By: Kylan Watson
After falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the San Antonio Spurs tonight in South Philadelphia. Both teams traded blows throughout this contest and thanks to a fourth quarter scoring explosion from Tyrese Maxey, Philly was able to beat San Antonio 111-106.
Joel Embiid returned for this game which saw him renew his rivalry with Victor Wembanyama. Embiid picked up right where he left off from Friday night, as he found the bottom of the net early in this contest. This helped the Sixers take the early lead and they really had no answers for him during this game. However, Embiid’s night ended early in this contest thanks to getting two consecutive technical fouls from this referee crew. Embiid was incensed once he picked up his third foul and quickly started arguing and yelling with the referee who called him for the foul. He was ejected from the game and then had to be restrained from going after the referee. This was the second time during this game that the Sixers were affected by a bad call, earlier in this contest Andre Drummond was ejected on a Wemby flopped and then had his rejection rescinded.
One thing the NBA must do during marquee games is get their referee crews to call a consistent game. They cannot continually have games affected by referees who toss superstar players during games that they have significantly advertised. It makes the on-court product look bad and ruins the fans’ arena and viewing experience.
Both teams were able to get their emotions together in the second half, Philly was able to pick up for Embiid and took this game over. Led by Tyrese Maxey (32 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and made 5/11 three-pointers in the contest), Paul George (19 points), and Guerschon Yabusele (17 points) who combined for 58 of Philly’s 111 points. Yabusele became the center and the primary defender for Wembanyama (26 points). With his tough style of defense, he forced Wembanyama to take more difficult shots and forced him into multiple turnovers.
Once Wembanyama started missing shots it slowed down San Antonio’s explosive offense and gave the Sixers the room they needed to stay ahead of them. The Spurs did not go away and at one point were able to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. When Philly needed it, most Tyrese Maxey was able to force a pivotal turnover and made an explosive and-one dunk to put the Sixers in front. He went on to miss the free throw attempt, but late in the contest created space and hit the game sealing three-pointer to help the Sixers win their 10th game of the season.
When Maxey plays like he did tonight the Sixers are a hard team for any opponent to beat. He played like a superstar in the second half and helped Philly overcome tremendous adversity to win this contest. Additionally, it also helped that the Sixers were finally able to get their three-pointers to fall in this contest. They made 16/44 three-pointers in this contest and needed all of those to stay ahead of the San Antonio Spurs.
Now the Sixers will prepare for their Christmas Day showdown with the Boston Celtics on Wednesday afternoon. The Sixers should have Embiid available barring any suspensions or fines that come from his behavior during tonight’s game. Philly will need to communicate on the defensive end like they did tonight and force the Celtics to take well contested difficult shots and limit them to one possession. Boston has one of the best offenses in the league and the Sixers cannot afford to give them multiple opportunities to find the bottom of the net.
In addition, Philly will need to cash in on the high-percentage shooting opportunities created from their ball movement. Also, the Sixers will have to win the non-Embiid, Maxey, and George minutes during this contest as well. Their bench unit has played great throughout the 2024-25 NBA Regular Season, and they will need to continue that trend against the Celtics explosive second unit.
Implementing these things into their game plan for Wednesday night should put the Sixers in fantastic position to win their 11th game of the season.
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