With their most manpower in months, the Sixers snagged a valuable comeback win Saturday night.
They pulled out a 118-114 victory over the Hornets at Spectrum Center.
The Sixers improved to 41-33, snapped Charlotte’s five-game winning streak, and notched a 2-1 regular-season series win over the Hornets. That’s a tiebreaker which could be meaningful at the end of the year. For now, the Sixers remain seventh in the Eastern Conference standings.
Tyrese Maxey (right pinky finger injury) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (left elbow sprain) both returned for the Sixers. Johni Broome (right knee surgery recovery) was the lone Sixer out.
Joel Embiid posted 29 points and six rebounds.
Paul George had 26 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and four steals. Maxey recorded 26 points and eight assists.
Brandon Miller’s 29 points led the Hornets, who fell to 39-35.
The Sixers have another high-stakes game on deck; they’ll visit the 39-35 Heat on Monday night. Here are observations on their win over Charlotte:
All Embiid for Sixers in first quarter
Moussa Diabate beat Embiid to to a rebound on the game’s first play and scored a put-back layup. A LaMelo Ball three-pointer gave the Hornets a quick 5-0 lead.
George helped the Sixers avoid a catastrophic start. He stole the ball from standout Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel, which led to a Dominick Barlow free throw. George hit a pull-up three on the Sixers’ next trip.
Maxey’s lack of offensive involvement was conspicuous in the early going. It was natural to wonder whether the Sixers might use him primarily as an offensive decoy in his first game back from injury. Wearing a splint on his pinky, Maxey didn’t take a shot until he broke free from the pack and converted a layup with 5:30 left in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, Embiid drew two early fouls on Diabate and was very aggressive against rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner.
Embiid got regular touches in the post and the middle of the floor, and he looked to score on just about every Sixers possession. The superstar big man posted 14 points in the first quarter on 4-for-9 shooting.
On the other end, Miller poured in 16 first-quarter points.
Maxey turns on shotmaking switch
Maxey made a smart play with one second remaining in the first quarter when he drew Miller’s third foul.
Miller’s absence for much of the second quarter sure didn’t hurt as the Sixers tried to trim down the Hornets’ lead. Maxey switched into shotmaking mode once Embiid sat. He capitalized when the Sixers ran a double drag action and Charlotte gave him a bit too much room, nailing a long jumper. Maxey’s second-quarter highlights also included a catch-and-shoot triple assisted by Embiid and a turnaround mid-range hoop.
The Sixers cut their deficit to 58-57 when Maxey fed VJ Edgecombe for a three-ball in transition.
Everyone was quiet for the Sixers’ offense in the first half besides the Embiid-Maxey-George trio, which tallied 50 of the team’s 64 points. While perhaps a tad more offensive balance would’ve been nice, the Sixers had larger issues on defense and the boards.
The Hornets’ offense was comfortable in the first half and only committed four turnovers. And, with an abundance of youth, hustle and athleticism, Charlotte racked up 10 offensive rebounds over the first two quarters.
Facing a hot, high-energy opponent that thrives on the offensive glass, the Sixers’ problems securing defensive boards were predictable. It’s been a major weakness for three straight years and may very well hurt them in the play-in tournament and/or playoffs. The Hornets ended the evening with 20 offensive rebounds and 21 second-chance points.
Sixers finally pull ahead, grit it out
The Sixers evened up the game early in the third quarter on a put-back, and-one Barlow layup. The Hornets replied with an 11-0 run capped by a Miller three. The spurt included a second-chance Diabate lay-in.
The Sixers trailed by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, but they tightened up their defense and Charlotte grew frigid from three-point range.
Oubre (nine points, five rebounds) slammed in a dunk after he cut along the baseline and Embiid found him. Maxey nabbed a steal and dished to Justin Edwards for a slam. The All-Star guard then drove through the Hornets’ defense and finished off a layup that pulled the Sixers within 90-87.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse expanded his rotation to 11 players when he subbed in Andre Drummond to open the fourth quarter instead of Adem Bona. The early returns on that move were fantastic.
Drummond made an excellent cross-court feed to set up a Quentin Grimes three. Maxey took a defensive rebound, stormed forward and jammed in a monstrous left-handed dunk on Miles Bridges to knot the game up at 97-all.
After Drummond blocked Coby White’s lefty attempt inside, Maxey made a lay-in to lift the Sixers to their first lead of the game. A fierce Oubre slam on Diabate put the Sixers up by four points.
As the Sixers pushed past Charlotte, one of the only downsides was their escalating foul trouble. They were in the penalty for the majority of the fourth quarter. George was whistled for his fifth foul with 7:47 left in the fourth when he made an ill-advised reach-in on Ball near half court.
Oubre fouled Miller on a three-point attempt. Knueppel and Ball sunk much-needed jumpers and the Hornets held a 105-103 edge when Embiid checked back in with 5:40 to go.
The game stayed ultra-tight down the stretch. Following two George free throws, Ball drilled a wide-open three to give the Hornets a 114-112 lead.
All of the Sixers’ stars played a key part in the final moments. Embiid split a pair of free throws with 1:08 left, but his miss last touched Grant Williams on its way out of bounds. George curled free on the subsequent inbounds play and swished a three. He then earned the Sixers a stop by stealing Ball’s pass into traffic.
The Hornets had multiple chances to tie the game on their last non-heave possession. Embiid snuffed out one of them by swatting a Miller jumper. Ball got a clean three-point shot off, but he missed it short, George came up with the defensive rebound, and the Sixers cemented a high-quality victory against an opponent that had won 23 of its last 29 games.