The Philadelphia 76ers (7-15) will take on the Chicago Bulls (10-15) in a brief weekend getaway. Joel Embiid made his return to the starting lineup as the Sixers tried to continue their stretch of promising performances. They got a great game from their superstar and held on, 108-100.
Embiid started his pregame warm-ups at his usual time with some optimism that he could play. Indeed, he did. There was a minute restriction at play but the Sixers nonetheless got their big man back in action. Kelly Oubre Jr. remained the starter over Jared McCain as the Big 3 united for just the second time this season.
The Bulls may have a losing record but they play faster than anyone and have the 10th-best offense in the NBA. They also employ a stretch center, Nikola Vucevic. Despite the Bulls' poor defense and smaller starting lineup, this was not the easiest matchup for Embiid anyway. But rather than get suckered into running with the Bulls, Embiid threw up a wall and corralled them.
Embiid is back — and better than he's been in a while
After seven consecutive missed games, Embiid was inserted back into the 76ers' starting five. It was the best and most confident he's looked in a game in quite some time.
Embiid started his game with a missed three but saved it from going out of bounds, tossing it to Guerschon Yabusele for a layup. Then he shot another three that clanked off the rim. The Bulls' drop defense opened up plenty of space for Embiid to shoot jumpers but he couldn’t connect.
Embiid allowed two early layups scored over him, one from Giddey and another from a fast-breaking LaVine. He let them into his chest rather than initiating any force to contain their drives. Embiid still showed his mobility on some shot contests, one of which forced LaVine to take a tougher layup on the other side of the rim, but it was unsurprisingly far from what it used to be. He subbed out after five minutes.
His next shift began at the start of the second quarter and he looked way more comfortable getting physical. He earned his first points of the game on a post-up jumper. Fighting for space on the block with Vucevic resulted in three more points when Embiid scored an old-fashioned three-point play after securing his own offensive board. He much more closely resembled his old self, leading a 24-6 run in the second quarter and utterly dominating.
The Bulls only scored 19 points in the second quarter after opening the game with 33. Embiid had 19 of the Sixers' 39 points in the second, flipping the double-digit lead their way going into the half.
Things got dicey in the fourth quarter when the Bulls started doubling Embiid, helping them stay within striking distance. He eventually stabilized the situation with, among other plays, a chase-down block and a drive down the lane. The Bulls couldn’t get enough threes to fall to retake the lead. Embiid ended possessions with key rebounds.
It’s not right to totally wipe out the first quarter but if you only started watching Embiid after that, you might think this was a game from one of the last few seasons. Beyond the jumper falling at a high rate, he was fairly mobile, made a strong impact on defense and was nearly unstoppable on offense. His free-throw attempts were a bit tame but he didn’t need them to be anything more.
No. 21's final stat line: 31 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, 13-28 field-goal shooting. It will take more than a one-game sample size to declare that he's officially back. Nonetheless, this game was extremely encouraging.
The old and new two-man games
Embiid's return meant a shift in the roles and shot tendencies for Paul George and Tyrese Maxey. The big man got to work with both of them in pick-and-roll and dribble-handoff sets.
For Maxey, whose scoring efficiency has tanked without Embiid, his return was monumental. He had someone to dump the ball off to in the mid-range for easy assists and shift the defense over away from him. Of his 14 assists, 10 were to Embiid. Those pocket passes into the nail were open all day, allowing Embiid to rise up for jumpers or get downhill against a defender trying to prevent the jumper.
Maxey STILL shot poorly from three but had a much easier time operating on offense, notching one very best statistical games of his career. He set a new career-high in assists and rebounds in a game and reached triple-double territory for the first time in his career: 23 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists on 10-22 shooting.
George was steadier in games without Embiid but benefited tremendously from a strong screening threat and versatile scorer. He only needed a small window of space to feel confident uncorking a jumper. A smooth jumper like his doesn’t require much to make the bottom of the net sing.
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While Embiid and Maxey got back into doing their thing, George provided a supportive scoring punch. He also shot poorly from deep but he was excellent inside the arc on both fast breaks and half-court possessions, contributing 12 points and seven boards.
A size advantage? For THESE 76ers?
The Bulls forced turnovers and got up threes, with Josy Giddey getting the ball moving and scorers around him looking to do their things. Zach LaVine certainly did his. But their lack of size is their Achilles heel, especially without one of their biggest forwards, Patrick Williams. The Sixers have been undersized for most of the season without Embiid. Getting him back from this game made it easier to push their opponents around.
Philly dominated the rebounding battle (56-35), getting by with lots of second-chance points. Embiid and Oubre led the way in dominating the offensive glass. The Sixers took care of business on the other end, too. That task was made easier by the Bulls' guard-heavy lineup but they nonetheless did what they needed to do, surrendering just two offensive boards.
Three-point shooting was poor (again) but Embiid led a bullying in the paint, which set the tone for the Sixers' offense. KJ Martin kept doing his thing, swooping under the hoop to score with his layup hand, and Maxey got some buckets in the paint to fall. Philly's 54 points in the paint came on 42 attempts — and it was complemented by a 13-14 shooting performance from the foul line.
At least for one day, everything in 76ers Nation is looking up. Their next game is back on their home floor on Friday against the Indiana Pacers.