time in his NBA career with a gritty pull-up jumper. He then willingly accepted a Lowry jump pass and drilled a clutch layup three. Caleb Martin scored his first points of the night from almost the same spot to put the Sixers up 94-89.
They didn’t seal anything resembling a routine victory. Lowry missed a free throw with 10.2 seconds left and Ball tied the game by canning a cold-blooded corner three.
The Sixers got George the ball on the final possession of regulation and he missed a well-guarded three over Cody Martin, falling to 1 for 9 from long distance.
With George out, Nurse began overtime with a Yabusele-Drummond frontcourt. Both Yabusele and McCain continued to deliver crucial plays. Yabusele scored a post-up ring and McCain converted a driving layup during a back-and-forth, high-drama stretch. McCain held up just fine when switched on to Ball and Charlotte committed a shot clock violation.
Naturally, the final seconds of overtime were full of chaos. The Sixers finally escaped, in part because Martin grabbed the offensive rebound after Yabusele missed consecutive free throws. They will be delighted with any kind of victory these days.
