Losing continues as Sixers downed by Knicks despite best efforts from Tyrese Maxey and Paul George

The Sixers ran out of gas in overtime despite the best efforts of Tyrese Maxey and Paul George as Knicks fans took over the Wells Fargo Center.

Here's what I saw.

Likes

- You know what, of the team's AARP members, Eric Gordon has had by far the best rebound as the season has gone on. He shot below 24 percent from deep over the first two months of the season. His struggles were part of why Jared McCain got a chance and quickly emerged as part of the team's future. But, since those first 16 games of the season, Gordon has been perhaps the steadiest shooter on the team. Better than 46 percent from deep on nearly identical volume since then.

- The third quarter was a good opportunity to talk about "washed" culture, because George co-authored a beautiful frame to help the Sixers even the game heading into the fourth quarter. He scored at all three levels of the floor, had strength through contact in traffic and shed some of New York's best perimeter defenders with quick dribble moves and explosions in the other direction. That's not even mentioning the continuously stellar defense.

So, allow me to cook on "washed" culture a bit. Rough shooting does not indicate that a player is physically no longer capable of the play they once were. Opining that a player in his 30s is "washed" because he has a bad shooting night, without mentioning any of the context associated with it, might get you engagement on social media. But, that just makes you the king clown in a town of clowns. If you want to bring physical limitations into the conversation, OK. Now, we're having a real conversation. But, if you pull the "washed" card every time a guy shoots a concert tour date, congrats on your dunce cap.

Dislikes

- Maxey picked up two fouls early in the first quarter, both of which resulted from being too aggressive on his man. That's been a glaring trend for George for a couple of weeks now, and Maxey was the one on Wednesday. So, this is a reasonable space to cast light on the indirect ramifications of Joel Embiid's absences. Granted, it's not just Embiid. Andre Drummond has been out, too. But, the bottom line is that the math adds up to Guerschon Yabusele being the only obstacle between the opposing offense and the rim.

Yabusele has done all that he can this season. This is not a knock on him. He just can't be a solution at center for extended stretches. He knows it, everyone knows it and the Sixers evidently know it. How do we know the Sixers know it? Because when you feel like you don't have great insurance guarding the rim, you get a little more physical with your assignment to try to deny anything bringing the ball toward the basket.

And when one or both of Maxey and George gets into early foul trouble, it takes the already limited offensive talent off the floor. The Sixers were ultimately fortunate that Maxey's fouls didn't limit them dramatically in the first half. Nick Nurse elected to keep him in the game despite the two early ones, and the Sixers were no worse for it.

But, the point is that there are very real domino effects that stem from Embiid being a perpetual mystery and the team not having an abundance of insurance for it. You can't train your team to be selectively aggressive on defense and think you're going to achieve success. Nurse can't walk into the locker room and say, "OK guys, the Knicks are in tonight, so let's be less handsy in fronting or backing and sag off the ball a little bit". That's no means to an end worth anyone's time.

- On a related topic, I get Nurse is trying to protect one of his two best available players from early foul trouble, but you cannot call for challenges as quickly as he does. The quickness with which Nurse signals the request suggests he's doing it on emotions, not on the information he has available to him. Throwing the challenge away three minutes into the game shows poor restraint. 

- Speaking of Nurse, I did not get his decision to go to zone in the context he did in the second quarter. If you see one of New York's best catch-and-shoot options is on a heater already and other players in the lineup are comfortably making threes from multiple steps beyond the arc, that is not the right time to go zone. They're in a zone-busting offense and you're walking your team into the trap.

- If I can look down and tap my phone screen after a free throw and the Knicks have already advanced the ball from the Sixers' baseline to their own basket by the time I look back up, there's a problem with your defense. As much as you might be inclined to say "That's coaching", if your players need to be reminded to hustle back while trailing by double digits in a game at this level, that's on them and the front office. Getting back and finding your assignment is as basic as it gets. They teach it in middle school. If the players don't have that instinct by now, what is the front office's philosophy for mining expensive players?

Spare thoughts

- A Sixers fan and a Knicks fan got into a spirited argument in the bathroom about New York losing to the Detroit Pistons a few days ago. I beg both of you, get lives.

- The Knicks have three home arenas - Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center and Wells Fargo Center. Can't even blame the Sixers fans this year. This franchise has done it to themselves.

The Sixers (15-24) will visit the Indiana Pacers (22-19) on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., Eastern time. You can watch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

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