Joel Embiid’s courtside seat, playoff physicality and more of what we learned from the Sixers’ Play-In Tournament win

The 76ers are officially heading to the playoffs, after a 109-97 win over the Orlando Magic in the Play-In Tournament. There, they will be the No. 7 seed and play against the second-seeded Celtics, starting with Sunday’s Game 1 in Boston (1 p.m., ABC).

Here’s what we learned as the postseason begins:

With Joel Embiid out, it seems like the Sixers have found their postseason mix at center. Adem Bona started the game, but Andre Drummond was a quick substitution in the first quarter, and played more overall minutes. It’s the same pattern Nick Nurse has used over the last few games without Embiid.

Bona made three key defensive blocks that fired up the crowd, and Drummond picked up another double-double, finishing the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds, including three offensive rebounds.

“I thought [Drummond] was really outstanding in the first half,” Nurse said. “I thought Bona really sparked us in the third. He got into the game and looked like the Bona that we know. … He was able to give us a stretch of some different defensive schemes, and then it was just in and out with both of them.”

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Drummond especially fired up the crowd when he hit two corner threes, including the dagger in the final minutes.

“If you would have told Andre Drummond, at 17 years old, playing for Detroit, that he was gonna make a dagger three, I don’t think he would believe you,” Drummond said. “It’s a lot of work that I put into it, not even just this year, but throughout my entire career. I’ve worked countless hours in the summertime to prepare for moments like this.”

Nurse shortened his bench, using an eight-man rotation and keeping utility players like Justin Edwards and Trendon Watford off the court.

It may not have been an official playoff game, but the upswing in physicality for the play-in game was on display.

The Sixers struggled with foul trouble, picking up 15 fouls in the first half and putting the Magic at the line for 17 free throws. The crowd especially hated a late foul call on Drummond, who was attempting to secure an offensive rebound, and a VJ Edgecombe taunting foul. Drummond turned around and hit a corner three on the next possession, the final basket to give the Sixers a 59-55 lead at halftime. After the game, Edgecombe disputed his technical foul.

“I thought my momentum just took me all the way there, I’ll be honest,” said Edgecombe, who scored 19 points in the win. “I thought that’s what it was. I was telling Tony, but he wasn’t buying it.”

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Nurse joked that the Sixers are “not that kind of team” to have picked up as many push fouls as they did, but Tyrese Maxey, who finished with 31 points, said they’d been preparing since the summer for the level of physicality they saw on Wednesday.

Edgecombe and Kelly Oubre Jr. looked like they fed off that energy and physicality, on multiple occasions flexing for the crowd and hyping everyone up.

“I’m a smile, I’m a laugh in your face, because I do have a black belt,” Oubre Jr., who finished with 19 points, said. “Hopefully, it doesn’t get to that, but I don’t think it will, because I learned to control my Zen, but we’re all together. We’re always going to ride for each other, and that’s what you need as a team.”

No one knows when or if Embiid will return to the floor for the Sixers this season after his late-season appendectomy. But on Wednesday, Embiid walked into the locker room before the game, to the surprise of his teammates. Maxey gasped as he walked in to see Embiid sitting at his locker, before going over to give him a hug. Nurse didn’t expect to see him until he showed up to film session and saw Embiid sitting in his usual chair.

“The film started, and I looked over and he was sitting in his seat and had a big smile on his face,” Nurse said. “Most of the other guys didn’t know he was there either, so they asked him how he was. He said he feels good, smiled.”

Kyle Lowry called Maxey a few days prior, to discuss whether they should speak with Embiid about coming to the game, but they ultimately decided against asking him. He showed up anyway, and sat courtside with the team, which Maxey said was a “huge” lift.

“I said, just know if he can, he will, and he was there,” Maxey said. “I talked to him via phone, and now I’m surprised to see him there. I gave him a big hug. I’m glad to see him, and his spirits are high, so really happy for him.”