This time, with a Tyrese Maxey, reinvesting in Joel Embiid and the Sixers is smart

They won three straight: One without either star, one with only The Process, and one with both. If Embiid continues to play smart, the future both near and far looks brighter than ever.

by Marcus Hayes | Columnist

Published April 6, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

Joel Embiid came back from an eight-week knee injury Tuesday in Philly, and somehow he looked better than ever.

Tyrese Maxey joined him Thursday in Miami, and they were even more magical than before.

Tobias Harris, bless his heart, missed Thursday’s game but should be fully recovered from his bruised knee by next week.

Suddenly, the team that had lost 22 of 32 games is watchable, dangerous, and poised to be both for the immediate and distant future.

The 76ers entered the weekend on a three-game heater, stood in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, were one game behind the Pacers for the coveted No. 6 seed with five games to play, and had the NBA’s easiest remaining schedule.

Does all of that mean the Sixers can win a title this year? Probably not. It’s one thing to win a few late-season games against the dregs of the NBA. It’s quite another to defeat a pedigreed opponent that has home-court advantage and the ability to scheme specific game plans to minimize the effectiveness of Embiid and Maxey.

However, if the Embiid who played composed, intelligent basketball the last two outings is the Embiid who is under contract to make $165.7 million in the next three seasons, the Sixers should have a strong playoff showing and then, assuming they extend Maxey, three years of legitimate title contention.

The last time they were in a spot this good they’d just lost to the Raptors in the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinal on a quadruple-doink jump shot as Nick Nurse rejoiced on the sideline. However, Embiid was young and soft, Ben Simmons was unforeseeably treacherous, and they mistakenly chose Simmons, Harris, and coach Brett Brown over Jimmy Butler.

We know, we know, you’ve heard this all before.

This time is different. Promise.

Who’s this guy?

For starters, Embiid hasn’t looked this fit since his freshman year at Kansas.

He gained weight, both good and bad, in his first two years in the NBA, and he’s carried too much of it ever since. He has looked particularly portly in his various returns from injury. Not this time.

He’s lighter and quicker, and his body control, already otherworldly for a 7-foot, 285-pound center, is markedly better … probably because now he looks like a 7-foot, 275-pound center.

He looked sharp Tuesday, but in Miami on Thursday he turned into George Gervin: two one-handed runners and a buttery finger roll.

Embiid’s 34.8 points is a career best, and he leads players who have played at least as many as his 36 games. But when he led the Sixers to a win Tuesday without Maxey, Embiid wasn’t the leading scorer or rebounder. Referee troll Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 25 points and Cameron Payne had 10 rebounds; Embiid had 24 and six.

When Maxey returned Thursday, Embiid led the Sixers to another win, but again did not lead in his usual categories. Maxey had 37 and nine; Embiid, 29 and four.

Most significant, neither Embiid nor Maxey played in Toronto last Sunday.

The Sixers won by 15.

Nurse’s hobbled club

How is this happening? Simple.

Sixers president Daryl Morey constructed a deep, diverse roster around Embiid and Maxey when he traded disgruntled whiskers enthusiast James Harden.

More to the point, Nick Nurse is coaching the hell out of it.

They’ve won three in a row for the first time since mid-January. They go 10 deep if they have to, and that’s without De’Anthony Melton and Robert Covington, who aren’t likely to return from their injuries.

They’re so dangerous that they can win when their power forward goes scoreless with four rebounds in 32 minutes. That’s what Nicolas Batum did in Harris’ place Thursday.

They’re not only deep, they’re deep with clearly defined roles. This is amazing, considering: They’re built around a ball-dominant center who has missed half the season and a shoot-first combo guard who’s playing the point for this first time in his career; Oubre’s on a league-minimum contract because nobody else wanted him; Batum is averaging four more minutes per game as a retiring 35-year-old (25.6) than he did as a spry 30-year old; and current point guard Kyle Lowry, like late-stage Joe Louis, is approximately 76 years old.

Granted, the Toronto game was the Raptors’ 13th loss of 15 in a row as of Friday.

Granted, the Thunder have struggled all season, relying evermore on players like Luguentz Dort, whose game is only slightly more interesting than the Synod that shares his name.

Granted, the Heat remain a flawed and laboring squad, but now, in their fifth season of the Jimmy Butler Era, they remain a tough beat most nights. Thursday was such a night. A late 13-0 run swung the game. They remained composed and focused.

That Oubre, Batum, and Lowry can start and win a game at Miami in April in which KJ Martin grabs four offensive boards and Paul Reed is a plus-23 speaks to the Sixers’ potential.

Thanks mainly to Nurse.

Ramifications

The sixth seed would keep them out of the four-team play-in round and, most likely, pit them in the first round against:

The Cavaliers, against whom they’re 2-2 this season.
Or the Magic, against whom they’re 2-0.
Or the Knicks, against whom they’re 1-3, but who have lost Julius Randle to shoulder surgery, might not get OG Anunoby back from elbow surgery, and just added surging former Villanova star Josh Hart to their injury report with a sore wrist.

Embiid is far more mature and professional than he was six years ago. The Twitter/X beefs and his other social-media messaging have mostly disappeared.

He’s far wiser about his objectives than he was the last two years, when his obsession with winning the NBA MVP award poisoned what should have been his obsession — winning playoff games. He won the award last season but crumbled in the second round of the playoffs.

The real question remains: Will Embiid continue to modulate his play? Will he be less reckless in the open court? Will he stay on his feet, off the floor, and out of the stands? Will he be more cautious near the rim? Will he use his grace and bulk to more often act as an immovable obstacle instead of a shot-blocking superhero?