Sixers fall 118-117 to Bucks as Joel Embiid struggles to find rhythm in season-opening loss

MILWAUKEE — Nick Nurse said James Harden wanting out wasn’t a distraction.

But no one would blame him for saying otherwise.

He accepted the 76ers head coaching job not knowing whether Harden would be on the team. And there’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the disgruntled point guard, who was not on the trip for the season opener and still expects to be traded.

But Nurse stressed, again, before the 118-117 loss to Milwaukee Bucks that the Harden saga hasn’t negatively affected the team.

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Maybe that was true, but the Sixers (0-1) could have used his playmaking ability and talent on a night Bucks guard Damian Lillard torched them for 39 points.

They fought hard and made runs. The team battled back from a 19-point deficit and had a 102-94 lead on Tyrese Maxey’s foul shots with 6 minutes, 47 seconds remaining. The Sixers just, ultimately, couldn’t overcome Milwaukee’s star power and depth. And it didn’t help that they struggled from the foul line (67.9% shooting), missed makeable shots and, at times, rushed things.

“I thought we gave a great effort,” Nurse said, “and we played extremely hard. … We did some really good things. We did certainly miss some assignments and scheme stuff we missed. But that’s going to happen right now.

“But I do like the way we adjusted to some things and played a lot better. I mean we had every opportunity to win that game.”

Maxey paced the Sixers with 31 points and a game-high eight assists. Newcomer Kelly Oubre Jr. had a memorable Sixers’ debut. The sixth man added 27 points on 9-for-11 shooting — including a 5-of-6 clip on three-pointers.

But reigning MVP Joel Embiid had a rough night. Playing without Harden might have affected his game the most.

Harden led the league with 10.7 assists per game last season, with nearly half of those passes going to the center. On Thursday, Embiid appeared passive at times while trying to coexist in the Sixers’ free-flowing offense. A season ago, he and Harden dominated the ball in the two-man game.

Embiid finished with 24 points on 9-for-21 shooting to go with seven rebounds, six assists and seven turnovers. Tobias Harris had 20 points and seven rebounds.

The Sixers were disappointed with some of the late calls by the referees. One that really stood out was a missed travel call when Giannis Antetokounmpo caught his own air ball.

“That turned into a three, then at the other end,” Embiid said, “and some of the fouls. But that was on us. We need to be better, and we’re going to be better. And myself, I missed a lot of easy ones. I had a couple of turnovers. That’s on me.

“We could have won tonight. But I didn’t do a good enough job, and I’ll be better.”

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Defensively, the Sixers adjusted to defending Damian Lillard after he got out to a hot start. But the All-NBA guard still hit big shots down the stretch to score 14 fourth-quarter points.

One of his shots was a backbreaking step-back three-pointer over Oubre to give Milwaukee a 116-111 lead with 1:13 left. His pair of foul shots with 11.5 seconds left made it a 119-115 game.

“It’s gonna be tough,” Nurse said of trying to guard Lillard. “He’s hard to guard with his stop-start and his shiftiness and it’s gonna be hard to guard. … How many times did he go to the line tonight? 30? 17? It felt like 30.”

His points total was the most points by a player in a Bucks debut. Lillard made all 17 of his foul shots. He added eight rebounds and four assists. Seventeen of his points came in the second quarter.

Lillard took over in the second quarter, making 4 of 7 shots (2-for-4 on three-pointers) and all seven of his free throws. Lillard also had three rebounds and one assist in 8 minutes, 50 seconds of action.

The Bucks acquired Lillard on Sept. 27 from the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-time deal that included the Phoenix Suns.

The blockbuster trade came after the All-NBA point guard requested a trade to the Miami Heat. But his pairing with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (23 points, 13 rebounds), two-time All-Star Khris Middleton (six points) and Brook Lopez (13 points) make the Bucks (1-0) a legitimate contender to win their second title in four seasons.

At that time, folks wondered how long the Sixers would hold on to Harden, their own disgruntled point guard. He opted into this the final year of his contract with the expectation that Sixers would trade him to Los Angeles Clippers. Upset it didn’t happen, Harden missed media day and the first day of training camp. After returning, he didn’t play in the first three preseason game while “ramping” up his conditioning.

Then he missed 10 days for what the Sixers called a personal matter, causing him to miss the final preseason game. He returned to practice Wednesday with the intent of accompanying the team on its season-opening, two-game road trip. However, the Sixers have instructed him to stay behind to “ramp up” his conditioning at their practice facility.

The Sixers played hard without, but just couldn’t get over the hump.

The Sixers traveled to Toronto following the game for Saturday’s matchup against Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. This game will mark Nurse’s first game in Toronto since being fired on April 21.