The Philadelphia 76ers’ first three games were headlined by Tyrese Maxey’s explosive start and VJ Edgecombe’s taking the NBA by storm. However, a pivotal subplot emerged that could no longer be ignored against the Washington Wizards tonight – Philadelphia’s stellar late-game execution.
The 76ers (4-0) stunned the Wizards (1-3) 139-134 in overtime at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night. Philadelphia’s crunch-time performance, Maxey’s early Most Valuable Player candidacy, and Joel Embiid’s eventful return were the most notable takeaways from its fourth consecutive win.
Flipping the script
The Wizards enjoyed a 19-point lead less than five minutes into the second half and for good reason. Philadelphia was on the second end of a back-to-back after defeating the Orlando Magic 136-124 on Monday. It was down three rotational players in Paul George (knee), Jared McCain (thumb), and Dominick Barlow (elbow).
Between being short-handed and exhausted, it made plenty of sense for the 76ers to struggle defensively en route to their first loss of the season, but the unthinkable happened.
Philadelphia held Washington to 16 points in the fourth quarter and a three-pointer from Quentin Grimes forced overtime. Grimes scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half as his aggressive scoring gave the 76ers a much-needed spark. Adem Bona also provided stability defensively with five blocks and just one personal foul.
Philadelphia went on a 21-7 run from the 3:04 mark of the fourth quarter to the last 9.5 seconds of overtime. This is the third time this season that the 76ers erased a second-half deficit of at least 10 points. The fact that Philadelphia is learning how to win before November without George and McCain while Embiid is on a minutes restriction is pivotal.
Mad Max
While Maxey may not be the MVP frontrunner, he should be in the very early conversation.
He led all scorers with 39 points on 60.9% true-shooting and 10 assists, which nearly gave him his fourth 40-point performance through four games. An underrated aspect of this stat line is his 14-16 accuracy from the foul line. Maxey struggled to command a whistle early in his career, but he is drawing contact at a stellar rate early in the new year.
Maxey continued to find success off the dribble, especially in semi-transition where Philadelphia has been dominant. His multifaceted scoring earned the respect of the Wizards; defense, which allowed him to generate advantages for teammates, namely Kelly Oubre Jr, who scored 10 of his 17 points off Maxey’s assists.
Embiid returned
Embiid didn’t play against Orlando as part of his load management plan, but he returned to mixed results.
He posted 25 points on 63.6% true-shooting, seven rebounds, and five assists in 23 minutes, three above his minutes restriction. Embiid was dominant offensively, thriving in pick-and-pops, which is an action he has been more involved with this season. He also feasted off the dribble against Alexandre Sarr – the only issue was that Sarr did as well.
He notched 31 points on 64.9% true-shooting, scoring 13 of his points in the first quarter mainly against Embiid. Sarr and Washington collectively made an emphasis to target Embiid inside to exploit his lack of mobility. Philadelphia’s point-of-attack defense, or lack thereof, did Embiid little favors, which is why Bona’s late-game defensive protection was so critical.
Embiid’s revamp won’t be gradual as there will be games like tonight where he appears a step too slow, but there will also be nights where he is remnant of the two-way force who won MVP in 2022-23.
The 76ers will return to Xfinity Mobile Arena to face the Boston Celtics (1-3) on Friday, October 31st at 7 p.m. EST.