The Philadelphia 76ers hosted the second half of a home-and-home series with the Charlotte Hornets. Delighting the Wells Fargo Center crowd to a 108-98 win, the Sixers have now won four of their last five games and six of their last eight. Joel Embiid, after missing one game with a sinus fracture, sported a familiar black mask and finished with 34 points, nine assists, and five rebounds.
Philly posted a season-best 41 points in the first quarter behind a long-range fireworks display on nine three-pointers, including four from shooting guard Tyrese Maxey. The Sixers increased the lead to 23 points in the opening frame and took a 58-46 advantage into the halftime break.
Charlotte attempted to chip into Philadelphia’s lead in the second half. Unfortunately, the Hornets didn’t read the script, which included a spoiler that the “Phantom of the Process” returned in the second half. Joel Embiid scored 24 points after halftime to keep Philly ahead, particularly in the fourth quarter, when Charlotte narrowed the lead to four points with seven minutes remaining.
True to script, the masked Embiid created a turnover and launched an outlet pass to Guerschon Yabusele for a monstrous dunk to expand the lead back to nine points just one minute later, turning the momentum back into the Sixers’ favor for the remainder of the contest.
Maxey finished with 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting, while Kelly Oubre Jr. added 22 on 8-of-10 shooting against his former club in the win. Paul George struggled shooting the basketball at 2-for-12 but still influenced the win with 11 rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and a block. Charlotte Guard Vasilije Micic led the Hornets’ scoring efforts with 20 points.
Up Next for Sixers
Philadelphia (9-16) travels to Cleveland, Ohio, for a road game against the Cavaliers (24-4) tomorrow night at Rocket Mortgage Field House at 8 p.m. EST. In early November, the Sixers lost the first battle with the Cavs, 114-106, as Cleveland improved their season-opening winning streak to 13 games.
Nick Nurse confirmed in his post-game press conference that Joel Embiid will not play tomorrow night on the road in the second half of the back-to-back games.
