January 28, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Tuesday's win over the Milwaukee Bucks restored some optimism for the Sixers after a rough day on Monday.
Depending on which game you just watched, you could have drastically different perspectives on the 2025-26 Sixers. After a win – like Tuesday's wire-to-wire victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, for example – it is easy to see the vision of what this team can be if it reaches full form. After losses, their flaws feel frustrating, or even fatal.
The Sixers are an incredibly confusing team to figure out for the people who devote their days to following their every move. For people zooming out and monitoring the entire league? Forget it.
As we do every Wednesday, let's see where the national media stands on the Sixers:
One of the many statistical trends surrounding the Sixers tracked by John Schuhmann throughout the season: suboptimal performance against elite competition:
"There are now nine Eastern Conference teams with winning records, and the Sixers have the second-worst record (8-13) in games played between them, having scored just 113.3 points per 100 possessions over those 21 games. But they’re still holding onto sixth place, thanks in part to the Magic having lost three straight." [NBA.com]
The Sixers will eventually have to figure out how to consistently beat quality teams, but until then their games against inferior competition become extremely important. They took care of business on Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, and will play two more home games against subpar teams, as the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans will be in town before the Sixers depart for a road trip.
MORE: After months of struggles, Sixers thrilled Jared McCain is looking 'more like him'
Tim Bontemps explores the good and bad of recent Sixers happenings:
"On the positive side, Joel Embiid has been looking like his old self over the past few weeks, making a possible argument for inclusion in next month's All-Star Game. On the negative, Philadelphia has had a revolving door of players in and out of the lineup, which has caused contributors, including Embiid, to admit that building continuity and consistency is difficult." [ESPN]
Could Embiid actually make the All-Star Game after his bizarre and frustrating start to the season? If one person would like to see that, it is Tyrese Maxey, who last week used the end of a postgame media availability to bang the drum for Embiid's candidacy. The case is not ironclad; Embiid was playing in extremely limited bursts or not at all for the first several weeks of the season. But he has been as good as any big man in the Eastern Conference over the last month.
MORE: How do you fit with Embiid? His teammates explain
For the second "quarter" in a row, Law Murray gave the Sixers a solid B grade. It is befitting a team that, for now, is right in the middle of the pack in terms of Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls. But it's reasonable to expect more from a group this talented now that some continuity finally exists. Case in point:
"Philadelphia was one of 12 teams that got at least 100 minutes out of its most-used lineup in the second quarter of the season. In 136 minutes between Dec. 6 and Jan. 20, the Sixers outscored opponents by 9.1 points per 100 possessions with Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Paul George, Dominick Barlow and Joel Embiid on the floor." [The Athletic]
Head coach Nick Nurse opted to pull the plug on what was a successful starting five, returning Kelly Oubre Jr. to that unit in place of Barlow, giving the Sixers more offensive firepower at the expense of size and rebounding.
MORE: Barlow's great perspective on his benching, more Sixers thoughts
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