Sixers takeaways: Tyrese Maxey rises again, Joel Embiid has to get better, and more from win over Warriors

Tyrese Maxey showed, once again, that he’s super talented.

As good as Maxey is playing, Joel Embiid has to get better to lead the 76ers if they expect to win an NBA championship.

The Sixers need to do a better job of holding leads. But they’re fortunate to have VJ Edgecombe.

» READ MORE: V.J. Edgecombe’s game-winning shot, Tyrese Maxey’s game-saving block helps Sixers beat Warriors, 99-98

On Thursday, they beat a Golden State Warriors team with a huge Sixers presence.

Those things stood out in their 99-98 victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Displaying elite speed and quickness, Maxey is the type of player league executives drool over in today’s NBA.

He puts pressure on the defense and gets in the paint whenever he wants. And on Thursday, the 6-foot-2 point guard blocked De’Anthony Melton’s layup attempt at the buzzer to enable the Sixers (12-9) to escape with a one-point victory.

“He had a clean layup, man,” Edgecombe said of Melton. “[Tyrese] probably ran a 4.2 [second 40-yard dash] or something, and ran him down. So credit Tyrese, and he blocked it, by the way, he blocked it.

“So he’s probably the best shot-blocking guard under 6-4.”

Said Maxey: “I just ran back and wanted to make a play and help us win that game. VJ scored it, so I just tried to get back and make a play on the ball.”

That came after Edgecombe grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on a putback with 0.9 seconds left after Melton blocked Maxey’s shot.

Though his shot was blocked, Maxey will be great at making contested shots in the postseason if the Sixers get there.

That’s when opposing teams will have the Sixers thoroughly scouted and know precisely what they’re going to run. But when you desperately need someone to produce in late shot-clock situations, Maxey is capable of stepping up.

Against the Warriors (11-12), Maxey finished with a game-high 35 points while making 4 of 10 three-pointers. He also finished with three rebounds, two assists, and the block in 39 minutes, 40 seconds.

He ranks second in the league with nine games of at least 35 points, trailing the Lakers’ Luka Dončić, who has 10 such games.

Maxey is also third in the league in scoring (32.6 points per game), trailing the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32.8) and Dončić (35.3).

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Kelly Oubre is ‘trying to stay above water’ while sidelined with a ligament sprain in his left knee

“Fun to watch,” Embiid said of Maxey. “I was just telling him, and I told him the last couple of years when I was on that scoring run, ‘When you get in that moment, it just feels like the game slows down. It just becomes easy.’

“That’s what it is right now every single time he steps on the floor. … He’s in such a good rhythm making shots, getting to his spots, not rushing. I think that’s the biggest key.”

If Embiid doesn’t get better, this whole thing is going down.

That’s not a knock on Maxey or Paul George. Maxey has established himself as an All-NBA caliber player and hasn’t yet reached his ceiling. But right now, he’s not the most essential piece to an NBA championship puzzle. It has to be Embiid’s team. If it’s not, they’re in trouble.

Embiid finished with 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting — including missing all six of his three-pointers. He also had six rebounds, three assists, three turnovers, and one block in 25:13 minutes. He looked fatigued during a poor performance.

The Sixers kept saying Embiid would get healthier. But it became apparent at the start of the season that the Sixers would be a team incapable of making a deep postseason run without him rolling to the basket. Yet, we’re in December, and the 7-2, 280-pounder is still positioned outside the three-point line.

Could that be a sign that his knees aren’t getting better?

If his knees don’t improve, it’s hard to imagine the Sixers advancing beyond the first round of the postseason.

The Sixers had a 24-point lead with 8:06 left in the third quarter. At that time, it appeared that coach Nick Nurse would rest his starters in the fourth quarter ahead of Friday’s road game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

But the Warriors chipped away at the Sixers’ lead before taking a 93-92 advantage on Gui Santos’ basket with 2:39 to play. With the Sixers down 98-97 with 40.9 seconds left, Adem Bona missed a pair of foul shots.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid’s new Skechers, the brand’s first signature basketball shoe, have dropped: ‘It means a lot’

They were fortunate to have Edgecombe step up down the stretch, followed by Maxey blocking Melton’s shot.

Edgecombe finished with 10 points, six rebounds, five assists, and a game-high three steals. In addition to scoring the game-winning basket, the third pick in June’s draft tallied two of his steals in the fourth quarter.

Edgecombe’s final steal came on Pat Spencer’s pass with 8.2 seconds left to set up the Sixers’ final possession.

“He just does a lot of things that, like, we know he can score, we know he can pass, but he does things that don’t show up in a box score all the time,” Maxey said. “He goes out there and plays hard. He’ll get the extra rebound. He’ll tip the ball to somebody, or he’ll get the deflection.

“We appreciate him because he does those things. And we know who he is as a person and as a basketball player. So he’s going to keep doing that and keep working on those things, and we appreciate him.”

Melton, who scored 14 points Thursday in his season debut, is one of five Warriors who have played for the Sixers during their career.

Melton played in Philly from 2022-24. He initially signed with Golden State on July 8, 2024, following his tenure with the Sixers. The shooting guard suffered a season-ending partially torn ACL in his left knee on Nov. 12, 2024. After having surgery on Dec. 4, 2024, Melton was traded to the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 15. But he re-signed with the Warriors on Oct. 1.

Jimmy Butler (2018-19), Al Horford (2019-20), Seth Curry (2020-21 and until the trade deadline of 2021-22), and Buddy Hield (after the trade deadline of 2023-24) also played for the Sixers.

Melton appeared in six games — two starts — with the Warriors last season, averaging 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 steals in 20.2 minutes before suffering his injury against the Dallas Mavericks.

“I’m just happy to see him out there, dude,” Maxey said of his close friend. “He was at my house two or three hours yesterday, just chopping it up, talking about life. I’m happy to see him out there. He’s smiling.

“I told him I’ll give him one jump shot, because he was struggling early. I gave him one middy in the third. But I’m just happy he was out there. It was good to see him. I told him he can’t guard me. So it’s all good.”

Butler had the best Sixers stint among the group. He averaged 18.2 points, 4.0 assists, and 1.8 steals in 55 games in Philly. The 2018-19 team, which featured Butler, Tobias Harris, Embiid, JJ Redick, and Ben Simmons in the starting lineup, was the best Sixers team since the start of The Process.

Butler, a six-time All-Star, missed Thursday’s game with left knee soreness after exiting Tuesday’s game against the Thunder.