The Sixers rode tremendous performances from rookie Jared McCain and makeshift backup center Guerschon Yabusele to their second victory 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 dropped 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 remained without Joel Embiid (suspension) and Tyrese Maxey (right hamstring strain). Embiid is expected to play his first game of the season Tuesday night vs. 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 everything at the start of his home Sixers debut.
He came up short on an opening-play three-point try, then drove in strongly 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 hit to the face from Hornets rookie Tidjane Salaun. He was visibly shaken up, but George eventually rose to his feet, walked to the bench and remained in the game.
As the first quarter wore on, George gained rhythm and looked more self-assured. George’s minutes had been limited the past three games since his return from a left knee bone bruise, which meant less opportunity to find sustained flow. Nick Nurse said pregame George had recently discussed that challenge with him. On Sunday, the Sixers’ head coach played George nearly 10 straight minutes to begin the night.
Nurse directed Yabusele to the opposite corner of George at one point to ensure the nine-time All-Star had space to post up Hornets shooting guard Josh Green. George drained a pretty fadeaway jumper. He then fed a rolling Yabusele for a layup.
George finished with 33 minutes Sunday and sat out overtime. He’s clearly not near his best yet, but life should become significantly easier once Embiid’s on the floor and drawing double team after double team.
Dowtin steps up
Offense was a serious struggle for both teams in the opening quarter. The Sixers held a one-point lead after the first period by a throwback 16-15 scoreline.
They forced a whopping 10 Hornets turnovers in the first. Charlotte seemed to have reasonable gripes about a couple of no-calls, but the Sixers generally played good, active defense and took advantage of the physicality considered legal Sunday.
The Sixers’ first-quarter rotation included two players who hadn’t seen 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. received his first minutes outside of garbage time this season. Reggie Jackson stayed on the bench.
Dowtin was impressively ready to roll, sinking a catch-and-shoot three on his first shot. He scored a driving layup and short jumper early in the second quarter, too.
Dowtin also defended well at the top of the Sixers’ defense. The 27-year-old showed he’s a solid, low-mistake player who’s capable of contributing when thrown into the fire.
The sudden burst of playing time did appear to hit Dowtin in the second quarter. He hunched over and grimaced as Andre Drummond prepared to shoot free throws. Kyle Lowry subbed in.
Dowtin was the only Sixer to make a three-pointer in the first half. The team was 1 for 14 from long distance 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.
Still, the Sixers had enough close-range success 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 enormous
Nurse decided to start the third quarter with Yabusele at center instead of Drummond. There was plenty to support his choice.
Yabusele outplayed Drummond on the Sixers’ three-game West Coast trip and did the same during Sunday’s first half. Though he had a couple of muscular 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 a ton more to the table Sunday, including game 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-range jumpers in the third quarter. Always eager to pounce in transition, McCain nailed a three with 4.4 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Sixers a 76-66 advantage. His pull-up jumper early in the fourth stretched the team’s lead to 14 points.
Charlotte quickly stormed back, though. George kept misfiring on his jumpers, Ball got hot and two Brandon Miller free throws lifted the Hornets to a 87-86 lead with a little over three minutes left.
McCain remained highly attack-minded and unperturbed 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 gladly accepted a Lowry skip pass and drilled a clutch go-ahead three. Caleb Martin scored his first points of the night from nearly the same spot to put the Sixers up 94-89.
They failed to seal anything resembling a routine victory. Lowry missed a free throw with 10.2 seconds remaining and Ball tied the game up 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 range.
With George out, Nurse started overtime with a Yabusele-Drummond frontcourt. Both Yabusele and McCain continued delivering vital plays. Yabusele scored a post-up hoop 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 ultimately escaped, in part because Martin snagged the offensive rebound after Yabusele missed consecutive free throws. They’ll be thrilled with any kind of win these days.
