Daryl Morey’s strategy for the Sixers has been validated, regardless of Game 7 outcome in Boston
Joel Embiid nearly dropped a triple-double as all five starters scored in double digits in a Game 6 win for the ages, just as the 76ers' president planned two years ago.
Ya gotta love it when a plan comes together.
All the gears on the 76ers’ machine meshed Thursday night. There were multiple behind-the-back passes. There was rebounding equity. There was production and progress while The Process processed matters from the bench. There were even celebratory push-ups.
The team constructed by Daryl Morey, Sixers president and hoop’s maddest scientist, is finally displaying the sort of next-level basketball Morey envisioned them playing when he built its bones two years ago. That team beat the Celtics in Game 6 of their first-round series, 106-93, in front of a frenzied Xfinity Mobile Center crowd who got its first real look at what has been Morey’s vision for two years.
It was a master class in cohesive basketball, just as Morey envisioned. Can this class continue?
The Sixers, as comprised, are obviously the better team. They have every chance of winning Game 7 in Boston, which would give Joel Embiid a chance to exorcise some of his worst demons.
“I’ve been playing these guys for so long,” Embiid moaned. “I’m tired of losing.”
A series win would offer the chance to avenge the Sixers’ last playoff exit, in 2024, a first-round coming-out party for Jalen Brunson and the upstart Knicks. That would certainly feed a ravenous fan base.
Thursday’s crowd was starved. It hasn’t experienced a playoff series win since 2023, a run that ended in disgrace. James Harden and Embiid disappeared in Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal. Game 7 was in Boston, and it was the last game as Sixers for both Harden and coach Doc Rivers, two flawed future Hall of Famers. This playoff run might end in Boston, too.
Still, no matter what happens Saturday, Morey’s reset two years ago has, in this moment, been validated.
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Embiid was two assists shy of a 19-10-10 triple-double. For the second straight elimination game, Embiid, Paul George, and Kelly Oubre Jr., stifled an offense that stormed into the postseason, thanks to Jayson Tatum’s return from injury. Tyrese Maxey, formerly an undersized gunner, took his latest step toward true-point-guard evolution: 30 points, five assists, and, astonishingly, zero turnovers.
Morey has endured nearly constant criticism since his arrival in November of 2020, from his pursuit of Harden, to his contract extension for Embiid, to his trade of popular shooter Jared McCain. For two nights, at least, Morey’s wisdom has borne fruit as his plan has come together.
“I think it’s somewhat of what we were hoping for,” said Nick Nurse, the coach Morey hired in the summer of 2023.
» READ MORE: Believe it: The Sixers’ stunning dominance in Game 6 has Boston on the ropes
The only major component that didn’t exist in Morey’s equation two years ago is rookie VJ Edgecombe, an uber-athlete whom Morey drafted third overall, resisting the temptation to pick a more natural scorer. Edgecombe’s defensive fire and his developing offensive game make him a perfect backcourt match for Maxey.
It is a beautiful thing to watch.
Perhaps it is real and sustainable. Perhaps not. Embiid and George get hurt a lot.
At any rate, it has been a long time coming.
Two summers ago, on the lunchroom terrace at the Sixers’ training complex in Camden, Morey, after a season ruined by the defection of Harden, outlined the core of his fantasy team: Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George. It was a team fit only for his dreams because, in the summer of 2024, there was no feasible road for George to become a 76er.
Then, against all odds, George landed in Philly, Oubre re-signed for two years, and Morey’s dream was reality ... assuming everybody stayed relatively healthy.
Calamity ensued.
» READ MORE: Paul George becomes Playoff P, Tyrese Maxey rebounds and more from the Sixers’ win to force Game 7
Embiid was coming off a third left knee surgery, but he played in the 2024 Olympics nonetheless. He then reported for camp out of shape and lost yet another season to injury. George and Maxey got hurt, too.
Fast-forward to the fall of 2025, with Embiid hobbling again and George suffering another, less severe injury and 25-game suspension. Then, just when the ship seemed righted and the Big Three finally found a bit of cohesion, Embiid came down with appendicitis and missed 17 days. His return this time bordered on both heroic and miraculous. It saved the postseason. It framed what might have been and should be, yet to come.
The night he returned the Sixers trailed in the best-of-seven series, 2-1, and they lost Game 4, too. But after Embiid was more fully reintegrated into the offensive and defensive systems, the Celtics have had no answer.
Boston averaged 114 points in the first four games, but, with Embiid active around the rim, they have averaged 19 fewer points in the last two games.
The Sixers surrendered 15.5 offensive rebounds per game in the previous four games. They gave up eight on Thursday.
The Sixers usually struggle when Embiid rests, but, on Thursday, Embiid sat about 10 minutes in the second and third quarters and the Sixers were plus-7 and plus-4.
All five Sixers starters scored in double figures and took at least 11 shots. Edgecombe and Oubre finished with nearly identical stat lines, combining to shoot 11-for-22 with 17 rebounds. They were the chief beneficiaries of Embiid’s generosity, his outlets when the Celtics sent double-teams.
After 12 NBA seasons, Embiid seems comfortable in every situation.
A win Saturday would mean at least another handful of games to test Morey’s latest crazy experiment.
“We’re trending in that right direction,” Oubre said. “We just have a lot of versatility, man.”
Which, of course, was the plan.
