It turns out having your max contract players available is more helpful than not.
The Sixers took care of business as they welcomed guys back, blowing out the Chicago Bulls 157-137 Wednesday night. It’s the most points they’ve scored in a game since 1986.
They are 40-33 and can pull into a tie for the sixth seed should Atlanta lose, though the Hawks own the tiebreaker.
After missing his last 13 games, Joel Embiid was back to lead all scorers with 35 points shooting 12-of-17 from the floor along with six
rebounds and seven assists. In his first game back from his 25-game suspension, Paul George found his shot as the game progressed, finishing with 28 points shooting 11-of-22 from the floor. He also had six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
VJ Edgecombe acclimated well to having some guys back, putting up 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting along with six boards and six assists. Josh Giddey led the Bulls with 23.
The Sixers were only down Tyrese Maxey (finger strain), Kelly Oubre Jr. (elbow strain) and Johni Broome (meniscus tear) while the Bulls were missing Anfernee Simons, Zach Collins, Jaden Ivey, and Noa Essengue.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- George coming up with deflections as soon as the game tipped off was a great sign; as was Embiid scoring on his first four touches of the night. The most impressive part of the Sixers’ start was Edgecombe being able to reverse course and get this layup off after he had fully committed to a two-handed dunk.
- The defensive intensity the Sixers started the game with wasn’t able to survive the timeout Chicago took 90 seconds into the game. Embiid’s heater kept the Sixers out in front as he put up 15 in the first.
- Justin Edwards has already understandably seen his role decrease with some guys getting back, but he had an impact jumping right off the bench. He beat his defender off the dribble to get to the hoop before knocking down a three moments later. Edgecombe wasn’t working in those big flurries like Embiid. He did most of his work in the quarter at the line but he put up 11 himself. He did a good job manning the second unit as the Sixers pushed their lead to 12.
Second Quarter
- George was off with his first three jumpers of the night, but he finally got on the board by driving through Josh Giddey to the post. Cam Payne and Adem Bona put together nice shifts, the former hitting a pair of threes while the latter was able to put back a layup while picking up a couple of blocks on the other end of the floor.
- Staggering these guys is certainly the way to go big picture-wise, but with this opponent the Sixers probably could have snuck in a few more minutes with Embiid and George together — the two still haven’t played together a ton. They did have a really nice possession together where Embiid found PG on the baseline, then George immediately dumped it off to Dominick Barlow who was cutting down the lane. There are plenty of reasons they may struggle with continuity, but the Sixers did move the ball well in this half.
- Embiid technically only made two field goals in the quarter as he did most of his damage in the second from the line. After missing his first five shots of the night Quentin Grimes finally buried a three before hitting a finger roll layup. After making another three himself, Edgecombe capped off a great half of passing by hitting George right in the shotpocket on a skip pass, getting the three up with no extra movement. Isaac Okoro was able to get a quick put-back layup in before the buzzer, cutting the Sixers lead to 19.
Third Quarter
- Thanks to having such a lethal jumper, Embiid was able to takeover the game early without really having to exert himself. Both starting bigs for Chicago leaving the game to injury probably helped as he was much more intent on attacking guys on the block to start the second half. He started that campaign with a bang, sealing his defender and power-stepping to dunk over Matas Buzelis. He was still in the mood to show off after that, slapping his swing pass to Edgecombe on the following possession.
- The Sixers didn’t ever really have to turn up their intensity on defense to match those opening minutes, but they started piling up deflections again as the quarter went on. There was a stretch where they had a steal on three straight possessions, using those fast breaks to really make the score look ugly.
- The only knock on George’s night had been that his jumper wasn’t falling, and he rectified that by making all four of his attempts in the quarter. As his longest shift of the night wore on, Embiid did go back to attacking with the jumper. By this point in the game the Sixers were pretty much getting wherever they wanted. Edwards was having a good night, but the lane opened for him like the Red Sea for a wide open dunk as the Sixers stretched their lead to 48.
Fourth Quarter
- Under normal circumstances the veterans should take a seat for the rest of the night, but having not played since January, George can definitely use some more run to get his legs under him. After opening the quarter with a three, he really fell into a groove. He pulled up for a pair of midrange jumpers before doing so from behind the arc again as well before the Bulls called a timeout. Not that the timeout stopped him — he hit another three off the dribble before the Bulls started throwing heavy doubles at him. His night did not last much longer.
- It took a couple rounds of the benches being emptied, but even the birthday boy himself Kyle Lowry saw some minutes in this one. It took two attempts, but he knocked down a three to contribute to the Sixers having their highest scoring night in 40 years.
