Dominant performances from Joel Embiid (35 points) and James Harden (29 points and 13 assists) were the difference in the Sixers‘ comeback win over the Knicks on Christmas Day and served as a reminder that the team’s star power can make up for some shortcomings, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
Before Embiid and Harden really got rolling and helped the Sixers pull away, De’Anthony Melton played a key role in keeping the club in the game, according to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who notes that the guard began the afternoon by making his first five 3-point attempts.
The performance bumped Melton’s season-long 3-point percentage to an impressive 39.2% and contributed to ongoing speculation about whether he might keep his spot in the starting lineup even when Tyrese Maxey returns from his foot injury.
According to Mizell, it’s hard to imagine Maxey not eventually regaining his starting job, but if he has a minutes limit when he returns, the team could bring him along slowly by initially having him come off the bench. Melton also could find himself playing crunch-time minutes in certain situations where a defensive specialist is required, Mizell notes, since neither Harden nor Maxey is a lock-down defender.
Here’s more on the 76ers:
- The Sixers’ recent hot streak seems to be renewing enthusiasm about the upside of this year’s squad. Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote after Friday’s win over the Clippers that the 76ers are starting to live up to their preseason billing as a title contender, while Rich Hofmann of The Athletic said after Sunday’s victory over New York that the club is finally showing off its offensive firepower. Philadelphia had the NBA’s 17th-best offensive rating (111.2) through its first 24 games, but has posted the league’s third-best mark (118.1) during its current eight-game winning streak.
- Sixers forward P.J. Tucker revealed on Friday that he has been battling a pinched nerve, which he referred to as a “dead hand,” for the last few weeks, tweets Mizell. Tucker has been playing through the injury, but intends to keep working on it with the team’s trainers and physical therapists, Mizell adds.
- In the wake of the Sixers signing Louis King to a two-way contract to replace Saben Lee, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com considers what King could bring to the team, suggesting that the former five-star recruit might be a “more intriguing lottery ticket” than Lee was.
If the 76ers stay healthy…
That’s a big if given their stars injury history…
Both are likely to miss key games in the post season…
Agreed
If the Lakers stay healthy, Lakers would have won the championships in 2021 and 2022 ……
That’s a big if given their stars injury history…
Both are likely to miss key games in the post season
Embiid is likely to make injury excuses
The African warrior played with a shattered face,thumb torn off and a knee lubricated with wd-40 silly ,without excuse. Get your facts in order .
Like just about every other NBA player.
If they stay healthy then what….. you never even finished your first sentence.
Just mumble
Sixers looked good against Knicks. And with no Maxey. Sixers are coming together. When Harden has a big ast night. They will be hard to beat.
Thanks knick for some commen sense comments.
Sixers still got Doc Rivers
Although he’s playing really well and so is Embiid right now I’m not really phased much with all this media noise. The other day it was Harden wanting to go to Houston now it’s Maxey being on the bench and before that it was Tucker not delivering. I don’t really care it’s the regular season and it’s just about building chemistry, knowing what your capable of, getting a good seeding then winning games.
This season aside from the Jimmy Butler season, is probably our best chance at a title in years. So I’d love to see us win but realistically there’s about 10 teams which could win it on their day.
If the Harden situation turns south and he leaves so be it. He’s getting old, he’s doesn’t offer much on defence, he doesn’t score like he once did and he shouldn’t be the one making demands and taking all the money. If he leaves sweet, I’ll take a sign and trade for Eric Gordon and a first so you can go back to Houston.
Yes it’ll set us back atleast a season or two but we can bounce back from that. We have depth and are young.
Come next season if it was Maxey Thybulle Tucker Harris Embiid, Melton Gordon House Niang and a FA centre m, I’d still be hopeful. I could probably make an argument we’d be better off especially with the cap space.
I’m just happy enjoying Sixers basketball even with the loss to Washington today, I’m not phased. Niang went 1/7 and we lost by 4. Our last 10 possessions included 5 misses and 3 turnovers. These two things lost us the game and if we were to run a 7 game series against them we’d likely win in 4. All I care about is ending up somewhere from 3rd to 6th in the east.