Sixers vs. Bulls takeaways: Tyrese Maxey back in a groove; P.J. Tucker absent again in the fourth

Tyrese Maxey has regained his groove.

But opposing standout guards have exploited the 76ers’ perimeter defense since his return. And P.J. Tucker isn’t closing out games.

Below is my look at three things that stood out during Friday’s 126-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls at the Wells Fargo Center.

This marked the shooting guard’s fourth game back since being sidelined with a fractured left foot. And it was by far his best performance since his return, finishing with a team-high of 26 points while making 5 of 7 three-pointers. Maxey also had six assists, one steal, and a turnover in 36 minutes, 34 seconds.

This comes after he averaged 12.7 points while making 25% on his shot beyond the three-point line in the first three games.

“Yeah, it’s coming back,” coach Doc Rivers said of Maxey’s shooting. “You can see it. It’s back to me. More importantly, his shots back you know and I think his shot sets up everything else for him. So I think [Tyrese] is good to go.”

Maxey missed 18 straight games after suffering the injury on Nov. 18 against the Milwaukee Bucks. He returned on Dec. 30 against the New Orleans Pelicans. After having the next night off, Maxey played in the Sixers’ last three games.

“I was out I think six weeks, or however long it was,” Maxey said. “So I think I had to get back acclimated to the speed of the game. You know, you can play against coaches and player development all day long, but at the end of the day they’re not in the NBA.

“So it’s like they help, but you know playing against the real NBA players is extremely hard. So it’s just that, the [physicality], and the rhythm. That’s really it, I’m still trying to get it back.”

Maxey was averaging 22.9 points while shooting 42.2% on threes before his injury.

Friday night marked the second time in five games that an opposing player hit 11 three-pointers against the Sixers.

Zach LaVine shot 11 of 13 from three to score a game-high 41 points. On Dec. 30, the Pelicans’ CJ McCollum hit 11 of 16 threes to finish with a game-high 42 points.

“Zach, we kind of lost him in transition, and transition has been our Achilles’ heel a little bit this season,” Montrezl Harrell said of LaVine. “So he found one of the weaknesses that we had in our defense and kind of exploited it.

“I mean 11-of-13 on threes. That’s going to win against anybody on any night.”

» READ MORE: Sixers mailbag: When will Doc Rivers be fired?

However, the Sixers headed into Friday’s game with the league’s top three-point defense, holding opponents to 33.5%.

You wouldn’t have known that on Friday, as the Bulls made 58.8% of their threes. The Pelicans made 48.4% on Dec. 30.

But is giving the high volume of threes a result of needing to re-adjust to getting guys, like Maxey, back into the rotation?

Let’s just say defense isn’t Maxey’s strongsuit, nor is it for point guard James Harden.

De’Anthony Melton doesn’t think readjusting is the problem.

“We’re not going to be perfect,” he said. “We are going to have games where guys get loose. But we just have to eliminate and contain it. [LaVine] made 11 threes. That’s unacceptable. We got to find a way to limit that. So we can’t give up that many attempts to him.”

He was expected to provide a physical presence on defense and an ability to guard multiple positions while battling for rebounds. Offensively, the thought was that Tucker would create a matchup problem for opposing post players as a small-ball center. And the Sixers were excited about his bringing a toughness they desperately needed.

However, Tucker is averaging 3.4 points and 4.3 rebounds while appearing a step too slow at times on defense.

On Friday, he had a tough time defending Bulls center Nik Vučević while starting as the small-ball center in place of sidelined Joel Embiid.

Tucker finished with two points on 1-of-3 shooting to go with three rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 20 minutes, 22 seconds. He exited the game for good with 6:37 left in the third quarter.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Montrezl Harrell playing a bigger role with Joel Embiid sidelined

As a result, this marked the third straight game the 37-year-old didn’t play in the final session.

Tucker played 2:58 of the fourth quarter in Wednesday’s overtime victory against the Indiana Pacers. However, he didn’t see any action in overtime. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter of Monday’s victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Tucker’s lack of playing time down the stretch could be attributed to lack of production.

“Tonight was a different beast for us,”Rivers said of Tucker not playing in the fourth quarter. “Tonight, we were just trying to make a comeback with going small and getting energy, athleticism and running around. So I would throw this one out.”

Best performance: I had to give this to LaVine, who made 14 of 19 shots overall and had six assists, two steals and one block.

Worst performance: This was a tough because of Tucker’s performance and a horrid shooting by DeMar DeRozon and James Harden. But in the end, I gave it to Matisse Thybulle. The Sixers reserve guard failed to score while missing all three of his shot attempts. He also finished a minus-13 in 11:43 of action. Thybulle did block a shot, grab a rebound and have an assist. But the missed combined with the plus-minus are the reason he gets it.

Worst statistic: I had to give this to the Bulls shooting 58.8% from the foul line.

Best statistic: This goes to LaVine making 11 of 13 three-pointers.

Worst of the worst: This goes to how the Sixers were outhustled and looked lost while playing defense.