Second-half goals for the Sixers: Tyrese Maxey’s MVP push, Jared McCain’s minutes and more Joel Embiid dunks

Nick Nurse thought back to the 76ers’ preseason trip to Abu Dhabi, and how a multitude of injuries (again) forced him to cobble the rotation together for two exhibition games against the New York Knicks.

“I’d be pretty happy that we’re here right now,” the coach said of his former self late Monday.

“Here” is a 23-18 record at the regular season’s halfway point following a 113-104 home victory over the Indiana Pacers. Nurse acknowledged he is still irked by the handful of close games he believes the Sixers gave away. The roster, meanwhile, still feels like a work in progress after finally reaching full availability earlier this month.

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But the Sixers are considered one of the NBA’s pleasant surprises, entering Tuesday in fifth place in the crowded Eastern Conference standings where 1½ games separate third and seventh.

“Probably would have taken this at the start of the season, for sure,” Nurse said. “And, hopefully, a couple more [health] dominoes can fall here as we go on.”

In that spirit, here is a collection of second-half goals for the Sixers’ rotation players.

When Maxey received “M-V-P!” chants at the free throw line during an early-season home game, he told Joel Embiid, “I don’t know how you do this.”

Maxey has been worthy of such serenading from spectators while making another significant leap in his sixth season. The 25-year-old point guard was named an All-Star starter Monday afternoon, as the top American vote-getter. That naturally makes him an All-NBA contender.

One step beyond those potential accolades? Getting onto MVP ballots, a race that could become more open if Nikola Jokić, the three-time winner of the sport’s top individual award and this season’s early favorite, falls under the 65-game eligibility threshold because of a recent knee injury. Maxey was seventh in the first ESPN straw poll, which surveys 100 eligible voters, released on Dec. 19.

For good reason. Maxey entered Tuesday ranked third in the NBA in scoring (30.2 points per game) while also setting career highs in assists (6.7 per game) and rebounds (4.4 per game). He is shooting 40% from three-point range and 47.5% from the floor, on 22.3 attempts per game as a multidimensional bucket-getter. He has become more of a defensive playmaker, averaging 2.1 steals per game — including a career-high eight in Monday’s win over the Pacers — and turning several into blazing finishes at the opposite end. And he is doing this while leading the league in minutes played, at 39.4 per game.

Some of these numbers could dip slightly if Embiid and Paul George can stay healthy, taking some of that load off the relentless Maxey. And a tough two-game stint against the Cavaliers — he went a combined 14-of-39 from the floor in consecutive losses — demonstrates he still faces a learning curve as the focal point of opposing defenses.

But Embiid was correct in nicknaming Maxey “The Franchise” years ago. If Maxey is the leader of a Sixers team that shifts from resurgent to legitimate East threat, he will need to get used to those chants.

Following a Jan. 3 win at the New York Knicks, Embiid’s first dunk of the season was a popular topic. Nurse quipped that it occurring with a win secured in the final seconds “was a pretty cheap way of getting it … but at least we know he can still dunk.” When VJ Edgecombe learned that Embiid had not dunked since last season, the rookie’s reaction was “Oh my God.”

The celebration is not as much about the act itself, but the ongoing physical progress it signifies.

Ditto for Embiid more often stepping to center court for the opening tipoff. Or that he has played in 10 of 11 games since Dec. 30, including logging 40 minutes for the first time since the 2024 playoffs in a Jan. 5 overtime loss to Denver. During this stretch, he has averaged 27.4 points on 51.6% shooting with 7.6 rebounds, 4 assists, and noticeably improved elevation and mobility as a defender and rim protector.

And by the time the Sixers won in Toronto on Jan. 12, Embiid was throwing down one-handed dunks in traffic.

“I’ve made a lot of strides since the beginning of the season,” Embiid said Monday. “I’m back to, probably say, All-Star level and getting back to that All-NBA level and MVP level each and every day. Just got to keep it going.”

George, who battled numerous injuries during a disappointing first season in Philly, can relate. Though he has been most dangerous this season as a three-point shooter (37% on 6.3 attempts per game entering Tuesday), he said his body also feels (and looks) better as a versatile complementary player on both ends.

“Those small things,” George said. “It’s like stuff that I can check off like, ‘All right, I’m able to do this again. I’m able to dunk again. I’m able to explode again.’ So it’s just the small gains that just keep you going.”

While sitting inside a restaurant during the Las Vegas Summer League, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said he believed the front office had been savvy in leveraging two-way contracts to sign helpful players in Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker.

Morey was more than correct. Barlow has been the Sixers’ breakout player, lauded for his knack for crashing the boards and cutting while averaging 8.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists as the starting power forward. Walker is a high-energy rebounder (3.4 in 12.9 minutes per game), and has played in 39 of the Sixers’ 41 games.

“Those two guys just go out and play hard,” Nurse said Monday, “and have a lot of fun just giving everything they have.”

» READ MORE: Sixers takeaways: More urgency needed, Tyrese Maxey’s rising ceiling, and more from win over the Pacers

Both have certainly outplayed their two-way status, which primarily is designed for young, developing players to split time between the NBA and G League. The Sixers will aim to maximize the NBA games Barlow and Walker still have available before converting either (or both) to a standard contract. Because of a quirk for teams that do not fill their entire 15-man roster (the Sixers had 14 players signed to standard contracts as of late Monday), Barlow and Walker have a combined six active games with the Sixers remaining.

“We kind of have that respect for each other,” Walker said recently. “… This is new to both of us, so we don’t let the two-way define us. We just know we’re both big pieces and we have similar styles sometimes with our energy. We talk about how we can be effective as a team, and how we can both bring more energy.”

The Feb. 5 trade deadline could present an opportunity to free up another full roster spot. Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, and Kyle Lowry are on expiring contracts.

