Paul George’s 29 points lead the Sixers past the Charlotte Hornets for their second straight victory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — What should we make of the 76ers’ winning streak?

Is it the result of the Sixers playing their best basketball of the season? Or could it be the result of playing two struggling and depleted teams?

Those are legitimate questions for a team trying to find its groove after being an early-season disappointment. The Sixers will get the answers to those questions during the two-game series against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday and Friday at the Wells Fargo Center.

But for the time being, they wanted to enjoy what was a season milestone.

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Tuesday’s 110-104 victory over the Charlotte Hornets gave them consecutive wins for the first time since finishing last season with a nine-game winning streak. This NBA Cup triumph followed the Sixers’ win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena.

Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain all had a hand in Tuesday’s victory.

George finished with 29 points while making 6 of 9 three-pointers to go along with eight assists. The nine-time All-Star tallied 11 of his points in the second quarter.

Maxey overcame a rough shooting night by scoring 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. He scored their last 11 points while being more aggressive.

“They had a different game plan,” said Maxey, who had seven assists and two steals. “They denied me off the ball and were playing up on ball screens. So I was doing a good job with getting KJ [Martin] in the short roll. We scored on that, I was able to hit some tags out of the pick-and-roll, got Jared [McCain] a three-ball. I was letting the game come to me, I wasn’t going to force anything. I feel like I played a decent floor game as far as finding guys in their spots, but at the end I knew Paul [George] was a little tired.

“He carried us down the stretch, so I was like, ‘Man, I got you. Let me take it home.’”

McCain had 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting on a day he was named the Eastern Conference rookie of the month for October and November. He made his first five shots.

“Very good off-the-bench performance for him,” coach Nick Nurse said. “You come in and you need some scoring off the bench. It was a tough decision — we were struggling on the offensive end. I was really considering a lot of the fourth of putting him back in there down the stretch just to give us a little more space for Tyrese and Paul to operate because they were closing in pretty hard off some of the other guys.

“Too bad Yabu [Guerschon Yabusele] had some great looks and couldn’t buy one tonight. He was on the receiving end of some of that spacing. It made it pretty tough for those guys to navigate a bunch of bodies to play through it in the fourth.”

Yabusele, who grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds while starting at center, finished with seven points on 3-for-10 shooting while missing all six of his three-pointers.

Charlotte shooting guard Brandon Miller scored a game-high 34 points, including 7 of 16 three-pointers. The second-year player scored 23 of his points after intermission.

The Sixers’ latest victory improved them to 5-14 and 2-2 in the NBA Cup’s East Group A play. The loss dropped the Hornets to 6-15 and 0-4 in East Group A play. Both teams were already eliminated from the in-season tournament’s knockout round.

The Hornets were a shell of the team the Sixers defeated 107-105 in overtime on Nov. 10. LaMelo Ball scored a game-high 38 points in that game. The point guard missed Tuesday’s game with a left calf strain.

Charlotte was also without standouts Miles Bridges (right knee bone bruise), Grant Williams (right knee ACL tear), and Tre Mann (disc irritation). The Hornets did welcome back Mark Williams but the 7-foot center was rusty and on a minutes restriction while playing in his first game since Dec. 8, 2023.

And the Sixers took full advantage, jumping out to a 19-point cushion. They also shot 40% on three-pointers. However, the Hornets tied the score at 95 with 3 minutes, 10 seconds left on KJ Simpson’s pair of foul shots.

George responded with a basket on the ensuing possession before the Hornets knotted the score again on a pair of Nick Richards’ free throws.

“It was a different game,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said. “We were a different team in the first and second halves. B-Miller [Brandon Miller] picked it up in the second half, which gave them some life and confidence. He made a lot of plays for them because he’s a great player. We took a step back in the second half, which allowed them to get close.”

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The Hornets took a 100-99 lead on Miller’s three-pointer with 1:32 remaining. But Maxey made three consecutive foul shots before missing the fourth to give the Sixers a 102-100 lead 21 seconds later.

Simpson then tied the score with a pair of foul shots with 44 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Maxey’s layup put the Sixers up 104-102 with 29.7 seconds left.

After Miller air balled a floater in the lane, Caleb Martin grabbed the defensive rebound and dished the ball to Maxey. The All-Star point guard was fouled, and went to the line to make free throws to give the Sixers a 106-102.

Maxey went back to the line with 9.1 seconds left. He sank them to give the Sixers a 108-104 advantage before adding the final three points.

“Just glad we hung on,” Nurse said. “There are games you have to go through like that where you have leads. You lose them in this league because of the three ball and offensive rebounding a lot. That was the other thing — I thought we had the offensive rebounding under control until the second half. I’m just glad we hung on to win.”

The Sixers welcomed back Martin (upper back soreness), Kyle Lowry (strained right hip), and Reggie Jackson (right knee soreness) against the Hornets. Lowry missed the previous five games. Martin was sidelined for two, while Jackson missed Saturday’s game in Detroit. The team was missing starting center Joel Embiid and backup Andre Drummond.

Drummond will also miss both Magic games with a sprained right ankle before being reevaluated this weekend. Embiid didn’t make the two-game road trip due to left knee injury management/personal reasons. Tuesday marked the fifth consecutive game that he’s missed. The 2023 league MVP has missed 15 of the Sixers’ 19 games.

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Nurse said before the game that he didn’t have an update on Embiid’s status. Then asked if the seven-time All-Star would play Wednesday, Nurse responded, “I don’t know.”

“You can try to ask me after the game to see if I have any update,” he said, “but I don’t have any right now.”

After the game, Nurse said he doesn’t expect that Embiid will play on Wednesday.

“First off, we’ll check with Paul to see what his status is as well,” Nurse said. “’We’ll check on Joel as well. I don’t have any real updates for you. Don’t expect him to play tomorrow, but I wouldn’t rule it out yet, either.”

Meanwhile, George was noncommittal on his availability.

“I want to,” he said of playing. “I want to play. I’m a little sore. So I’ll see how I feel in the morning, but 100% want to play. Especially with how we’re playing right now. Absolutely.”