Joel Embiid dominates Rockets in return to Sixers lineup

Sixers center Joel Embiid scored 41 points and pushed his streak of 30-10 games to 16 in a dominant 124-115 win over the Rockets, offering a statement game in his return to the lineup.

Here’s what I saw.

The Good

— In his first quarter since the stinky Knicks game, Joel Embiid scored 13 points on 66 percent shooting. That seems pretty good, right?

The Rockets may be young and developing, but they are a much tougher and more disciplined team than in years past, thanks to roster additions and Ime Udoka’s influence. Houston tried to mix up their coverages and matchups against Embiid early — there were double (and sometimes triple) teams, some small ball as both teams turned to their bench, and they pounced on Embiid when he tried to attack off of the dribble. And while ballhandling wasn’t always pretty for the big man, he managed to take care of the basketball while filling it up, a good sign for his first game back.

It certainly helps to have the midrange pull-up working, because if you can consistently hit a shot most defenses are trained to concede, you create all kinds of problems schematically. Embiid’s midrange jumper has been so automatic for years that teams have to break their normal rules to sell out on him on those “lower value” spots on the floor, and it doesn’t matter, because he’s tall and strong enough to shoot over defenders or clear airspace with a shoulder lean. He had it going early, with Sengun powerless to try to stop him.

Once Embiid made it clear that they had to close hard on him from the elbows, the Rockets grew more desperate, throwing more doubles at him that resulted in some silly fouls when Houston guards and wings got caught reaching. Already cooking from midrange, Embiid piled up 11 first-half free throws and picked up a couple of dimes, dominating against pressure defense to push Philly to a sizable lead.

Embiid’s ability to overwhelm teams in just over 30 minutes is mind-blowing, though the context was different for his low-minute dominance this time around. He picked up his fifth foul midway through the third and got a rare seat on the bench before the third ended, forcing the Sixers to go to work without him with the game hanging in the balance. When he came back early in the fourth, the only drama left was whether he’d preserve the 30-10 streak, and he managed to get rebound No. 10 without much effort.

41-10-3 in a return to the lineup game? Come on.

— It was a weird day for Tyrese Maxey. It didn’t feel like he played particularly well for the first 2.5 quarters or so, even though his three-point shooting finally came around. Maxey used Embiid ball screens for at least a make or two, but otherwise, it was just a get-right game from deep.

The midrange shot caused Maxey far more problems. He took a higher volume of pull-ups from the in-between areas than normal, and he was left wanting on basically all of them. The strategy wasn’t exactly a bad one, with Maxey blowing past closeouts and getting some decent looks against the soft part of the Rockets’ coverage. But he realized those shots weren’t going down, and those got eliminated at halftime.

It’s a great thing they did — Maxey hit the Rockets with an avalanche down the stretch of this game, buoying the Sixers’ offense with Embiid on the bench and as it came time to pull all of the starters. The three-point shot is a great equalizer, so Maxey’s struggles from midrange were washed away by a blistering pace from three, capped by one last stepback three in the fourth quarter before he got his curtain call. And with Maxey cooking off the bounce, he was able to set himself up for multiple blow-bys, waiting until Rockets defenders were on their heels before lurching forward and exploding toward the rim.

All he needs is that little bit of hesitation, and you’re going to have a tough time stopping him on his way to the rim even with an advantage in the size and strength departments. Can’t wall off what you can’t catch. Few players are more fun to watch than Maxey when he has it rolling, and he killed this game off for Philly.

— Nic Batum shot the ball poorly and had one of the worst transition attempts of the year in the first half, but it is so easy to see why their best lineup combinations get a boost when he’s a part of them. He’s the connective tissue on both ends of the floor, someone who can and will do the dirty work without worrying about what his numbers look like.

A great example from the Houston game — on two consecutive inbounds plays late in the first half, Batum hounded Alperen Sengun along the sideline and baseline, knocking the ball out of bounds on the first and forcing a Rockets turnover on the second. It eliminated Houston’s ability to get another shot up before halftime, giving the Sixers the final say to end the second quarter.

While he’s not a try-hard, dive-for-every-loose-ball type of player, he doesn’t have to be. Batum’s timing and intelligence on the floor allow him to pick his spots with help defense, steal attempts, and weakside help, erasing positive plays for the opponent before they have a chance to unfold.

— It feels like Patrick Beverley has flown under the radar as a big contributor for Philly off of the bench this year. His counting stats aren’t crazy and there have been some moments where his “want to” gets the best of him, leading to avoidable fouls on defense. But he has been a stabilizer as a backup guard on offense, somewhat eliminating the need for a regular-season innings eater in my mind.

As he has gotten more familiar with his teammates and Nick Nurse’s offense, Beverley has done a nice job picking his spots and attacking situationally, using an array of runners, floaters, and flip shots to score around the paint. Against Houston, but also in general, Beverley has struck a nice balance between setting the guys up and keeping the defense honest. His drives are going deeper than they were to open the season, leading to some Nash-ian assists where he goes under the rim and then fires one back to the top of the key for a made jumper.

Playing Beverley with Maxey is going to be tough in some specific matchups, but the Sixers shouldn’t have to do that much as everyone scales up for the playoffs. As the buy-time option, he’s doing a perfectly fine job, and his voice has been an important one in the locker room.

— A 100 percent from the field game for Marcus Morris. Pretty good.

The Bad

— There are times when I think it’s fair to point the finger at Joel Embiid’s style of play for stagnation in Philadelphia’s offense. When you play through one guy and one guy only, the rest of the team can get lost or feel frozen out. I do not believe this was one of those times — the Sixers were just getting nothing from the rest of this group, and they settled into an unsettling amount of “look at Joel while he tries to figure things out.” Not exactly the recipe for a good modern offense.

I don’t have much more to add here. Very good day overall with a slight degree of let up. They still coasted to the finish, whatever.

— Philadelphia’s backups haven’t stunk enough to give away a game in garbage time, but there have been a couple of games now where blowouts have turned into close-looking games by the time the clock hits zero. Credit to Houston’s young guys for battling until the final whistle, but I’m glad I only had to half-pay attention for the final six minutes because that was a brutal close.

The Ugly

— The Rockets somehow got a shot clock reset on a shot where the ball never came close to the rim, which was one of many bad or questionable calls made throughout the game. Also, too many reviews for a single game. Do better, officiating crew.

(Ben Taylor has not exactly carved out a sterling reputation for himself these past few years. Easy to see why Fred Van Vleet has specifically called him out in a rant.)