Sixers takeaways: Thriving in balanced attack; Trendon Watford’s triple-double and more from win over Raptors

On Saturday night, the 76ers demonstrated what they are capable of when they share the ball — equally.

Kelly Oubre Jr. needs to remain in the starting lineup.

Trendon Watford keeps showing why the Sixers’ coaches and front-office executives have been raving about him.

These are the things that stood out in the Sixers’ 130-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Unlike Tuesday’s road loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Sixers had solid ball movement against the Raptors. That enabled them to have five double-digit scorers in the first half and six for the game.

Joel Embiid, who had been gunning in previous games, set the tone while setting up teammates for great scoring opportunities. His ability to swing the ball became contagious, enabling the Sixers to take advantage of open looks.

Embiid finished with a season-high 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting to go with six rebounds, four assists, and one block in 25 minutes, 57 seconds.

Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 31 points alongside seven assists, two blocks, and one steal. Watford (20 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists), Oubre (19 points and two steals), Quentin Grimes (13 points), and VJ Edgecombe (11 points, three steals) were the double-figure scorers.

The Sixers (6-3) had 31 assists on 49 made baskets. They also committed just seven turnovers through three quarters before committing seven in the fourth.

Their high assists and low turnovers were the result of attacking the Raptors’ pressure defense off the dribble. They kept firing the ball out to open teammates when Toronto (5-5) tried to double-team.

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“We had the turnovers under control for a long time, which is huge,” coach Nick Nurse said. “The assist number is high, which indicates the ball is moving pretty good.

“But I really think there were a lot of tough possessions that we ended up having to conjure something up. Fortunately, we did. But we sprinkled in just enough really great ball-movement possessions where we ran them around, spread them out, and attacked them off the catch and laid it in, a couple backdoor cuts, things like that.”

Nurse wanted to acquire Watford in a trade from the Brooklyn Nets last season. After that didn’t happen, he was determined to sign the point forward in free agency. And he’s turning out to be an excellent investment.

Watford finished with his first career triple-double during his first start as a Sixer. He had season highs of points, rebounds, and assists to go with a block. Watford scored his points on 8-for-10 shooting.

“Obviously, triple-double,” Embiid said. “Reminded me of Ben Simmons. We miss those triple-doubles.”

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Watford averaged 8.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in the previous five games.

The fifth-year NBA player missed the first three games of the season with hamstring tightness. But it didn’t take long to realize he could help the Sixers.

In his third game, Watford had 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting to go with nine rebounds and seven assists in a 129-105 road victory over the Nets last Sunday. On Saturday, he had 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting, along with three rebounds and two assists in the first quarter. He added five rebounds and four assists in the second quarter.

“He’s kind of what you call a hooper,” Nurse said. “He really, really knows how to play, and he can do a lot of different things that we talked about.”

There was some thought at the beginning of the season that Oubre would be in jeopardy of losing his starting position once Paul George returns from a left knee injury.

But the swingman has done nothing to warrant being demoted. He’s actually playing his best basketball in his three seasons with the Sixers. Oubre has been a significant factor in their success.

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He’s averaging 19.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and a block through nine games.

“I think Kelly has been really outstanding,” Nurse said. “You saw him. he was fighting [Raptors standout forward Brandon] Ingram most of the night. He’s done that consistently, where he’s got one of the better scorers in the league or the other team and keeps working and working.

“He’s been really good and done a good job of playing physical.”