Sixers-Wolves takeaways: Joel Embiid’s lessons, Tyrese Maxey ‘turns on the jets’ and more from Wednesday’s win

The Sixers picked up arguably their most impressive win of the season so far Wednesday, topping the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves, 127-113.

Joel Embiid was again masterful, with a season-high 51 points and 12 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey posted 35 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter to help open up his team’s advantage. And the Sixers managed rotation tweaks, with starting forward Nicolas Batum (hamstring) and Robert Covington (illness) out and starting guard De’Anthony Melton leaving with a thigh bruise late in the first half.

Here are four takeaways from the victory that pushed the Sixers’ record to 19-8.

This was another unreal performance for the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, particularly against a Timberwolves defense that entered Wednesday as the league’s most efficient while anchored by early Defensive Player of the Year front-runner Rudy Gobert.

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Yet Embiid joked that when he began the night 1-for-6 from the floor in the opening frame, “I thought I was going to shoot 2-for-30″ instead of putting together another dominantly efficient night. Still, Embiid said he “wasn’t really tripping” about the cold start, because he had already helped draw two fouls in those initial 12 minutes on Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid, trusting that would provide the space he needed to attack or get his reliable jumper off.

More important to Embiid, however, was he believed the game was a positive step in learning how to balance ensuring that his teammates “feel good about themselves” and when to “take over.” This comes after the Sixers did not get enough complementary offensive help for Embiid and Maxey in Monday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls.

“The last couple of games I’ve gotten off to a pretty good start,” Embiid said. “But everybody else didn’t get going. … Then at some point, we were down by a few points, and I just felt like it was time to get going.”

Embiid’s moment arrived in the third quarter when he scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting to help flip a seven-point deficit into a three-point advantage. Coach Nick Nurse added that he is pleased with how Embiid is mixing up “different things rhythmically” to keep defenders off-balance.

Most satisfying to Nurse, however? Whenever Embiid decided to explode for rim-rocking dunks, such as the and-one slam over Reid in the third quarter’s final seconds.

“I like the force downhill,” Nurse said. “Because that is going to start to draw some other things. Those are also pretty high-percentage shots.”

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Maxey converted a driving layup through contact about midway through the fourth quarter, flexing and screaming as he walked by the Minnesota bench. Later, when his finger roll layup put the Sixers up 14 with about two minutes remaining and forced Minnesota coach Chris Finch’s bench-clearing timeout, Maxey threw his arms up to encourage the home crowd to get even louder.

That punctuated Maxey’s 15-point fourth quarter, when, in Nurse’s words, the star guard “turned on the jets.” It was an impressive rebound after a poor outing against this team in Minneapolis less than a month ago when he went 7-for-19 from the floor and 0-for-5 from three-point range to finish with 16 points, eight assists, and three turnovers.

The Sixers know Maxey is going to spearhead the offense when Embiid gets his rest to begin the fourth. Ditto for the second quarter, when he scored 17 points including a step-back three-pointer and floater that gave his team a 10-point advantage.

Maxey’s surge was also an adjustment to when the Timberwolves attempted to take away the pocket pass to Embiid. He also remained assertive, even while matched up with elite perimeter defender Jaden McDaniels and with Gobert lurking near the rim.

“I like when he turns the corner and he looks down there and he’s got a runway, but he still sees Gobert there,” Nurse said, “and he just throws on the jets and jumps in the air and goes at him. … That’s the kind of aggressiveness that we’re talking about. There’s [an] opening. There’s space, man.

“You’ve got to attack downhill and figure it out later, not sit there and say, ‘Oh, I don’t want to go out there against him.’ And then all of a sudden, the play stalls and the guy’s back in front and they’re all back to their man. … That was awesome. That was the best he’s done that tonight.”

Added Maxey: “They’re up high, trying to pick me up at half-court. And, just my opinion, I just don’t feel like anybody can stay in front of me picking me up that high — just from speed and skill and work. I try to be extremely aggressive and, sometimes, before Joel comes and sets ball screens, just beat the man one-on-one and get in the paint.”

Maxey’s performance prompted questions about his candidacy to become an NBA All-Star for the first time after voting began earlier this week. He downplayed the question, saying he is focused on winning. But when Embiid was asked, he said “I don’t think it’s a question. … He should definitely be a starter.”

The Sixers’ rotation absences pushed Kelly Oubre Jr. (seven points, two rebounds) into the starting lineup, Danuel House Jr. into reserve minutes, and Tobias Harris (nine points, five rebounds, three assists) into beginning the second and fourth quarters with Maxey.

But the big surprise was KJ Martin’s seven second-half minutes after Melton departed with his injury. After identifying Marcus Morris Sr. as the best reserve to guard Towns, Martin was tasked with guarding dynamic wing Anthony Edwards for two minutes in the fourth quarter. Maxey added that Martin was effective while playing the “dunker” spot under the basket on the offensive end.

“He competes, and he can move and he’s physical,” Nurse said of Martin. “And he’s a little dangerous around the rim at the other end, too.”

Shake Milton, who spent his first five NBA seasons with the Sixers, played his first game against his former team last month. But Wednesday was his return to Philly, including a first-quarter tribute video that elicited cheers from the home crowd.

Milton, who had been teetering in and out of the Timberwolves’ rotation since McDaniels returned from injury, finished with two points on 0-of-2 shooting and three assists in 13 minutes. He was sometimes guarded by Maxey, who has known Milton since his college days at SMU, where Tyrese’s father, Tyrone, was on staff. Throughout the game, Milton shared the occasional playful chatter with his former teammates on the court and from the bench.

In the visitors’ locker room before tipoff, Milton reiterated that he “definitely learned a lot. Definitely kind of came into my own, too, as a person on and off the court” during his Sixers tenure. Now, though, he is pleased playing in Minnesota’s “free-flowing” offense.

“It takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders,” Milton said, “and you can just kind of go out there and hoop freely knowing that you’ve got the defense [as the backbone].”

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