PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers had the Big 3 of Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and Joel Embiid on the floor when they took on the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night at home. The Sixers entered on a 2-game win streak and had a chance to keep things moving in the right direction against a struggling Nets team.
Instead, the Sixers were unable to get anything going on the offensive end of the floor and fell to the Nets 114-106 at home. They are now 0-3 when the Big 3 all play in the 2025-26 season and 7-11 overall in games all three of them play and finish–they didn’t finish three of the 18 games they played in 2024-25.
Philadelphia looked a bit disjointed. Maybe it was the swarming defense the Nets played with. Maybe it was the absence of VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, and Dominick Barlow. Maybe it’s a lack of reps.
“We just gotta be better,” Maxey said after the loss. “Myself, really, I gotta be better. That’s all there is to it.”
It was a weird night for Maxey. He took only one shot in the first quarter, seven in the first half overall, started 1-for-10 from the floor, and finished 3-for-14 on the night. That is very un-Maxey like as the Sixers figured out how to get shots for George and Embiid. It almost felt things were being forced to George and Embiid all night.
“I just, I feel like I was making the right plays,” Maxey added. “But I got to stay aggressive.”
George shot just 5-for-14 overall and 2-for-7 from deep in the loss. The two triples came when the game was already decided as he had a tough night as well. The three stars are going to have to continue to work everything out.
“We just, again, just we all just got to figure out how to find rhythm,” George said. “Playing off one another.”
The Sixers will have their next chance on Friday when they take on the Chicago Bulls on Friday to begin a 5-game trip.