Quick takes from Sixers’ 118-101 win over the Hornets

After the Sixers beat the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, both teams were back at it again on Monday. The result was the same, with the Sixers taking a 118-101 victory.

The Sixers now have a 13-game winning streak against Charlotte. Here are some quick takes from Monday’s game.

It’s not exactly a secret that the Sixers are a more dominant team when Joel Embiid is highly involved in the offense.

Near the midway point of the second quarter, Embiid was 0 for 3 from the field with one point. He wasn’t moving well without the ball, didn’t have an inclination to post-up much and the Sixers weren’t doing a good job incorporating him into the offense.

In the final half of the second quarter, the Sixers did a better job of feeding Embiid, beginning with this behind the back pass from Ben Simmons for a fastbreak layup. How many times last year did we see Embiid running the break like that?

It was no coincidence that the Sixers started playing better as Embiid got more involved in the offense. He would end the half with 10 points, helping the Sixers on a 27-7 spurt and a 15-point halftime lead.

While LaMelo Ball, the No. 3 overall pick in the NBA draft, isn’t a starter, he should be soon. At 6-foot-7, he has great vision. Ball doesn’t blow by people with speed, but is able to get defenders on stop-and-go moves and plays at his pace, which isn’t easy for a young player.

He is especially dangerous on pick and rolls as we see on this play, where he fed Miles Bridges for the one-handed jam.

Ball has to exert a little more effort on the defensive end and while his shooting has to improve, it isn’t awful (although he didn’t shoot well from deep range on Monday). He has shown the ability to get to the basket at will.

Here he scores and draws the foul on Shake Milton, by using an excellent crossover dribble.

Ball plays under control and he could prove to be the best rookie in this year’s class

The perception when Seth Curry was traded to the Sixers was that he would be a solid stand-still jump shooter.

While he has been a deadly shooter, what has impressed is how Curry has been able to create his own shot. Here he simply blows by Devonte Graham to make the pull-up jumper over the 6-7 Bridges.

Tobias Harris is scoring so many ways. What he has been especially effective at is the catch and shoot. Notice as he takes this pass from Ben Simmons. There is no hesitation by Harris, who makes the jumper.

Harris, who on Monday was named Eastern Conference player of the week, is playing with a lot of confidence and has been destroying teams with catch and shoot jumpers that are released so quickly that the defense doesn’t have the time to react.

First-round draft choice Tyrese Maxey entered the game with one three-point field goal. He doubled that with his second of the game early in the fourth quarter.

Maxey has shown the ability to get to the basket.

If he can start hitting from beyond the arc, it will force defenders to respect his shot and enable him to have even more success driving to the basket.