Sixers-Bucks takeaways: James Harden is missed; Tyrese Maxey is a one-man show

The 76ers do miss James Harden, after all.

Right now, the Sixers’ best offense is to spread the floor and let Tyrese Maxey cook. And Tobias Harris just might have had a fourth quarter to build on.

Those three things stood in the Sixers’ 114-105 loss to the Bucks Thursday at Fiserv Forum.

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The Sixers dropped to 10-22 in games without Joel Embiid, who’s sidelined after left knee surgery. However, they were 11-5 without him a season ago. Harden was the main reason the Sixers were able to win last season without the reigning league MVP.

Harden averaged 20.6 points, 9.4 assists and 6.7 rebounds in the games he played without Embiid. The 2018 MVP and three-time scoring champion has the ability to take over games. And the Sixers looked for him to do that when Embiid was sidelined.

At this stage of his career, Maxey can’t do it all by himself. That’s not a knock on the All-Star guard, who scored a career-high 51 points to lead the Sixers to a 127-124 victory over the Utah Jazz without Embiid on Feb. 1.

On Thursday, Maxey had 30 points, with 18 coming in the first half. He just needs some help, especially when teams start blitzing him to get the ball out of his hands. Harris broke out of his funk, scoring nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

But that wasn’t nearly enough.

I’ll admit that I stand corrected for saying earlier in the season that the Sixers became a better team after trading Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 1. I guess I was blinded by Embiid’s dominant performances. But with him sidelined, it’s obvious that Harden’s presence enabled the Sixers to stay a float a year ago.

Maxey ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. He scored one point in the final frame, shooting 0-for-5 from the field.

But through three quarters, he was by far the best player on the floor. The Sixers struggled to create offense when he didn’t handle the ball.

Before making 4-of-5 shots in the fourth, Harris shot 1-for-6 and had six points. Meanwhile, Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with nine points on 4-for-13 shooting. Buddy Hield had a quiet nine points. And Cam Payne had 13 on 5-for-6 shooting, but he only attempted one shot after intermission.

So right now, it appears to be Maxey or bust.

Harris showed grit against the Bucks, remaining in the game after twisting his ankle late in the fourth quarter. He started to head to the locker room, but turned around and went back on the floor. We will see how his ankle responds in the coming days.

But he has to feel good about his fourth quarter.

Harris shot 19-for-57 (33.3%) from the field in his previous 19 quarters. On Tuesday, Harris had a season-low two points on 1-for-6 shooting in a loss to the Knicks. The Sixers can only hope that his ankle is fine and he’ll duplicate his fourth-quarter performance heading into Saturday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets.