Joel Embiid made a triumphant return Friday night, wearing a mask.
A week after suffering a sinus fracture, Embiid donned a black protective mask to lead the Sixers to a 108-98 victory over the Hornets at Wells Fargo Center.
He had 34 points, nine assists, five rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
Three players for the Sixers reached the 20-point mark: Embiid, Tyrese Maxey (23 points), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (22 points).
The Sixers were without Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery) and Caleb Martin (right shoulder impingement). LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller were among the five Charlotte players absent.
At 9-16, the Sixers have earned 44.4 percent of their wins this season against the winless Hornets in the four-game season series. Charlotte lost 7-21.
The Sixers will play the Eastern Conference-leading Cavs on Saturday. Head coach Nick Nurse said after the game that Embiid will miss the second night of the back-to-back and expects Paul George to play.
Here’s our take on the Sixers’ fourth and final win of the season over the Hornets.
The star trio exits the gates
For the first minute or two, it looked like Embiid might take some time to get used to playing while wearing a mask for the third time in his career. He missed a midrange jumper on the Sixers’ first two plays.
But Embiid and the Sixers quickly started to pick up. He made a layup after some sharp two-man play with George and then a one-whoop off the post. Embiid lowered his mask and hit the free throw to complete the three-point play.
A crisp pass from Embiid and George set up Oubre for a corner three as Charlotte hard-fought a double team on Embiid.
The Sixers star gelled extremely well in both planned and unscripted two- and three-man actions. Maxey sank a three off a feed between Embiid’s legs to give the Sixers a 23-8 lead. After George was doubled against the post, he made a simple kickout pass to winger Maxey for his fourth assist of the first quarter.
Little went wrong for Maxey and the Sixers during a 41-point first period. Maxey played the entire first quarter and scored 15 points, hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers.
Sixers stay calm, Hornets stay put.
The Sixers used a 10-man rotation, with George starting the second quarter alongside four players on the second unit.
The only bench player sitting to start the second game was Ricky Council IV, who did a strong job in the first game. Council scored seven points in the first quarter on 3-of-3 shooting, including a powerful slam and a corner three that delighted the crowd.
Gershon Yabusele played briefly at center in the second quarter when the Sixers brought Andre Drummond in for Oubre. The Sixers posted Yabusele on the play after that sub, and he ran through Miles Bridge for an and-one bucket to give the Sixers a 20-point lead.
From there, the Sixers’ offense began a counterattack.
George turned the ball over with a head-scratching crosscourt pass and had a layup blocked by Cody Martin. The Sixers scored 17 points in the second quarter, but only four of them came in the final minute.
It wasn’t surprising that their outside shooting efficiency dropped dramatically, but the Sixers were also far less accurate in their passing, spacing, and overall offensive structure. They probably allowed Charlotte to hang around in a game that could have been a serious blowout by halftime.
Embiid, Sixers finally slam the door
Embiid improved as a scorer in the third quarter, knocking down two mid-range jumpers and three. Friday’s seventh game of the season was Embiid’s first in which he made multiple threes. In the third quarter, he had 5 hits for 6 at bats, even near the foul line.
Meanwhile, George followed up his 33-point night in Monday’s win over the Hornets with a wild shooting game, scoring five points on 2-of-12 shooting. He had 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
The Sixers led by as many as 23 points in the third quarter, but Charlotte stopped them from running away. Oubre hit a base runner at the third quarter buzzer, giving the Sixers an 85-71 lead. He again played great against his former team. In two games against the Hornets this week, Oubre made 15 of 21 shots from the floor.
It would obviously have been ideal for the Sixers to score the win early in the fourth quarter and end the night with Embiid on the bench. That’s not even close to what actually happened.
George and the bench lineup were poor for his fourth start. After George missed a contested jumper late in the shot clock, Daquan Jeffries made a three to cut the Hornets’ lead to 89-83. Nurse called a timeout and brought in Embiid and Oubre.
The building immediately roared to life. Embiid stole the ball from Bridges and raised his arms in the air as Yabusele advanced on a fast break. Apparently he sensed something big coming. Yabusele threw down what could be the Sixers’ best dunk of the season. The 29-year-old Frenchman landed a big swipe at Jeffries, who tried to charge him, but it was no use.
Embiid commanded the game on both ends late in the game. He made a left-handed layup created by a smooth, convincing pump fake inside and a tricky, graceful finger roll.
The Sixers are 2-0 when Embiid, Maxey and George play the game from start to finish.
After the win, Embiid spoke candidly about the mental struggles he had to deal with the misfortune of sustaining a deep injury.
“It’s kind of hard not to feel bad about yourself when you’re like that,” he said at one point. “Especially when you know who you are and what you can achieve, but that’s the reality.”
He is grateful for the support of teammates like George, who have helped him through the down times due to injuries.
“It’s great,” Embiid said. “You can never have enough support. To be honest, with the support from my family, from people close to me, from my teammates, from players like him, that’s what I want to keep doing and I want to keep finding that.” That’s why I think so.
“It’s the people you really play for, the people who care about you, the people who support you, the people who push you. Because I don’t like letting people down. , I’m working on that. When you have that kind of support, it’s a little hard to feel bad about yourself. I like to please people. I just have to keep going.”
