PHILADELPHIA – It is hard for the Sixers to draw it up any better than how it looked on Wednesday night.
It has been well-known for nearly two months that Paul George would return to action against the Chicago Bulls. And 30 minutes before tip-off, it became official: so was Joel Embiid, whose lengthy absence was finally over.
What happened next? Embiid played what was quite possibly the best return game of his NBA career, scoring 35 points on 17 shots in 28 minutes. Then George shook off a rough shooting start and grew to be unconscious from long range, ending up with 28 points behind a second-half heater than had his teammates and fans in attendance going nuts. Between Embiid’s dominance, George’s explosion, another outstanding game from VJ Edgecombe and plenty of other contributors chipping in, the Sixers crushed their previous season-high in scoring as they cruised to a 157-137 obliteration of the Bulls.
Takeaways from a hell of a night to be on the Sixers:
Joel Embiid is back
At about 6:17 p.m., Embiid emerged from his locker room, walked through the tunnel and went through his first official pregame workout since February. Embiid’s 13-game absence caused by a right oblique strain is over; he is back with 10 games left in the season. The Sixers have two back-to-backs left on their schedule; the absolute best possible outcome is that the former NBA MVP plays in eight of those.
When Sixers head coach Nick Nurse spoke to reporters before Wednesday’s game, Embiid was still questionable to play. Nurse did not give any firm clarifications about how he might be used if he played. But it seemed pretty clear that the Sixers would try to ease Embiid back into the action, particularly because even without Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr., they now had enough manpower to do so.
Embiid’s return games have not always been masterclasses; sometimes he has seemed far too passive, timid or unsure of himself. On his very first touch Wednesday, he confidently buried a wing triple: Shortly after, Embiid – donning a wristband on his right arm – knocked down a vintage mid-range pull-up jumper. Then he knocked down a post fadeaway. Then he pulled off a beautiful spin move out of the post to score through contact inside. Then he connected from long range again. Before four minutes had passed, Embiid had totaled 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting. He finally missed a mid-range jumper before knocking down yet another triple, giving him 15 points in the game’s opening six minutes:
Embiid’s stint in the second quarter was effective, even if not quite as exciting. Embiid’s gravity was on full display; the Sixers’ offense surged as his teammates benefitted from having wide open shots. Embiid kickstarted one of the Sixers’ best finishes to an offensive possession in months, making a difficult pass in a tight window to George as Dominick Barlow simultaneously cut to the rim. George found him for a bucket:
Every single second of Embiid and Barlow’s first-half action came next to each other; Embiid finished with 23 points on 10 shots in 16 minutes. Nurse should continue to embrace that pairing; Barlow in particular is a much more effective player when capitalizing on the advantages Embiid provides. He was outstanding in this game, filling in all of the gaps as necessary. Barlow’s production has unquestionably tailed off lately, but that is about Embiid’s absence as much as anything.
If there was one play that stood out above the rest for Embiid on Wednesday, though, it was his out-of-nowhere, one-handed poster dunk to kick off the second half. Embiid got a rise out of his teammates with this one:
About midway into the third quarter, Embiid surpassed the 30-point mark, brutalizing a Chicago defense which at first single-covered him with bigs, then went to no-big lineups and tried to swarm him. Neither of those ideas worked. Embiid played the entire third quarter, and with the Sixers nearing a 40-point lead, his night was over. Embiid torched the Bulls and secured one of the best return performances of his career.
So is Paul George
While Nurse said he was not expecting to go “overboard” in his usage of Embiid, he had already made it abundantly clear that he was willing to push the envelope a bit with George. The nine-time All-Star acknowledged on Tuesday that he cannot simulate game action, but he has had seven-plus weeks to do nothing but work on his body. George has not played in both legs of any back-to-backs this season. Is it a possibility that George will play in all 10 remaining games on the Sixers’ schedule?
“Jeez, I hope so,” Nurse said.
George admitted on Tuesday that he expected to experience some level of rust despite the fact that he has done extensive on-court work over the last several weeks. Luckily for George, he did not have to do all that much early, as Embiid’s opening barrage of buckets took center stage. But once the on-ball chances came, George did not quite look like himself; he missed seven of his first eight shots including all four of his early three-point tries.
George provided some connectivity on the defensive end right away, and that is part of what Nurse expected. He finally broke through at the end of the first half, knocking down a corner triple to improve his shooting line to a measly 2-for-10. Perhaps it gave George some semblance of a rhythm, because he looked far more settled in the second half.
Early in the second half, George continued to be the team’s most impactful defender and finally found some scoring juice. It was a strong, well-rounded showing from then on for him; his feel stood out as he very quickly looked like a normal part of the Sixers’ rotation again despite his 25 games sidelined. He found a real groove later in the third quarter, then checked back into the game to start the fourth quarter – the Sixers were already winning by what felt like a million points, but he needs more reps at game speed – and went nuclear. His teammates got progressively more excited with each shot.
If the Sixers are ever at their best again this season, George might not look like a player making more than $50 million. But he will look like a supercharged role player, one of the best off-ball players in the NBA who at least once in almost every game can have one stint where he becomes an assertive three-level scorer. On Wednesday, he started out slow, then found his best self as a role player, then turned the clock back. It was a terrific outcome.
Odds and ends
Some additional notes:
• The Sixers provided an update on Oubre before Wednesday’s game; the veteran swingman has officially been sidelined for two weeks. The team said Oubre has been cleared for on-court activity and participated in its pregame shootaround. Oubre is not quite ready to return, but he appears to be getting closer. A formal update on Maxey is more likely to come next week.
• Ho hum, another brilliant game for Edgecombe, whose rapid progression as an on-ball player continued as he got to resume working on two-man offense with Embiid and embracing a more aggressive mentality as a shot-taker. Edgecombe logged 29 minutes, scored 22 points on only nine shots and also notched six assists and six rebounds. If the Sixers ever get to full health again, Edgecombe and George have the ability to anchor bench lineups that allow Embiid and Maxey to share the floor more often. It would be the key to unlocking Nurse’s optimal rotation.
• Old friend Guerschon Yabusele was back on Wednesday; his Knicks tenure was so underwhelming that he was willing to part with his player option for next season worth just under $5.8 million to facilitate a trade. Yabusele did some friendly jawing with Embiid during the game. New York moved Yabusele to Chicago in exchange for the expiring contract of Dalen Terry at the trade deadline, then flipped Terry as salary filler in their deal to land Jose Alvarado from the New Orleans Pelicans. Once Terry was waived by New Orleans, he landed with the Sixers on a two-way deal.
• Cam Payne gave the Sixers a great spark off the bench, knocking down five triples on eight attempts and dishing out four assists. The Sixers need more quality minutes from Payne until Maxey gets back.
• Kyle Lowry, who played the final five minutes on Wednesday as he nears the end of his 20th (and likely final) NBA season, was celebrating his 40th birthday. LeBron James is the only other active player to hit the 40-year-old mark.
Up next: The Sixers will depart for a three-game road trip, and the first two games on this swing will be crucial. On Saturday, the Sixers will face the Charlotte Hornets to determine the winner of the season series between the two teams.
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