Sixers outlast Magic behind all-around effort from Paul George, KJ Martin

Paul George’s excellent all-around game helped power the Sixers to an important 102-94 win on Friday night, splitting Philadelphia’s miniseries against the Orlando Magic.

Here’s what I saw.

The Good

— The easiest way to tell if the Sixers were going to get good offense on a first-half possession was noting whether Paul George was involved with the play or not. If George had his hands on the ball or was one of the guys one pass away, Philadelphia had a chance to get a good look. It was much thornier when they tried to give him rest or allow the offense to flow through other guys, but it’s a testament to his night that he was so effective that the offense basically required him to have the ball.

While I’d still say he lacks the blow-by speed he had at his peak (and that’s likely not coming back anyway), George did a good job of punishing mismatches against the Magic on Friday. The Magic have a legion of long and athletic defenders, but the Sixers did a good job of finding favorable matchups for him through ball screens and some “Iverson” cuts across the face of Orlando’s defense. He was able to pick on the likes of Moe Wagner and Goga Bitadze and create the separation to put the Magic in tough spots on the back end. Do you come over to contest George at the rim or try to hang in the middle ground to bait him into poor decisions?

George had an errant pass or two, certainly, but he has been their best playmaker this year when he’s been on the floor. Against the Magic, the veteran wing did a great job of waiting until the last possible moment on his passes, leading to a series of open looks and easy layups for his teammates — and there haven’t been tons of those this year as a general rule. Even when he appeared to be dribbling into trouble, the Magic were so keyed in on him that a drop-off pass would eventually open up:

George had a quiet third quarter, but when the game got a bit hairy early in the fourth quarter, they turned to their wing-sized shotmaker again. And George delivered just about enough — in the game’s critical juncture midway through the fourth, Philly got a George bucket, a pair of free throws, and two assists from No. 8 that basically provided the cushion they needed, allowing Philadelphia to walk this game down in the final minutes.

And as bad and uninspiring as the Sixers have been on offense for most of this season, they have at least had the outline of a good defense, albeit a good defense that can’t keep healthy enough to show it. They preyed on a Magic team lacking juice off the dribble on Friday, constantly turning Orlando over in both halves of the game. George has been a big part of this, lurking in passing lanes and playing great switch defense. If they could only get Embiid on the floor…

— If the Sixers are hoping to win anything of consequence of this season, it appears they need KJ Martin to stick around. And that’s a bit of a crazy development, given that his signing was viewed as nothing more than a mechanism to make a trade at the deadline.

Martin’s ability to defend up and down the lineup has given him a chance to earn minutes all season. But with the emergence of Jared McCain and the return of Paul George to the lineup, he has been able to make a more consistent impact on the offensive end.

He has a skill set that dovetails nicely with their better players — Martin can easily turn a pass at the dunker spot into, well, a dunk, and he is a decisive player as a screen-and-roll threat. Pair all of that with quick decisions off the bounce, and you have a guy who is increasingly putting up points in a reserve role. Martin scored 20 on Friday night, and Philadelphia needed every last one of them.

On the other end, Martin stepping into minutes previously occupied by slower, older players gives them a chance to get stops on possessions where they were previously drawing dead. He has probably been their best weakside rim protector, showing up on time to force tough shots or mid-air passes. Lineup data has been pointing to him as a source for good most of this year, and that matches what we’re seeing as he gets more opportunities.

— Andre Drummond has been a punching bag for a lot of this season, and he has done plenty to earn that distinction with his play on the floor. But I give him credit for making an effort to get back on the floor sooner rather than later after suffering an ankle injury last Saturday in Detroit. The team initially said he would be out for three games and then be reevaluated, so seeing him back after just two shows the desperate times they’re in.

For one of the few times this season, it felt like Drummond was an impact player on the glass. There was a possession in the first half where a third effort from Drummond eventually put him on the free-throw line, drawing some loud cheers from the home faithful during an otherwise dreary start. That’s what you were brought here to do, my guy.

I’ll even let him slide for some poor defensive possessions for one night only, because he was disruptive with his hands and probably helped more than he harmed them.

— Another good, restrained performance from Kelly Oubre, who has put together several of those in a row. Plus, he hauled down double-digit rebounds from the wing. Great stuff.

— In this house, we appreciate Guerschon Yabusele. Little things players will always matter. Just please make your free throws, brother.

The Bad

— Another game, another uninspiring performance from Tyrese Maxey. We are now over a quarter of the way through the season and can count the number of excellent games he’s had on one hand. This has been the case across different roster contexts, prior to and following his hamstring injury, the only thing consistent has been his poor shooting.

I will continue to say that the missed threes are the least concerning part of this whole ordeal because there is a mountain of evidence that he is a good shooter. But that doesn’t make it less infuriating to watch him clang shots off the front iron, oftentimes barely scraping the rim with his three-point attempts.

I will continue to ding him for bad process or, perhaps, gaps in his skill set. Maxey is a player with a considerable amount of skill and speed, yet it often feels like he doesn’t know how to properly use them together. His moments of success in this game were basically all downhill speed when a bit of deceleration and nuance would have helped him avoid more traffic and pressure around the hoop.

As Maxey has faced increased criticism from fans and media alike, there has been an attempt by some to redirect the conversation. “It’s not his fault Joel Embiid and/or Paul George isn’t playing!” And that, of course, is absolutely true. But that’s not what we’re evaluating him on. Evaluating Maxey is about watching him respond to the coverage he’s facing, problem-solving as a lead guard, and working on and off the ball to find the best looks for himself and his teammates. Good quarters here and there are not enough. He’s not the fun young guy to have anymore, he’s a building block. 16 points on 17 shots ain’t going to cut it.

— Three turnovers in the opening six minutes for Jared McCain is suboptimal, to say the least. And given that they were actually able to win this game, Nurse is probably going to stay away from the Maxey/McCain backcourt for a bit, which offends me personally.

The Ugly

— This was one of the funniest moments at a game so far this year:

But seriously, they need a new challenge guy. This is getting ridiculous.

— The Sixers left a lot of points on the table against the Magic at the free-throw line this week. Shameful amount of misses. It’s one of the many areas where they miss Joel Embiid.

— Kyle Lowry cannot move. As Dave Chappelle once said about a joke he made at R. Kelly’s expense, there’s no punchline here.

He ended up the beneficiary of a great team run during his first-half minutes, but his stint was the definition of a cardio shift.