3 comments after Sixers ride hot start to victory in Embiid’s controversial return first appeared on NBC sports Philadelphia
Joel Embiid made a triumphant, unconventional comeback on Friday night.
Wearing a black mask a week after suffering a broken heart attack, Embiid led the Sixers to a 108-98 victory at the Wells Fargo Center over the Hornets.
He had 34 points, nine assists, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Three Sixers hit the 20-point mark in Embiid, Tyrese Maxey (23 points) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (22).
The Sixers are without Jared McCain (left meniscus surgery) and Caleb Martin (right shoulder strain). Ball LaMelo and Brandon Miller are among the five Charlotte players on the team.
At 9-16, the Sixers now have 44.4 percent of their wins this season against the Hornets, who went winless in the four-game season series. Charlotte fell to 7-21.
The Sixers will visit the Eastern-Conference leading Cavs on Saturday night. Here are the observations on their fourth and final win of the season against the Hornets:
Star three entered out of the gate
In the first minute or two, it appeared that Embiid might take some time to adjust to playing with a mask for the third time in his career. He missed mid-range jumpers on the Sixers’ first two games.
However, Embiid and the Sixers are off and rolling. He had a shocker off a sharp two-man action with Paul George and then scored a one-and-one in the post. Embiid pulls down his mask to shoot a free throw and polish off a three-pointer.
When Charlotte decided to double team Embiid hard, a crisp pass from Embiid and George set up Oubre for a triangle.
The Sixers’ stars gelled well with both drafted and undrafted drafts of two-man and three-man practices. Maxey sank a three off an Embiid feed between the legs to give the Sixers a 23-8 lead. When George was doubled in the post, he made a simple pass to Maxey on the wing and notched his fourth assist of the opening quarter.
Almost nothing went wrong for Maxey and the Sixers during the 41-point first period. Maxey played the entire first quarter, racked up 15 points and drained 4 of 6 three-pointers.
Sixers are good, let the Hornets stay in it
The Sixers used a 10-player rotation and started the second quarter with George alongside four bench players.
The bench player to start the second was Ricky Council IV, who had a solid performance in the first. Council chipped in seven points on 3-for-3 shooting in the first quarter, including a powerful, crowd-pleasing slam and a corner three.
When the Sixers subbed out Andre Drummond for Oubre, Guerschon Yabusele played briefly at center in the second quarter. The Sixers sent Yabusele up the game after that layup and he drove by Miles Bridges to score an and-one bucket that put the Sixers up 20 points.
From there, the Sixers offense crashed back to earth. George turned the ball over to the crossbar and was then blocked by Cody Martin. The Sixers scored 17 points in the second quarter and their stars only had four, all of which came within the final minute.
The dramatic dip outside the shooting performance is not surprising, but the Sixers were still much less precise with their pass, life and overall offensive structure. They allowed Charlotte to hang around in a game that could have become a blowout by halftime.
Embiid, the Sixers eventually closed the door
Embiid found his groove as a scorer in the third quarter, knocking down two mid-range jumpers and a three. In his seventh game of the season, Friday was Embiid’s first outing with multiple threes. He also went 5 for 6 at the line in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, George follows him 33-point night in Monday’s win over the Hornets with a rough shooting game – five points, 2 for 12 from the field. He recorded 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
Although the Sixers led by as many as 23 points in the third quarter, Charlotte still prevented them from running away with the game. Oubre’s runner at the third-quarter buzzer gave the Sixers an 85-71 lead. He also played very well against his former team. Over two games this week with the Hornets, Oubre shot 15 for 21 from the floor.
Closing out the win early in the fourth quarter and letting Embiid finish the night on the bench would obviously be ideal for the Sixers. That’s not even close to what’s open.
George-plus-bench lineup was not good enough to start the fourth. After George missed a layup late in the shot clock, DaQuan Jeffries hit a three to cut the Hornets’ deficit to 89-83. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse called a timeout, re-inserting Embiid and Oubre.
The house soon roared into life. Embiid slides inside and then raises his hands in the air as Yabusele rushes forward on the fast break. He obviously knew something big was coming. Yabusele dropped what might be the Sixers best dunk of the season yet. The 29-year-old Frenchman unleashed a huge slam on Jeffries, who tried to take the charge in vain.
Embiid dictated the game on both ends down the stretch. It takes the left formation created by a slick, confident pull fake and creates a deceptive, graceful finger spin.
When Embiid, Maxey and George played a game from start to finish, the Sixers are now 2-0.
