What a night. The Philadelphia 76ers hosted the San Antonio Spurs in what began as an exciting matchup between two of the game’s best bigs and ended with a thrilling finish. In between was a hair-pulling series of events that looked as though it would cost the Sixers the game, that is, until Tyrese Maxey took over the night.
The last time the Sixers faced the Spurs in Philadelphia was also a notable night as Joel Embiid scored a franchise-record 70 points in his first matchup against the Spurs rising star, Victor Wembanyama. The second matchup between the titans of basketball took place outside the confines of the NBA, as the two faced off in the Gold Medal matchup during the 2024 Olympic Games, which saw Embiid again victorious, claiming the gold in the process.
This made the third matchup all the more exciting, as fans were awaiting another battle between two of the league’s most unique kaiju. Unfortunately, life had different plans.
As part of a long series of calls ranging from questionable to horrendous, Andre Drummond was incorrectly ejected, saw that decision reversed, and was reinserted into the game, Kyle Lowry picked up a strongly questionable offensive foul, and Geurschon Yabusele received the quickest tech for hanging on the rim this side of the Mississippi.
The most notable call was the ejection of Joel Embiid, which incensed not only the Sixers’ star but nearly the entire arena. Once ejected, Embiid became incensed and continued to approach the ref, whether to question the decision or further make his feelings known.
For a minute, it looked as though it would take all of Philadelphia to restrain Embiid, who, to be clear, was out of line in the way that he chose to address the situation, but not out of line to feel some type of way about the more than questionable decision.
You can watch the series play out below:
Once the smoke cleared, the Sixers and Spurs returned to action, looking to earn the edge over their opponent to head into the holiday on a high note.
In the third quarter, Nick Nurse had to make adjustments after adjustment. Not only was the team without Embiid, but Andre Drummond, who was rejected and reinserted into the game, wound up missing the rest of the game due to a toe injury. It was announced that KJ Martin would also exit for the remainder of the game due to left foot soreness.
Without Embiid, Drummond, and Martin, the Sixers had no choice but to go small and lean on the second most famous Frenchman in this game, Guerschon Yabusele. The former Olympic teammate of Wembanyama, Guerschon Yabusele, stepped in against the young wonder and put on a dazzling display, frustrating the NBA’s future at every turn.
As Yabusele helped neutralize the Spurs’ every effort, Tyrese Maxey began taking the game over. Scoring nine points in the fourth quarter, Maxey soon found himself putting on a fourth-quarter performance worth of a true star player.
Maxey would go on to score 12 points in the fourth quarter, capping off his impressive performance, which saw him total 32 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, just two dimes from his second-career triple-double.
Having received definite takes, doubting his ability to lead a winning team all season, Tyrese Maxey proved himself in a matchup against one of the up-and-coming teams in the NBA. Without Embiid, someone needed to stand up as the leader of this group, and much as it needed to be, that player was Tyrese Maxey.
Of course, it’s not just on the offensive side of the ball that Maxey impressed, but defensively as well. Maxey has continued to progress defensively all season and once again showed out, grabbing three steals in this matchup. Maxey continues to rank among the lead leaders in steals per game, averaging 2.0 steals a night, which is good enough to tie for second place in the entire NBA.
After the game, Maxey discussed his improved defensive ability this season.
“I think that’s the biggest thing, the last thing you said, without Joel [Embiid] a lot of teams try to load up on me and sometimes trap me,” Maxey told reporters. “[Nick] Nurse has been on me about attacking early, attacking in transition. The ways I can do that is getting defensive rebounds and steals. As you’ve seen I’ve been trying to get a lot more rebounds so I can push the ball and get out quicker, just play in the open space, and get my teammates involved as well doing that.”
Up next for the Sixers
The Sixers are off on Tuesday, but there will be no rest for Philadelphia this Christmas as they are set to face off against their hate rivals, the Boston Celtics, for the first time this season.
Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. in Boston on Christmas Day, Wednesday, Dec. 25. You can catch the game on ABC or ESPN, and you can listen live as always at 97.5 FM, the Fanatic.
