Sixers set the tone in strong win over Charlotte and continue climb up the Eastern Conference ladder

The Sixers overcame a 15-point deficit to win a critical game on the road in Charlotte.

Thanks to the 118-114 win, the Sixers now own the tiebreaker over Charlotte, and are tied with Atlanta for sixth in the Eastern Conference, a half game out of fifth.

Here’s what we noticed in the win:

Tyrese Maxey made his long-awaited return to the Sixers’ lineup after missing three weeks with a pinky injury on Saturday.

Last year, after Maxey hurt his pinky finger, his shooting fell off a cliff. Returning from this three-week absence, Maxey started off hot, going 6-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three, in the first half. He ended the game with 26 points, shooting 10-for-18, with seven rebounds and eight assists.

After he posterized Miles Bridges with a left-handed dunk, his teammates held up a pinky in celebration that Maxey was officially back.

Charlotte’s offense is potent, especially from behind the arc, but in the first half, the Sixers matched them shot for shot, with each team making 10 three-pointers. The Sixers shot 52.5% from the field in the first half compared to the Hornets’ 48%, but still were down as many as 13 points, because the Hornets created so many extra possessions.

Charlotte dominated the offensive glass, grabbing 10 rebounds for 11 second-chance points, compared to the Sixers’ three offensive rebounds and two second-chance points. By the end of the third quarter, they’d grabbed 20 offensive rebounds.

Big man Moussa Diabaté did most of the damage, grabbing seven offensive rebounds in the game. In the fourth quarter, Nurse turned to Andre Drummond at backup center in place of Adem Bona, to put a little more size in the paint. The Sixers managed to hold the Hornets to zero offensive rebounds in that final quarter, a key reason why they ultimately managed to take the lead and win the game.

Kelly Oubre Jr. returned to the lineup after missing two weeks with an elbow injury, coming in off the bench, the latest in big names coming off the injury report.

Each one of the Sixers’ biggest stars had a critical moment down the stretch — Embiid blocked a three-point attempt from Brandon Miller with under 10 seconds to play, Paul George hit the corner three that put the Sixers up for the final time, Maxey made a free throw to add to that cushion, and Edgecombe broke up a potential offensive rebound opportunity from Diabaté on the final possession on the glass.

“It just comes down to being healthy,” Maxey said Friday after practice. “I think that’s the NBA in general. A lot of teams have talent, a lot of teams have hard work and good coaching, but most of the time it comes down who’s healthy at the end.”