The Philadelphia 76ers took care of business at home against the Indiana Pacers thanks to a monster performance from Joel Embiid.
The Philadelphia 76ers have now won four of their last five games as they took down the Indiana Pacers by a final score of 115-105. While the Pacers are one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, they entered the game on a two-game winning streak, and the Sixers were without Tyrese Maxey, so there was a legitimate threat.
That said, Joel Embiid decided that Philly wasn't going to walk away with a loss, as he had his best game since his 70-point performance in January of 2024. Scoring 39 points to go along with nine rebounds, this performance truly looked like a game from Embiid's MVP season.
To say that this was incredible to see is a huge understatement, as he looked horrible in his last performance. Many fans were coming to terms with the fact that he was just about at the end of his career, then he goes and looks like one of the best players in the league again.
Along with Embiid, Paul George and VJ Edgecombe were also incredible, with George also having a "vintage" performance, scoring 23 points with six rebounds and five assists in 33 minutes. Edgecombe added 22 points, 14 of which came in the first quarter.
The way that the team came together to make up for the absence of Maxey was beautiful to see. Embiid scored just four points in the first quarter, so Edgecombe's 14 points were crucial to keep the team in the game. From that point on, it was Embiid dominating for two straight quarters, and then George, as well as Dominick Barlow, finishing out the game with some great hustle plays.
This was just an all-around great game, and while there were flaws in the sense that it shouldn't be as close, Indiana was on fire from beyond the arc for a large portion of the game, and they were hitting some tough shots.
It never felt like this game was out of the Sixers 'control as they were consistently getting the looks that they wanted on offense. Their lockdown defense in the fourth quarter ultimately led to the win, which was another good sign that this team is trending in the right direction.
They play the Atlanta Hawks next on Sunday, which should be another winnable game, but they did lose in their last meeting. Even so, the energy with the team feels great right now, and it looks like it will be a golden opportunity to advance to 15-10 on the season, and be five games above .500.