NBA

How Joel Embiid and the 76ers met at the right time

ballervisions 2026年1月15日

Paul George drives the ball up the right side of the floor Monday night with 7:16 left in the first quarter, Brandon Ingram harassing him all the way, in the 76ers’ 115-102 victory over the Raptors.

Former MVP Joel Embiid moves to the left wing to set a screen for Tyrese Maxey to get it open. It is a poem in a sense; Embiid paves the way for Maxey here, but Maxey taking more ownership of the offense in Embiid’s absence — arguably the new face of the franchise “in the process” — has been a key plot point of the season.

Raptors rookie Alijah Martin works hard to prevent Maxey from using a full screen, let alone getting the ball behind it:

(NBA screenshot)

Finally, Maxey manages to shake himself, setting the stage for a drive with Paul George to his right and Embiid to his left:

In an unusual situation, Maxey this is not the case driving victory. Martin is recovering well, and Scottie Barnes – an All-Defense selection this season – is helping Dominick Barlow take over for Maxey.

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(On that: Per Second Spectrum, Maxey is seeing a help defender on more than 81% of his drives this year. That’s the eighth-highest mark among the 54 players who have logged at least 300 drives this year. Teams should be in awe of Maxey’s speed and overall ability to pressure the rim.)

Maxey hits Barlow with a pass, and Barlow quickly returns it to George near the court. As this reset takes place, Embiid moves to the middle of the floor to act as an outlet.

Embiid gets a touchdown while the Sixers to his right rearrange their space. Barlow walks down the dunker lane. George fills the right wing, and Maxey sets up shop in the right corner. VJ Edgecombe is self-employed deep in the left corner, increasing the space Embiid has to his left if he wants to attack that way:

Collin Murray-Boyles took the first bump from Embiid before securing a layup (short). Murray-Boyles flashes his hands to rub Embiid and throw off his rhythm, then smartly removes himself before Embiid can draw a rip-through in his collection. Embiid kicks it to Edgecombe, himself immediately Close attack under Immanuel Quickley:

From there, it’s easy. Edgecombe drops the ball to Embiid, and Embiid drains a short jumper to tie the game.

Other than that, it’s pretty standard during a 48-minute game. Honestly, it’s the best defense on the Raptors – they’re ranked seventh in defensive rating for a reason! – until it was closed, and it wasn’t that one even worse one I have ever seen.

Even for Embiid, this is boring by his standards. He’s had some very bright moments during this run, which has seen him average 28.2 points on 61.6 true shooting over his last 11 games in which the 76ers have gone 7-4. Heck, he had a great finish in the first half of this very game.

But that first possession provides a window into what the Sixers are growing into. It is an example of the type of combination they are looking for.

This season has been primarily, and rightfully so, defined by their backcourt. Maxey has taken most of the ownership of the offense, leading the NBA in touches per game, but the Sixers intended to move him around the board to emphasize the defense.

He received more on-ball screens than he did last season (11.7 per game to 12.5), while doubling the number of off-ball screens he set himself (2.8 to 4.8). Between off-ball work – you never know there Maxey goes when he sets or gets a screen – pick and pull game and his exploits in transitions, Maxey was able to take on more responsibility and explode as a scorer (30.9 points on a 53/41/88 split) while his average touch time and pull per touch come down from last season.

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Edgecombe has been a revelation this season, ranking third among rookies in scoring (16.1 points), second in assists (4.4) and first in steals (1.6). The Sixers have trusted him to run more offenses than I expected heading into the season, and he’s definitely seeing those plays in Maxey’s non-game minutes. That, combined with the level of responsibility he had on the defensive end, made him one of the best and most impactful players in this year’s class — and one of the most valuable players on the roster.

While Maxey and Edgecombe’s minute load created a bit of pressure early in the year, their impact and on-court chemistry presented an obvious long-term trick. It was easy to be excited about what they were, and what they could be at the end of the Embiid Era.

That Embiid is now so comfortable with this, that the on-court relationship between the three seems to be mutually beneficial, is incredibly encouraging. Maxey and Edgecombe benefit from the gravitas that Embiid still has.

Empty corner (or empty side) ball screens between Maxey and Embiid continue to throw teams for a loop. There is an inherent problem of whether or not to change groups that must be faced. That now combined with the pitch-and-catch chemistry the two continue to develop.

The second handoff between Embiid and Edgecombe often breathes new life into half-court stuff.

Embiid’s touch is always difficult to deal with; give him man coverage, and he can spray enough jumpers or draw enough fouls to keep pressure on you. Send double teams around Embiid, and you have to worry about where else How those guards are different.

Spacing between single passes makes it difficult for you to send a quick double. Maxey is shooting over 45% of his catches and shooting 3s – it will be the third time in his career that he has reached the bench if he continues. Edgecombe doesn’t want to consistently find Maxey a tough blocker, at least for now, but it’s worth noting that he’s converting over 40% of catch-and-shoot 3s. Including two (or more) passes means that one of them can get a pass against a deep defense in their rotation behind the double team. Considering both guards twice as good as well you are determined they don’t cut over the shot, you quickly reach a point where you run out of answers when the offense is humming.

On the year, the Sixers boast a strong combined average of 4.7 minutes shared between Maxey, Edgecombe and Embiid. During this 11-game run from Embiid, the Sixers were the best: plus-8.4 in almost 200 minutes together.

In the final sample, they scored the highest of the five (118.5 offensive rating; OKC currently ranks 5th at 118.2) with the bottom three. Quietly, they defended the best of the three (110.1 defensive rating; the Spurs ranked 3rd at 111.6) in those minutes.

A big part of Embiid’s resurgence has been his growing comfort guarding the lane defensively. Opponents are converting nearly 52% of their shots at the rim against Embiid this season, putting him in line with elite defenders like Rudy Gobert (53.7%) and Jaren Jackson Jr. (53.2%). And while the splits aren’t as bad as we’ve seen in previous years, teams still have chances effort shooting at the rim when Embiid is down.

(As the joke goes, you can see how good Embiid feels about the determination and the rush to jump. Per Second Spectrum has signed 11 games with at least 40 rebounds this season; nine of them have come within this 11-game stretch, including six of his last seven. Welcome to this very important study.)

There’s still a lot of season left, so I don’t suspect anyone who might have a layoff or injury-related upset before we get to the postseason. Still, the Sixers being a solid member of the East playoff conversation is a win in itself. They are currently a half game behind the No. 4 seed, 2.5 games behind the second-seeded Knicks.

All I will say for now is look at how the Sixers are playing right now. Pay attention How they try to build things from the outside. If it continues to trend like this, I don’t think anyone will be happy to deal with it in a game setting.