That sports cliche is in the air throughout the Sixers’ roster, as Nurse experiments with various personnel combinations with a healthier group. It is most applicable to the two centers behind Embiid. The roles for Drummond and Bona have ranged from starter to backup to completely out of the rotation.

With Embiid now (seemingly) able to play more consistently, matchups, foul trouble, and other factors could determine when exactly Drummond or Bona see the floor.

Drummond appeared to be in the midst of a resurgent season but has looked more limited at times since a late-November knee injury. Bona’s early-season minutes were more sporadic before he recently regained the backup spot. There have been games when one player took the first-half stint and the other held that role in the second half.

“We’ve got to do it by feel,” Nurse said. “But I think they’re not alone in that. That’s what we’re doing [with multiple players] almost every night as coaches. … We’re always, every night, trying to figure out which guy fits that moment of the game. It’s really moment-to-moment. It’s just kind of the way it is.”

Nurse said last week that, in the games Embiid does not play, he would prefer to start Drummond and bring Bona off the bench because of the way opponents typically go smaller with their backup frontcourt players.

On last month’s holiday road trip, Nurse even tried Embiid and Bona on the floor together. Bona said that making that partnership effective is one of his primary goals moving forward.

At halftime of a Jan. 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Embiid asked Edgecombe if he was taking the day off.

Then the rookie turned another quiet start into a fabulous finish on both ends of the floor. He flashed his rare blend of athleticism and poise while scoring 17 points after the break, and finished with a career-high nine assists and a slew of impact defensive moments.

This feels like a key stretch for Edgecombe, who has already surpassed the total games he played during his one college season at Baylor — and entered Tuesday ranked eighth in the NBA in minutes (35.7). He acknowledged some early-season fatigue before a calf injury. Now, he is entering the NBA doldrums before the All-Star break and, after that, a playoff push.

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After that night against Denver, Edgecombe connected on 5-of-6 three-point attempts in a Jan. 12 win at the Raptors. He has taken on more ballhandling responsibility. He has guarded All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell. But he also took only five shots in that Friday loss to the Cavaliers.

“I was the first person that went up to him [after that game],” Maxey said of Edgecombe, “and told him, like, ‘Dude, you shooting five times in a basketball game is not going to cut it for us. You’ve got to be up to 10, 12. You’ve got to be aggressive.’ Man, that’s my dog. That’s my little brother.”

On the season, Edgecombe is averaging 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 steals. He must embrace the grind, because the Sixers are counting on his electric impact to persist into the spring.

Oubre quickly got downhill for the Sixers’ first bucket of Monday’s victory, igniting an outing when he totaled 18 points and a season-high five assists.

He looked like the player Oubre was before a mid-November knee injury, when he arguably was putting together the best basketball of his career in his 11th NBA season. He was in more control with the ball in his hands, averaging 16.8 points on 49.7% shooting in 12 games. And he relished taking on challenging perimeter defensive assignments.

Oubre has been back for six games, initially with understandable rust. He has committed to allowing his defensive energy to ignite his offense. He gained some momentum in a Jan. 11 loss at Toronto (13 points, five rebounds, four steals, three blocks), and then put up 12 points as part of the closing lineup in Friday’s loss to Cleveland.

It will be critical for Oubre to maintain that patience and understanding with himself, rather than reverting to old habits.

“He’s done a good job of just kind of easing his way back in,” Maxey said of Oubre on Monday, “and I feel like letting the game come to him.”

Grimes was never going to be the high-volume scorer and lead ballhandler he was after the Sixers’ acquired him at last season’s trade deadline, then shifted into tank mode. But Grimes’ first full season in Philly has been spotty, at times.

After a December shooting slump, Grimes rediscovered his touch at the end of the Sixers’ holiday road trip. Since then, he has hit double figures in scoring in only two of the Sixers’ last six games. He entered Tuesday ranked sixth in that category among players with double-digit games played off the bench (14.2 points), while adding 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and a willingness to defend.

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Grimes will often be in the closing lineup, where the Sixers can utilize their guard depth. But being that initial, consistent spark off the bench — which could lead to Sixth Man of the Year consideration — is another worthwhile goal.

One nugget: Grimes is now eligible to be traded, and has veto power on any proposed deal after signing his one-year qualifying agreement in October.

Watford was regarded as a sneaky-good offseason signing because of his versatility as a “point” forward. Hamstring and thigh injuries have limited him to 20 games, though one was a triple-double against the Raptors.

Watford is beginning to crack the rotation minutes again, totaling four points, two rebounds, and two assists while setting the pace as an additional ballhandler on Friday against Cleveland.

He played another 12 minutes Monday against Indiana, with two points on 1-of-4 shooting.

“Being able to play a lot of positions and play with different lineups, I think I can do,” Watford said Saturday of that reintegration process. “I just try to keep building off of that. Obviously, the team has something going right now, so I’m just trying to integrate my way back into it with my style of play and my game. It’s a process, but it’s slowly getting there.”

The opposite has happened for McCain, whose road back from knee and thumb surgeries has been choppy. His minutes have diminished as the Sixers’ roster returned to health, eventually falling out of the rotation Friday against Cleveland. The next day, he was assigned to the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats for the second time since his return. He was back in Philly in time for Monday’s matchup against Indiana, but he played only the final 47 seconds.

The former Rookie of the Year front-runner is shooting 35.4% from the floor, and has recently passed up some wide-open looks. His struggles even carried to the G League, where he went 5-of-18 from the floor (and had six turnovers) in the Blue Coats’ loss at the Noblesville Boom on Sunday.

“We’re just trying to get him some extended run,” Nurse said of McCain. “ … I don’t think he’s had much of a runway to play consistently.”