The Philadelphia 76ers had a night of extremes on their opening night. Joel Embiid had a terrible game. He not only finished the night with nine shots and four points, but also against a Celtics squad that had lost its frontcourt to injury, free agency, or trades in the summer. Tyrese Maxey went atomic in a 74 point explosion. Philadelphia won the match. It was like we were watching Wally Pipp get benched by Lou Gehrig for 48 minutes. The MVP of 2023 was a thing of the past. The 24-year old All-Star, and No. The No. 3 pick was the future. That’s probably still true, but Philadelphians can rest easy knowing that Embiid’s performance on Wednesday is beginning to look more like an aberration following a much stronger Saturday match. He played 20 minutes and scored 20 points, which is his limit on the court right now in order to protect his health. He’s no longer as agile as he used to be, but he still moved more easily than he did in the win against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday. He even managed a couple steals. Was this player the MVP of three years? It was not the MVP of three years ago, but he was still a decent player who did his best to help his teammates win the game. Embiid didn’t have a career where he was able to achieve this. He has barely played in the last two seasons. Philadelphia will have to be careful or Embiid’s career could end up like that. The minutes will increase, but only within reason. He has guessed that he will never play another back-toback. It’s better to have some Embiid than none.
The 76ers had never before been equipped to handle a part-time Embiid. It will still be difficult in some areas, namely defense. Maxey led again with 28 points, but Quentin Grimes was not far behind. It’s no secret that Maxey has become somewhat of a forgotten man in Philadelphia. He even signed a one-year qualification offer to become a free agent after the 76ers did not make an offer for him long-term. But this is a player who averaged over 27 points a game last March. He was so great that a bad team gave him the highest individual honor: he got benched for games in the final stretch of the season because he had helped them win so many games. Grimes would be a 3-and D player on a 76ers squad with a healthy Embiid eating up his usual possession share. He can get closer to his post-deadline volume from last season. He’ll be able to get close to the volume he had after the deadline last season. Jared McCain has not played yet. Paul George also hasn’t. Remember Paul George? Remember the podcaster who was in nine All-Star Games? He probably won’t be able to reach his peak volume like Embiid. With all the shot creation that Philadelphia has in its backcourt it feels like an extra luxury to have him as an ensemble shooter.
It’s likely that this team will reach a certain level of performance without any significant defensive improvements or extraordinary growth by the young players. But they are in Eastern Conference, and they can score. This is enough for them to stay competitive while they try to figure out the next step. It’s hard to do much worse than short-term strategies. In terms of long-term formulas, it is still unclear if The Process technically has ended. So let’s stick to the short-term. In the short term, Embiid is still a great player for the 76ers. We’re starting to see that if this is all they have, they can still win games despite these limitations.
2025-10-26 03:17:34
