Sixers takeaways: Joel Embiid and Paul George’s impact, Jared McCain’s solid shooting, and more from win over Bucks

Joel Embiid and Paul George, once again, showed why their presence is vital to the 76ers’ success.

Jared McCain appears to have regained his shooting touch.

And in this third season as the Milwaukee Bucks coach, Doc Rivers still thinks back fondly on his leading the Sixers.

These things stood out in Tuesday’s 139-122 victory over the Bucks at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

If we learned anything over the past two days, it’s that the Sixers (25-21) are a better team when Embiid and George are in the lineup.

On Monday, the Sixers suffered an embarrassing 130-93 loss to the Eastern Conference’s 11th-place Charlotte Hornets at the Spectrum Center without the duo. It was a game where they trailed by as many as 50 points.

With Embiid and George back, the Sixers led wire-to-wire in a blowout victory over the 12th-place Bucks (18-27). The duo combined to score 61 of their team’s points.

George finished with a game-high 32 points while making nine three-pointers, tying Tyrese Maxey (Oct. 28, 2022), Danny Green (Jan. 9, 2021), and Dana Barros (Jan. 27, 1995) for the franchise record.

“I got a little thirsty late in the game, trying to get to 10,” George said. “Kyle [Lowry] was in my ear the whole fourth quarter to get a couple more. But you know, those things happen when everything aligns. I thought we played great offensively as a unit. And, you know, the ball just found me in those moments and knocked shots down.”

So did Embiid, who finished with 29 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.

It was a game where the 7-foot-2, 280-pound center dominated from the start, scoring 18 of his points while playing the entire quarter.

He did that in a variety of ways: jumpers, tip-ins, and even a reverse layup. But his highlight of the game came on a second-quarter alley-oop dunk on a pass from Maxey.

“I don’t know if that was a wise decision, but it felt good,” said Embiid, who has been dealing with knee injuries. “That was the first one in probably four, five years...”

He said it wasn’t a wise decision because he doesn’t usually go for dunks and alley-oops.

“But it’s fun,” Embiid said. “Everybody gets happy, so that makes me happy.”

“I was telling a very, very, very Hall of Fame player that I coached, ‘Joel is the most talented player that I ever coached,’ “ Rivers said before the game. “He was like, ‘What?’ I was like, ‘He is.’ The things that you guys see and then the things you actually don’t see in practice, sometimes, that he can do, it’s incredible. It really is.

“Unfortunately for me, I never had him healthy once in the playoffs. He wasn’t healthy last year. He wasn’t healthy the year before. That’s five years straight, I think. If he ever gets to the playoffs healthy, especially with they added some big pieces here, they are going to be a dangerous team. But it’s always going to come down to that.”

After the intermission, Embiid was content with setting teammates up for quality shots. He passed out of double-teams. And when Embiid didn’t have the ball, he instructed teammates where to pass it to.

Meanwhile, George’s 32 points came from making 11 of 21 shots. The forward scored 16 of his total in the third quarter while making 4 of 6 threes.

“I think coach [Nick Nurse] called my number early, and just go off from there,” George said of taking over the third quarter.

But what enabled him to have his best shooting performance of the season? Was this a matchup that he liked?

“I just know Doc,” said George, who played under Rivers during the 2019-20 season with the Los Angeles Clippers. “I know his coverages. I know his play calling. I know what he’s looking at, what he’s looking for, how he’s going to guard me.

“ ... These days just feel like some of my best days, as far as my body responds and, you know. But if anything, it’s how today felt.”

The duo’s presence also opened up the floor for Maxey, who was voted an All-Star starter. The point guard finished with 22 points one night after finishing with a season-low six points on 3-for-12 shooting.

The Sixers shot 52.5 % – including making 22 of 42 three-pointers after shooting just 38.9% while hitting 9 of 31 three-pointers against the Hornets (19-28).

Milwaukee played without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. And this was just the Sixers’ fourth victory in 10 games. But the way he and Embiid are now playing after getting healthy, George thinks the Sixers can contend for the Eastern Conference title.

“I think we’re right there with the New York Knicks, with the Clevelands,” he said. “I think we are right in the mix. When things are clicking, and we’re playing the right way, and we’re firing on all cylinders, we still have the one unguardable player [in Embiid], and that’s the trump card.

“So yeah, absolutely, we got a chance.”

Some people were ready to give up on McCain due to his recent shooting slump. The second-year guard made just 31.3% of his shots during a 10-game stretch. But based on his last two performances, the slump is definitely over. And judging by the applause he received Tuesday night, folks are back on board with the former Duke standout.

McCain had 17 points while shooting 6-for-8 – including making 5 of 6 three-pointers – to go with three assists. This came after he made 4 of 8 threes while scoring 16 points against the Hornets on Sunday.

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Before that game, McCain racked up a did-not-play coach’s decision in four of the Sixers’ last five games. In the one game he played, the 6-2, 195-pounder only played the last 47 seconds in a comfortable victory over the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 19.

With Quentin Grimes sidelined with a sprained right ankle, McCain was the first player off the bench against the Bucks. And he took full advantage of the opportunity. The Sixers could be tough to beat if he can keep producing performances like this.

The Sixers fired Rivers on May 16, 2023, two days after he received a lot of the blame for their 112-88 Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden. It marked the third consecutive season that Rivers’ squad has suffered a second-round postseason exit.

They lost in seven games to the Atlanta Hawks in 2021 before losing in six games to the Miami Heat the following season.

But, on paper, the 2022-23 team had a chance to compete for an NBA title. Yet the Sixers looked like a squad that quit in the second half during their Game 7 loss to Boston. They appeared clueless, lacked effort, and showed no mental toughness.

Those factors, along with an inability to get out of the second round, were the reasons the Sixers fired Brett Brown as coach in August 2020.

Under Rivers, the Sixers clinched the 2021 Eastern Conference regular-season title. Their 54-28 record in 2022-23 was their best mark since going 56-26 in 2000-01. And Embiid’s game has improved each year under Rivers, leading to his becoming the 2023 MVP.

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But the Sixers hired Rivers to get them at least beyond the second round. And that hasn’t happened.

“I love my time here,” he said before Tuesday’s game. “I say it all the time, I took a job where the year before they lost in the first round as the eighth seed. And the first year, we won the East in the regular season. We were one game away twice from getting in the Eastern finals, which was never my goal. My goal was to get to the Finals. I get the history that the team hasn’t gone [since 2001], but your goal has to be higher than that.

“I was only here for three years. But the three years, I think my winning record was as good as any coach that has been here. So I loved it.”

Rivers compiled a 154-82 record over his three seasons in Philly.

The 64-year-old talked about the “unbelievable relationships” he developed while coaching the Sixers. He said he probably gained 15 pounds while living in Philly because of the restaurants he frequented.

“I don’t know if you guys know there’s a lot of restaurants here,” Rivers said. “And then Philly Cricket [Club], I’m still a member. I come back in the summer, and I play it. If I had not ever coached here, I would not still be doing those things.

“So it’s nice when you get friendships and stuff like that.”