Sixers focused on eliminating ‘really egregious’ turnovers; Caleb Martin makes return to Miami

MIAMI — When Nick Nurse reviewed the film from Friday’s 76ers loss at the Orlando Magic, one statistic stuck out.

“Really egregious turnovers,” the coach said following Sunday’s practice from the Heat’s Kaseya Arena.

The Sixers (2-10) committed six turnovers during Friday’s third quarter and another five in the final period, squashing the momentum they built to open the second half. The Magic parlayed those giveaways into 15 points, flipping their eight-point deficit into a double-digit lead before winning, 98-86.

“There were turnovers that went to layups,” Nurse said, " … in the stretch of the game where we were playing really well and had a nice kind of groove going at both ends. I give [the Magic] some credit. They play pressure defense, but most of them were more on us.”

Nurse is correct in that Orlando boasts one of the NBA’s stingiest defenses, entering Sunday ranked second in the league in efficiency on that end of the floor (103.5 points allowed per 100 possessions) and holding five consecutive opponents under 100 points. But Monday’s Sixers opponent, the Heat, have perhaps been even better at turning defense into offense, entering Sunday ranked ninth in the NBA with 18.9 points off turnovers per game.

The Sixers have played their past five games without injured starting point guard Tyrese Maxey, whose low turnover rate (1.2 per game over four-plus NBA seasons) is one of his most underrated strengths.

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Veteran Kyle Lowry has stepped into that starting role, though several players have been tasked with handling the ball for a new-look roster battling a slew of injuries during the season’s first three weeks. Maxey, whose hamstring is expected to be reevaluated early this coming week, participated in some full-court post-practice work with coaches and teammate Ricky Council IV on Sunday.

The Sixers’ first regular-season matchup in Miami marks the return of starting forward Caleb Martin, who spent the previous three seasons with the Heat before signing with the Sixers as a free agent this past summer.

Miami is where Martin carved out his NBA role, after being released by the Charlotte Hornets in August of 2021. With the Heat, Martin became a quintessential two-way player who could shoot, find space on offense, and defend multiple positions.

Martin, who initially turned down a contract offer from the Heat before eventually signing with the Sixers for less money, called coming back to his former NBA home “bittersweet.” But he hopes he will “get some love, for sure” from Heat fans.

“Obviously, I had a lot of great memories here,” Martin told The Inquirer from inside his former practice gym Sunday afternoon. " … It’s always awesome to be back, but you’ve got all the things playing in your head, all the emotions.”

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Nurse hopes Martin will eventually play a similar role with the Sixers. He has already made a defensive impact, recording 10 steals over his past four games. He is also averaging 10.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists through 12 games, but is shooting an underwhelming 32.4% from three-point range.

“He’s really trying to settle in offensively,” Nurse said. “He’s not quite sure when to go, when to shoot, when to attack. And we’ve had to put the ball in his hands a lot. [He is] more suited to be a complementary player, [as a] cutter, slasher, [and] receiving the ball more than he is delivering it.”

Monday’s game also is another return game for Lowry, who played parts of three seasons with the Heat before joining his hometown Sixers off the buyout market last February. In his first game back in Miami last April, he totaled eight points, six rebounds, and five assists in a Sixers victory.

It appeared the Sixers would have sturdier frontcourt depth against the Heat — until superstar Joel Embiid was listed as questionable with an illness on Sunday evening’s injury report.

Before that designation, Nurse said Embiid was a full participant in Sunday afternoon’s practice and that his minutes were expected to remain in the “ballpark” of 33, the amount he played Friday in Orlando. Meanwhile, backup center Andre Drummond looked “a lot bouncier and fresher,” Nurse said, during Sunday’s practice while recovering from an illness.

Drummond missed last Wednesday’s home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and, even though he was available to play Friday in Orlando, he only logged four first-half minutes. Guerschon Yabusele was the backup center against the Magic, and also played some power forward.

Drummond has struggled to start the season, primarily as the fill-in starter while Embiid was sidelined because of a knee issue and suspension. He has averaged 8.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in 11 games, while shooting 49.3% from the field.

Despite Embiid’s listing on the injury report, rookie center Adem Bona on Sunday was assigned to the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats. When Embiid and Drummond missed Wednesday’s loss to Cleveland, Bona totaled four points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes as the backup center.