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Tyrese Maxey was sensational late, but he missed two big free throws in a double-OT loss to the Hawks.
Dec 1, 2025, 2:16 AM UTC
Doesn’t matter who’s available, this team is not capable of playing a normal game.
Philadelphia fell to the Atlanta Hawks 142-134 Sunday evening, unable to capitalize on erasing a six-point deficit with 39 seconds left in regulation.
Tyrese Maxey finished strong after a slow start to lead all scorers with 44, shooting 14-of-31 from the floor along with seven rebounds and nine assists, but missed two free throws at the end of the first overtime. Quentin Grimes shook off a scary fall to go for 28 points on 8-of-15 shooting.
After missing his last nine games, Joel Embiid returned and put up 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting along with four rebounds, blowing past his minutes restriction for the first overtime but not the second, playing exactly 30:00 on the night.
VJ Edgecombe also came back after being out the last three and looked amazing defensively, but didn’t find many opportunities on the other end. He finished with just seven points on 3-of-6 shooting along with two rebounds, two assists and two steals playing 21 minutes.
Paul George had 14 points, shooting 6-of-17 from the floor along with five steals. Like Embiid, he ran out of minutes after the first OT, finishing at 28:02 minutes played. Jalen Johnson led the Hawks with 41.
The Sixers were only without Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford while Atlanta presses on without Trae Young.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
* There certainly needs to be some figuring out how to play with each other if these guys are ever consistently available for the Sixers (yes, I know.) It wasn’t a surprise that Embiid dominated touches early. He looked good pulling up for a jumper on his drive. He traveled on his second but threw a nice pass to Dominick Barlow in the dunker spot on his third. Edgecombe also hit the ground running, starting with a three, a gliding layup in transition, and an impressive steal after nearly getting beat on a backdoor cut.
* George definitely looked like he was still figuring out who and what he should be in those lineups, as he did last year. He started the game 0-of-3 with a turnover. Cold three-point shooting did appear to roll over from the Brooklyn game — the Sixers opened the game 3-of-11 from deep.
* Atlanta started off even worse, missing all nine of their attempts as both teams looked clunky in the half-court. No one was colder than Grimes, who had missed 14 threes in a row before he buried a stepback with the quarter winding down. That helped the Sixers get out to a four-point lead.
* A vintage turnaround jumper over a double team is how Embiid opened his second shift of the night. He continued to play to his comfort level as they ran a dribble handoff or pick-and-roll with Maxey just about every time down the floor. Jared McCain scored his first points of the night that way, using Embiid’s screen to get an open midrange jumper.
* The Sixers gave up over 20 points in the paint in the first quarter and that continued to be an issue in the second. Embiid was hardly a factor on that end, especially given that he needed to play his way back into shape. They hardly fared better with different lineups as the Hawks shot 92.9% at the rim area, which is blistering even for how close it is.
* George played for most of the quarter and found more of a rhythm, knocking down three jumpers. Grimes had also settled in, getting under control on his drives. After one drive though he got crunched in between Onyeka Okongwu and Nickeil Alexandler-Walker, hitting his head on the latter’s knee. He was briefly removed from the game but was back out to start the second half. The Sixers took a one-point lead into the half.
* Plenty of minutes restrictions had to be managed as not only was Grimes back in the game, but he started the half in place of Edgecombe. Embiid was out there though and remained in control of things offensively. He zipped a pass to a cutting Grimes for an easy layup before attacking himself on subsequent possessions.
* It may not seem like it because of how well the Hawks shot in the paint, but Barlow did a sold job as a makeshift center in some of these lineups. He can actually challenge bigs on shots, and he always seems to have a chance at pulling down the rebound regardless of if he does or not. Alexander-Walker got going a bit after being bottled up in the first half but the Sixers weren’t getting crushed off the dribble on the perimeter. Maxey had a sequence that he finished with an impressive blocked three-pointer, and Edgecombe nabbed the steal after the subsequent inbound.
* Maxey was not having a good night offensively, but shortly after that block he finished an extremely difficult and-1 amidst an 11-0 Sixers run. That run became a lot harder to sustain once he had gone to the bench. The Hawks finally got some threes to fall to erase it, but another stepback from Grimes put the Sixers ahead by six after three.
* There was definitely pressure to start the quarter well as it was the last of Embiid’s minutes (or so we thought). They immediately surrendered a 13-0 run, one that a quick timeout couldn’t stop. They still couldn’t stop anything at the rim, and they really let the offense spiral during this stretch. The clean looks didn’t fall, then they struggled to get those clean looks, and then they just started giving the ball away. They turned it over on three straight possessions after taking care of it well for most of the night.
* George was finally able to end that with a drive to the basket but consistently getting good looks against this Hawks’ defense remained a struggle. After another tough and-1 from Maxey, George was able to save a broken play by hitting a corner three. It was a give and take effort from him though as he shortly got called for a moving screen
* The Sixers actually spaced Embiid’s minutes out so he could play the first and last three minutes of the quarter. In desperate need of offense, they tried to close with McCain before going back to Barlow. After a series of isolations they went to the Embiid-Maxey pick-and-roll, and it got a wide open corner three for George. The Hawks got a pair of free throws on the other end and the Sixers responded with a rushed Grimes three that didn’t come close.
* It looked like the Sixers would need some Hawks missed free throws to have any shot at a comeback. Not only did a missed Atlanta free throw help, but Barlow missing one helped as well. He was fouled on a layup to make it a three-point game with a chance to cut it to two. He missed but George did a phenomenal job tracking down the offensive rebound, and found Maxey who buried a three to tie the game.
* Dyson Daniels did a good job to weave around Embiid on the following possession but his layup attempt spun out. It looked like Nick Nurse tried to call a timeout after the Sixers secured the rebound with a few seconds left but it wasn’t granted, ending regulation.
* After limping to the finish line, both offenses were somehow able to get going again. Maxey and Grimes each got really good looks at the rim while the Hawks found their jumpers again. McCain answered a Johnson three with one of his own. When Maxey put them ahead with a layup, they finally got a stop when Barlow blocked Johnson at the rim.
* Back down the floor, Embiid wound down the shot clock to get himself a midrange jumper. He thought it felt good off his hand but it rimmed out. Down two with 14 seconds left, Johnson drove again on Barlow and missed the layup with him and Embiid contesting. That miss looked to put things away but Maxey of all people missed both his free throws. Johnson had more success driving on Barlow this time, drawing a foul with 0.3 seconds left, once again tying the game.
* The Sixers opened the second overtime with another uphill battle as both Embiid and PG ran out of minutes. Maxey continued to be brilliant in getting to the basket, but Johnson had an equally easy time getting to the line.
* The limitations of this lineup showed when Maxey kicked to the corner for a big open three, but it was Barlow there who couldn’t convert. Fittingly, a defensive breakdown let Johnson get completely left alone the next trip down the floor, and the three he buried made it a six-point game, which felt insurmountable and that ended up being the case.
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