Sixers secure an impressive, 112-92, victory over Orlando Magic without Joel Embiid

ORLANDO, Fla. — Just win!

That’s what the 76ers finally wanted to do this season without Joel Embiid while facing the Orlando Magic Wednesday night. And they accomplished that, posting an impressive 112-92 victory at the Kia Center.

Tyrese Maxey scored 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting to erase memories of his poor shooting against the Miami Heat on Christmas night. Tobias Harris added 22 points and seven rebounds. Meanwhile, De’Anthony Melton (22 points), Paul Reed (15 points, 10 rebounds) and reserves Marcus Morris (14 points) and Patrick Beverley (10) were the other double-digit scorers.

The victory improved the Sixers to 21-9 and marked their ninth victory in 11 games. But it was their first victory in five tries this season without Embiid.

They lost, 112-99, to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 22 at the Target Center. Then they suffered a 124-114 setback against the New Orleans Pelicans on Nov. 29 at the Smoothie King Center. Two days later, the Sixers lost, 125-119, to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. And they were defeated, 119-113, by the Heat on Monday at the Kaseya Center.

On Wednesday, the Sixers broke that streak with a 23-6 fourth quarter run.

“I think that you know we certainly got to find another style to play because it’s so different when he’s there,” coach Nick Nurse said. “And the first couple [games without Embiid] weren’t great, right? And the Boston game went down to the wire. This one was a good win. We were down four and we had two free throws and missed them both in Miami with about 2:50 to go. It was almost a one possession game there. ....

“So we’re playing better, I think, is the main thing or playing well enough to give ourselves a chance to win is the main thing without Joel.”

This was the second consecutive game Embiid missed with a sprained right ankle. Meanwhile, this was the fourth game that Nic Batum missed with a right hamstring strain. As a result, Kelly Oubre Jr., Harris, Reed, Melton, and Maxey made up the starting lineup for the second consecutive game.

“Nico is really close,” Nurse said. “We’ll have him this weekend. I’m not sure if we’ll have him by Friday. I think he’ll be ready to go for one of the two.

“Joel, there’s no change. He’s getting treatment. He’s on court again and we’ll update it tomorrow. His status.”

» READ MORE: Sixers have ‘a new challenge’ — proving they can win without Joel Embiid

The final two stops of the Sixers four-game road trip is Friday in Houston and Saturday in Chicago.

Nurse said Batum is in good shape. He just thinks the small forward needs more testing and conditioning to make sure he’s ready.

“These next couple days, get him there,” Nurse said. “I mean, Simon [Rice, the Sixers VP of athletic care] told me it will probably be one of the two games, but he doesn’t know which one yet.”

Playing in the Magic’s arena is always special for Reed, an Orlando native and former Central Florida Player of the Year at Wekiva High School.

“It never gets old coming back,” he said. “It’s always cool. I always end up seeing familiar faces, and it’s like a lot of love in the city.”

With Embiid out, Reed received his second straight and third start of the season. It was his first career start against his hometown team.

The center made 6 of 11 shots and had five offensive rebounds in what was his sixth game against the Magic.

He said playing in the arena brought back childhood memories.

“It’s kind of like I got to put on for my hometown city,” Reed said before the game. “Anybody I grew up with probably will be watching. And a lot of dudes probably will come to the game.”

Mo Bamba finished with seven rebounds and was a plus-13 in 16 minutes, 18 seconds against his former team. The Sixers reserve center got busted in his mouth on a second-quarter defensive play. He went to the locker room for treatment. After returning the bench, Bamba applied some type of bandage to his mouth. He turned back into the game with 3:06 left in the half.

This was his first trip since being traded by the Magic in February and landing with the Los Angeles Lakers. Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley praised the Sixers reserve center before the game.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Mo Bamba excited about Orlando return to face former Magic teammates: ‘That’s family’

“Mo in the years that I was here with him, he continued to work,” Mosley said. “I think that was the great part about him. He was always honest, he worked his tail off to get himself on the court as much as he could. His ability to space the floor the right way.

“You saw what he did the other night, what he did against Miami. I thought that was big and then his rim protection. He’s not afraid to go after blocking shots and I think that’s a big attribute that he possesses.”

The Sixers will travel to Houston after the game. They’ll have practice on Thursday before facing the Houston Rockets Friday night at the Toyota Center. The Rockets are one of the league’s up-and-coming teams under first-year coach Ime Udoka, a former Sixers assistant. The Rockets are 15-14 after Wednesday night’s setback to the Phoenix Suns.

Rockets 6-11 center Alperen Şengün averaged career highs of 20.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.0 steal through Houston’s first 28 games. This game will also be a homecoming for Sixers forward KJ Martin. He played his first three seasons in Houston before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers on July 8.