Sixers vs. Wizards takeaways: Joel Embiid remains the savior; Philly’s 50-50 duo; Kelly Oubre Jr.’s fourth quarter

The 76ers were fortunate to have Joel Embiid back.

Now, he and Tyrese Maxey became the first two Sixers to score 50 points in separate games during a season since Dana Barros and Willie Burton during the 1994-95 campaign. Meanwhile, De’Anthony Melton obtained a pair of milestones. And the Sixers didn’t overload Kelly Oubre Jr., who turned it on in the fourth quarter.

Those four things stood out in the Sixers’ 131-126 victory over the Washington Wizards Wednesday at Capital One Arena.

The reigning MVP missed the past two games — both losses — because of illness. And one could argue that they probably would have lost to the Wizards if he missed Wednesday’s games.

Embiid finished with a season-high 50 points along with 13 rebounds and seven assists to join Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in franchise history with five straight games of at least 30 points, 10 rebound, and five assists.

This marked his sixth 50-point performance of his career. And the Sixers needed every single point.

Embiid had accounted for 60.7% of his team’s fourth-quarter points until Melton scored their final four points from the foul line. Until then, Embiid had 11 points and two assists with six points created off those assists.

He carried them from the start, scoring nine of the Sixers’ first 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting. During that time, his teammates scored four points on 2-for-10 shooting. The six-time All-Star had 26 of his team’s 60 points at the half. It was the third time this season he had at least 25 points in a half.

Embiid’s big night comes three weeks after Tyrese Maxey scored a career-high 50 points on 20-for-32 shooting against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 13. Maxey, 23, wasn’t born when Barros and Burton accomplished this milestone.

Burton scored 53 points to lead the Sixers to victory over the Miami Heat on Dec. 13, 1994. Barros had 50 points in a loss to the Houston Rockets on March 14, 1995.

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Burton would only score 30 or more points one another time that season, producing 33 points in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 25, 1995. Barros, however, had a 44-point performance and scored between 30 and 39 points six times that season.

Those numbers are nothing compared to what Embiid and Maxey have accomplished early in the season.

Embiid scored 48 points against the Wizards on Nov. 6. He also scored between 30 and 39 points 10 times. That’s a remarkable feat, considering Wednesday was just Embiid’s 17th game of the season.

Meanwhile, Maxey has 30-, 31-, 31-, 33- and 34-point performances in addition to his 50-point output.

The Sixers shooting guard surpassed the 3,000th-point and 500th-three-pointer milestones in the game. Melton has 3,011 points after finishing with 19 points. He also made two three-pointers to give him 501 for his career.

He reached the 3,000-point threshold while marking the Sixers’ first three-pointer with 5 minutes, 38 seconds left in the half. Scoring 12 second-quarter points, Melton was a major spark for the Sixers.

Sixers coach Nick Nurse didn’t think Oubre was in sync and in rhythm early on while playing for the first time since Nov. 10 because of the fractured rib. That led to the Nurse being worried at halftime about what kind of rotation he would use with Oubre after intermission.

“But the second half was amazing,” Nurse said. “I thought he was kind of the spark with just a bunch of stuff, so I’m really happy.”

Oubre scored two points in 4:46 before intermission. He missed his two shots at the 4:37 mark in the third. However, Oubre exploded for 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting in 10:02 in the fourth. He finished the game with 12 points on 5 of 8 to go with three rebounds and an assist.