Sixers

Instant Observations: Maxey’s Huge Night Helps 76ers Overcome Embiid Ejection in Wild Win Over Spurs

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Matt Gregan
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Matt Gregan Sports Editor

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Sports Editor

Published23 Dec 2024

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It was a wild night of basketball in Philadelphia. Joel Embiid got ejected, but the Philadelphia 76ers were still able to come away with a 111-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Tyrese Maxey propelled the Sixers to victory by finishing with 32 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Paul George added 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Guerschon Yabusele totaled 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and four steals off the bench. Jared McCain (left knee meniscus surgery) and Eric Gordon (left oral surgery) were the lone players out for the Sixers.

Victor Wembanyama finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists and eight blocks for the Spurs. Stephon Castle scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting off the bench.

The Sixers’ next contest is a road matchup against the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day. Here are some instant observations from the a wild win for the Sixers:

Likes:

– After putting together a few games of hot outside shooting, Maxey appeared to fall back to earth in the early portions of this contest against the Spurs. He bricked multiple wide open 3-pointers and was unable to get anything going from inside the arc. However, he continued to push and eventually the shots started falling. He roared to life in the second half, beginning with an 11-point outburst in the third quarter. The 3-pointers that were not falling in the first half began to find twine in the second half, which was crucial to helping him find his footing offensively. The 24-year-old guard became the fourth player in Sixers history to record 600-plus made 3-pointers.

Maxey exploded in the final minutes of action, making a plethora of gigantic plays. With the game in the balance, Maxey took over on both ends of the floor. He consistently attacked the basket, making multiple difficult shots to keep the momentum going in the Sixers’ direction. With the Sixers down by one and just over a minute remaining, Maxey got a steal and finished with a ferocious dunk while getting fouled.

On the following possession, Maxey increased the Sixers’ lead to four with a mammoth step-back 3-pointer from the top of the key. Between Maxey’s offensive production and well-timed defense in the fourth quarter, he finished with a masterpiece against the Spurs.

– Yabusele has been quiet for the past few weeks, but he roared back to life in a major way for the Sixers. He was brilliant offensively, providing a crucial dose of bench scoring on a night where the Sixers needed production from everyone on the floor. The French native did an excellent job mixing up spacing around the perimeter and playing from inside the arc. Wembanyama, his teammate on the French national team, is an excellent defender. However, he struggled at times to defend Yabusele’s combination of floor spacing and acrobatic finishes from around the basket. On a night where the Sixers became shorthanded through injuries and an ejection, Yabusele’s production was vital to helping the Sixers come away with the victory.

– It has not been a good start to the season for Caleb Martin. He has battled through a slew of injuries while struggling to find his footing offensively in Philadelphia. However, he showed up in a big way against the Spurs. The veteran forward knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in addition to slamming a dunk in transition. When the 3-pointers are falling, Martin can be a productive two-way player for the Sixers. Hopefully, he can use his performance against the Spurs to generate some momentum going forward. He finished with 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.

– It does not take a basketball savant to see that Embiid makes a positive impact whenever he is on the floor. The Sixers used the two-man game between George and Embiid to get the 34-year old some open looks on the perimeter. George’s first two baskets, a mid-range jumper and 3-pointer from the top of the key, were generated by Embiid screens. George, coming off a couple of poor offensive showings, benefited from the space provided from playing alongside Embiid in the first half. After Embiid’s ejection (more on that below), the Sixers’ offense had to shift into a different style of play. While it was not always pretty, George was among the players who stepped up and did enough to help the Sixers survive offensively.

Dislikes:

– Unfortunately for any fans of basketball, the referees made themselves, rather than the play on the court, the center of attention. The performance from the referee crew during the first half of this game was horrendous. First, there was the entire situation between Andre Drummond and Wembanyama from early in the second quarter:

It became clear throughout that sequence the referees had completely lost control of the game. Wembanyama flopped multiple times on the same possession, temporarily leading to Drummond’s ejection. After reviewing the play, the referees determined Drummond did nothing wrong. They reversed his ejection and changed the call to a technical foul on Wembanyama for flopping. However, the entire sequence was capped off by the referees undoing the flopping technical on Wembanyama.

After a few more minutes of action, the referees again put their imprint on the game. Embiid was called for an offensive foul while driving the basket. He argued and got in the face of the referee who made the call, resulting in two technical fouls and an ejection. Embiid had to be held back by multiple players and members of the Sixers coaching staff.

Embiid did a poor job of handling the situation. Regardless of how frustrated he was at the foul call, he should not have gotten in the face of the referee. Whether or not what he did should have resulted in an ejection is a fair question to ask. However, Embiid needed to do a better job of handling his emotions so he could have avoided putting himself in that type of situation.