December 26, 2025
David Banks/Imagn Images
Joel Embiid battled a few injury scares on Friday night in Chicago, but ended up posting one of his better scoring performances of the last two seasons.
As it turns out, the Sixers getting back in the win column with VJ Edgecombe, Dominick Barlow and Quentin Grimes returning from illness was no guarantee.
The bug that has plagued the team over the last two-plus weeks appears to have dissipated for now, with all three of those key contributors back in action after being sidelined for Tuesday's loss to the lowly Brooklyn Nets. All three players were available on Friday in Chicago, and the Sixers fell 109-102. Joel Embiid led the way with one of his strongest scoring performances of the last two years, but Tyrese Maxey could never quite shake off a rough start. Paul George was good early in every way except for scoring and cashed in some clutch triples when the Sixers needed some separation, but did not score efficiently inside the arc. The Sixers remain winless with all three of their max players on the floor.
Ultimately, Sixers not named Embiid were just not able to give the team enough offensively, and down the stretch of the game, Chicago was able to space out Embiid, making him vulnerable on the defensive end of the floor. The Sixers failed to respond with any offensive firepower late, and for the second time this season, they had a disastrous late-game collapse in Chicago.
The Sixers have lost two games in a row. Here are the takeaways from their latest defeat, with a focus on Embiid's usage on both ends of the floor:
In a general sense, Embiid has two key jobs whenever he takes the floor: generate efficient scoring opportunities for himself and others, and anchor the Sixers' defense. On Friday, Embiid clearly accomplished one of those tasks and left much to be desired on the other front.
Offensively, Embiid applied considerable force from the outset, bypassing much of his finesse scoring and instead opting to play with immense physicality against a Chicago frontcourt without any defenders capable of handling him. His focus was scoring inside first and then working his way out when needed, and it paid dividends:
Joel Embiid with the pump fake to create the 3-point play 🔥 pic.twitter.com/UVTIKFnJmP
— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 27, 2025
Despite having worse mobility than many of his other recent games, Embiid scored 16 points on 10 shots in the first half alone; he knocked down his lone three-point attempt and added another to kick off the second half but was clearly making an effort to set a tone with his interior presence.
27 points and counting for @JoelEmbiid pic.twitter.com/Li5U6myGjK
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 27, 2025
All in all, Embiid finished the game with 31 points on 10-for-19 shooting from the field, 2-for-4 shooting from three-point range and 9-for-9 shooting on free throws. He also surpassed 32 minutes for the first time in 2025-26.
Embiid did all of this despite his right knee, which had an injury scare on Tuesday, clearly bothering him. Embiid went down holding that knee in pain on multiple occasions throughout the game, though it never ended up forcing him out of his usual substitution patterns. However, Embiid having even more reduced mobility than usual did impact this game...
The Sixers' defense was like a roller coaster for much of this one, with impressive highs and horrifying lows. Many of those lows came as a result of Embiid's immobility; when he is so slow to rotate when necessary it puts immense pressure on the team's point-of-attack defenders to contain ball-handlers. Chicago shot an unbelievable number of wide open three-point shots in the first half in particular. Embiid was not the line culprit there, but his inability to move laterally at the same speed as most NBA players did have a major role in Chicago's strong offensive surges.
However, as the game went on, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was able to find ways to limit Embiid's exposure. He maximized Embiid's time defending non-bigs with suspect three-point shooting strokes, allowing Embiid to roam as a defender more often without being caught up in nearly as many ball screens.
The presence of Barlow played a significant role in Nurse feeling comfortable with this defensive arrangement. The 22-year-old has enough athleticism to keep up with perimeter players and enough size to battle with bigs down low. Particularly against teams that run lots of pick-and-roll, inverting the defensive assignments of Embiid and Barlow could be something Nurse leans on if Embiid can be hidden on a weak shooter.
As the Sixers continue to try to find ways to mask Embiid's major weaknesses in hopes of eventually getting him back to the dominant two-way force he once was – and as teams across the NBA lean harder into double-big lineups again – Embiid and the Sixers have a chance to take advantage. Perhaps this can be a temporary solution to his defensive issues – but it is only viable in specific matchups.
An example: late in this very game, Chicago went to a lineup without any suspect shooters and Embiid's immobility was immediately punished – he was on the wrong end of a poster dunk then gave up an isolation three on a switch. Ultimately, there will only be so many answers for a player whose movement is so limited.
Some additional notes:
• This was not a continuation of Edgecombe's 20-plus-point scoring streak, but despite missing some shots, the rookie played an all-around game of winning basketball. He was one of the only Sixers whose individual defense was noticeably good and he made an impact on the offensive glass (as did Barlow).
• After Andre Drummond submitted a suboptimal first half against his former team, Nurse opted to play Adem Bona as his backup center in the second half. After the Sixers were outscored by 11 points in Drummond's eight minutes, they broke even in just about the same amount of time with Bona on the floor. Bona's minutes have been much better of late after his disappointing start to the season and he seems to have kicked the door down and made this a competition for minutes again.
• MarJon Beauchamp, signed to replace Hunter Sallis as the Sixers' third two-way player on Friday morning, joined the Sixers in Chicago, but was not active for this game. Once Edgecome and Grimes were cleared to return to action, there was little reason to activate Beauchamp; the Sixers will be extra careful with their two-way usage in the handful of weeks ahead.
Up next: What comes next might be the Sixers' toughest test of the entire season: a battle against the defending champions in their building. The Sixers will be in Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon to face a Thunder team looking to find its footing again after a high-profile Christmas Day loss.
