Aging Clippers continue free fall on Maxey's night

The Angeles Clippers, a team of illustrious names designed to make noise in the NBA is achieving its goal.... in the opposite way from what was planned in the offices. The roster of old glories is not withstanding the current intense physical pace and has a dismal record of 4 wins to 11 losses so far this season.

But if the night had a name of its own, it was Tyrese Maxey. The Sixers guard, the third-leading scorer of the season, led his team's victory over the Bucks by scoring a career-high 54 points.

Clippers, exhausted just a month into the season

The Clippers, the NBA's most veteran squad, look exhausted after just the first month of competition. The opposite is true of the surging Orlando Magic, who swept the Los Angeles Islanders on Thursday by 129-101 and leads of as much as 30 points.

Jalen Suggs, with 23 points and eight 3-pointers, was the metronome for the Magic, who have five wins in their last six games. The locals did not even need their star, Paolo Banchero, out with a groin injury, to overwhelm the Clippers with fleeting transitions.

The visitors also miss their leader, Kawhi Leonard, since Nov. 3. On that date they began their slump with a total of nine losses in the last 10 games that have dropped them to 12th in the West.

With Leonard, afflicted with various foot and ankle problems, the Clippers had a 3-3 record, also insufficient for the investment of owner Steve Ballmer, the 10th richest man on the planet according to Forbes.

This season Ballmer decided to double down on experienced players like Chris Paul (4 points) and Brook Lopez (3), 40 and 37 years old, aggravating the physical inferiority against young rivals like the Magic, James Harden, 36, has to multiply on offense and on Thursday he reached 31 points and 8 assists.

Maxey launches the Sixers

Taking advantage of the abscence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Philadelphia 76ers dealt with the Milwaukee Bucks by 123-114 after a formidable display by Tyrese Maxey.

The guard reached 54 points, two above his previous high, with 6 three-pointers, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Third leading scorer of the season, Maxey is largely responsible for not fulfilling the bad omens with which Philadelphia started the season.

Although Joel Embiid has played only six games and Paul George barely made his debut Monday, the Sixers sport a 9-6 record thanks to the definitive explosion of Maxey, the team's leading scorer in 15 of those games.

The shooting guard, who forced overtime with 16 points in the last quarter, is the sixth player to reach the half-century mark in a game this season. Next to him, Paul George, who scored the Sixers' first 11 points, finished with 21 in his second game of the season.

For the Bucks, who were playing their first game without Antetokounmpo because of his groin injury, shooting guard Ryan Rollins shined with 32 points and 14 assists.

Spurs, unbeatable without Wemby

The San Antonio Spurs strung together their third straight win without French star Victor Wembanyama, who will miss the next few weeks with a calf injury. With 26 points from point guard De'Aaron Fox, the Texans claimed the Atlanta Hawks as victims 135-126.

In Sacramento, local fans witnessed their Kings' eighth straight loss, this time in a 136-97 thrashing at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Kings, second-to-last in the West (3-13), also just lost Domantas Sabonis for the next few weeks with a meniscus injury.

Without stars Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis snapped a streak of five straight losses with 29 points from Spanish forward Santi Aldama, who matched his NBA personal record.