PHILADELPHIA – It appears that even the Sixers' complete dominance in fourth quarters has limits.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has quipped a few times that he would rather his team thrive in fourth quarters than third quarters when asked about their struggles coming out of intermission. But a horrid third quarter on the side of the Toronto Raptors rendered the Sixers' stellar late-game comeback effort insufficient on Wednesday, as they fell 121-112 to drop to 8-6 on the season.
For the third game in a row, Nurse tried the same adjustment. Twice, it had done the trick. This time, not so much. The Sixers were outscored 44-26 out of halftime, and their strong push to close the game was admirable but not quite significant enough to overcome their dreadful showing in the previous frame.
On Nurse's tactic backfiring, plus more takeaways from a Sixers loss:
Nick Nurse finally explains his adjustment for third quarters...
For 11 games, the Sixers experienced nightmarish third quarters over and over again. It was as perplexing as it was agonizing, and Nurse continued to assert that there was no common thread across their struggles coming out of intermission. He made a few comments about potential solutions to the issue, some in jest and some in earnest. One that fit the latter description is a tactic he once used with the Raptors en route to a championship: starting a different unit to open each half.
On Friday in Detroit, the Sixers did not just play their best third quarter of the season, but one of their best quarters of the year at any stage of any game. On Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers, they broke even out of halftime and then stormed back with their typical dominance in the fourth quarter. Both times, Nurse inserted one or two new pieces into his starting five when the third quarter began.
"We talked about it last game, we did it," Nurse said before Wednesday's game. "...There's just a lot of moving parts right now."
Nurse has continually refused to say anything that would confirm this is his new normal. He has offered very few hints into the rationale behind it. But Nurse started Quentin Grimes over Justin Edwards in the second half despite Edwards opening the game at small forward, and with Trendon Watford rolling he opted to start Watford over Dominick Barlow in the second half. At the center of Nurse's process on this, it seems, is Grimes.
The question posed to Nurse before the game: is it easier to get Grimes to "starter minutes," as Nurse calls it, if he starts the second half instead of sitting to begin both halves?
"It is, obviously," Nurse said. "I mean, it's hard to get a guy off the bench starter minutes. It just really is. But we still kind of like his pop off the bench to start a game. But that doesn't etch it in stone either."
As Nurse seems to see it, this is the best balancing act possible so that Grimes can serve in the traditional "spark plug" sort of role while his minutes total reflects how valuable he is to this team.
...And then disaster ensues
It did not work all that well on Wednesday, as the new lineup with Grimes and Watford was on the wrong end of a lopsided run that only escalated when reinforcements arrived. The Sixers had a nightmarish third quarter again, with a stagnant and turnover-prone offense preventing their defense from ever getting set.
Much of their struggles came when Tyrese Maxey was on the floor, believe it or not, and Maxey kept the Sixers afloat on a night where they lacked offensive juice otherwise. Toronto's swarming defense full of long athletes deserves some credit, but it felt like the Sixers' significant turnover issues were more reflective of poor offensive cohesion than anything else.
While Jared McCain finally created a semblance of a rhythm for himself in the first half, Nurse oddly gave him his least protection all year in the final minutes of this quarter, playing McCain as a true point guard next to VJ Edgecombe and no other guards. The gamble did not pay off whatsoever.
While these disastrous 12 minutes will not reflect well upon Nurse's idea, when he sits down and takes out what he refers to as his "substitution pencil," the best 48-minute plan will probably again include Grimes sitting to begin the game and playing to begin the second half. Do not be surprised if the trend continues.
Odds and ends
Some additional notes:
• McCain earned the right to throw both arms in the air in a fit of pure relief late in the first quarter. After 36 scoreless minutes this season spanning four appearances, McCain finally got himself on the board with his favorite type of shot:
A few minutes later, McCain stepped into a 26-foot triple off the dribble and sunk it. The bar was not all that high, but based on his strong early stint alone – in addition to his two makes, McCain looked more confident than ever with his movement – Wednesday's game represents the most encouraging performance of McCain's season to date.
• For the first time all season, the Sixers had all three of their two-way players – Jabari Walker, Dominick Barlow and Hunter Sallis – available for the same game. Walker has been active for every game this season, Barlow has been active for the five games he has been healthy for and Sallis has been active on six occasions. Each player can be active up to 50 times, but for as long as the Sixers remain under 15 players on their standard players they can only activate a two-way player 90 times total. It will become a storyline to follow in January.
• Speaking of Walker and Barlow, they were once again tasked with tag-teaming backup center duties behind Andre Drummond with Embiid and Adem Bona sidelined. Rookie Johni Broome was not called upon.
Up next: The Sixers will immediately board a flight to Milwaukee, where they will face a Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Bucks team on Thursday night to complete another back-to-back.
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