It would have been difficult to imagine on Saturday night that the Sixers would head back to Philadelphia optimistic about their performance on the road. But after bouncing back from a horrid loss to the New Orleans Pelicans with an emphatic victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves the following night, the Sixers ran into the tanking Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night, handily notching a 135-114 win to secure a 2-1 road trip.
Joel Embiid returned to action after his longest absence since November, and though a red-hot three-point shooting start for Indiana made the game competitive early, this proved to be a rather easy, stress-free win for Embiid and the Sixers. It was exactly what all parties involved needed, and with an elite starting lineup's worth of Pacers sidelined – Tyrese Haliburton was obviously unavailable for Indiana, as well as Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac – there was no other acceptable option. Far too often this season, the Sixers have failed to put opponents away when they have had them on the ropes. They did not mess around on Tuesday, dispatching a Pacers team practically asking to be put away.
And so, after a shaky first quarter, the Sixers took the bull by the horns, with Embiid at the center of their dominance in the first half but the team playing its most encouraging minutes during his rest. That was thanks in large part to Tyrese Maxey, who for the second game in a row had a superstar-caliber performance. Maxey was a terrific three-level scorer all night, also flirting with a triple-double. He looks refreshed.
The Sixers are 32-26. Takeaways from their latest victory, from Embiid's return to some rotation adjustments made by head coach Nick Nurse:
### Joel Embiid is back, and his teammates should be thankful
After 18 days, five games and two different injury designations, the Sixers were thrilled to have Embiid back in the fold on Tuesday as they faced a Pacers team that allowed the former NBA MVP's first true scoring outburst of the season, a 39-point gem back on Dec. 12, and then a 30-point game on 17 shots a month and change later.
This time around, Embiid eased his way into the game, assisting on a pair of baskets and missing one long jumper before easily baiting Pacers center Jay Huff into a foul with his patented rip-through move. Even as Embiid tried to get his feet under him early rather than submit one of his particularly aggressive starts, he had Indiana's short-handed defense at his mercy as a decision-maker. Embiid did not make a shot in the first five minutes and change of the game, but he still accounted for nine of the Sixers' first 14 points between a pair of free throws and three assists. He added a few easy buckets before checking out following an opening stint of about eight minutes.
The Sixers initially faltered with Embiid off the floor, finishing the opening frame down by eight points. But a non-Embiid lineup featuring three guards opened the second quarter on a 17-0 run to take control of the game, and when Embiid returned, the unit of Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, Dominick Barrow and Adem Bona had outscored Indiana 22-2 in four minutes and 20 seconds to give the Sixers a 12-point lead. Embiid quickly added two buckets of his own, the first a layup courtesy of Maxey before knocking down an above-the-break triple:
Embiid added another mid-range jumper for good measure, then utilized the attention being paid to him to get back to facilitating. After ending the half with another barrage of buckets, Embiid entered intermission with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting to go with four rebounds and four assists in 16 minutes of action.
In the second half, Embiid had a slow start, settling for some three-point shots that did not fall. He got himself back into the flow of the game with a bucket off an offensive rebound, but seemingly being strictly used in eight-minute stints, he checked out a possession later. Embiid's heavy lifting turned out to be behind him, as Maxey immediately led a Sixers push that punctuated a strong third quarter and more or less put the game out of reach.
Embiid checked back into the game with nine minutes and change remaining and the Sixers nursing a 20-point lead. It only took him eight seconds to score an easy basket in the post against Huff, who he almost seemed amused to be going up against. Embiid drew another easy foul, then converted an and-one under the basket. That was all the Sixers needed to see; they called it a night for Embiid after 26 successful minutes in which he scored 27 of the easiest points imaginable.
But when the Sixers have Embiid on the floor, they do not just enjoy the value that comes from his individual dominance; he makes life a whole lot easier for everybody else. Maxey goes from underqualified to be in the middle of a heliocentric offense to underqualified to be a second option playing off a big with tremendous gravity. Barlow's non-shooting goes from a bug to a feature. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Edgecombe go from underqualified for their roles to overqualified, too. Even for players like Grimes and Jabari Walker, it becomes much easier to find niches and be selective with shots. Embiid's presence on the floor was palpable all night long on Tuesday.
### Odds and ends
A pair of additional notes:
• With Embiid returning to action and Bona submitting outstanding minutes behind him, Andre Drummond was not in the rotation. Drummond gave the Sixers a vital boost early in the season, but he has struggled mightily for multiple months. Embiid being in the mix can enable the Sixers to avoid playing Drummond unless there is a matchup tailored to his specific skills.
• Trendon Watford, out of the rotation since Jabari Walker became eligible to dress again by signing a standard contract, got thrown back into the mix in the middle of the second quarter, perhaps in part because Walker's first stint was uninspiring. Watford was still behind Walker in the second half, but did play in the fourth quarter. One ill-advised foul aside, he was quite good. The guess here: Nurse will go to Watford over Walker when he feels his team is in need of an offensive spark, while Walker's consistent rebounding and defensive physicality make him the easier fit in most lineups.
**Up next**: The Sixers will return home for one game, a battle against the Miami Heat on Thursday night.
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