Sixers-Knicks takeaways: Kyle Lowry should start alongside Tyrese Maxey; Tobias Harris must improve

Kyle Lowry looked like he’s better suited for the 76ers starting lineup.

Tobias Harris needs to regain his rhythm. And the Sixers are missing Joel Embiid’s presence.

Those three things stood out in Thursday’s 110-96 loss to the New York Knicks at the Wells Fargo Center.

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Lowry was plus-four in 25 minutes, 7 seconds of action. He was the lone Sixer with a positive plus/minus, on a night they struggled mightily without him.

The plan is for the 37-year-old to back up Tyrese Maxey at point guard and play alongside him on occasion.

Well, the Sixers need to rethink that plan and put the six-time All-Star, Olympic gold medalist, and future Hall of Famer in the lineup with Maxey.

“He was big time tonight,” Maxey said. “Not just on the court, but just in communication in huddles, every single huddle. It was times when I was trying to run a different play. He was like, ‘No, we are going to run this play. You are going to be right here with the ball. You are going to do this.’ And I’m like, ‘All right, cool’. What am I going to say? He’s a [six]-time All-Star and Olympic champion.”

Lowry finished with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including making 1 of 2 three-pointers. He also had five assists, four rebounds, and three turnovers.

His lack of presence was felt when Sixers coach Nick Nurse subbed him out of the game with 8:51 remaining. The Knicks responded with a 10-2 run, before Nurse called a timeout and reinserted him with 5:27 left.

“I think he was great, honestly,” Maxey said, “and defensively, I think he did a great job of just communicating, telling guys where to go.

“We need that leadership, and it’s going to be good for us.”

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Lowry and Maxey played well together.

Lowry’s ability to run an offense while making pinpoint passes and great reads enabled Maxey to focus solely on scoring. The All-Star finished with a game-high 35 points on 11-for-24 shooting.

“It was good,” Nurse said of the pairing. “One thing, Kyle does a lot of little things that are unique, especially for his position. He’s obviously a really good screener. He was freeing up Tyrese quite a bit and some of that stuff. He’s a good organizer. He was getting some things organized that were obviously getting us some buckets in the second half.”

The Sixers are also going to need Harris to find his groove.

The power forward had a team-high three steals, but he struggled mightily on offense. He finished with seven points on 3 of 9 shooting to go with four rebounds and three assists and was a game-worst minus-15 in 26:36. He was held scoreless in the first quarter after missing his first three attempts.

Harris’ first made basket came on an alley-oop from Lowry.

“Listen, I think he didn’t quite get into the flow of things,” Nurse said. “Didn’t get a whole lot of shot opportunities. Again, I think he’s certainly a rhythm guy and he needs to be in the game to get into rhythm. I’m sure he’ll be better tomorrow night.”

Paul Reed and Mo Bamba must become more consistent while Embiid remains sidelined after surgery on the meniscus in his left knee.

At times, Reed and Bamba have looked good. Thursday was not one of those times.

The bigs combined for just two points and six rebounds, and were benched by the fourth quarter. Bamba was benched after only playing 4:32 in the first quarter. Reed, who got the start, played 22:29. However, he didn’t have his number called in the fourth quarter.

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Nurse tried to downplay the benching of the struggling bigs.

“I was just trying to get something going both ends of the ball,” he said of the small-ball lineups. “We were having a hard time guarding certain things, and we were just trying different guys.

“Then we were having a harder time rebounding the ball. All that stuff. So it was just like, trying to get some scoring out there, trying to get some different guys, and obviously it started going pretty good.”