January 30, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid combined to score 77 points in the Sixers' win over Sacramento on Thursday night.
PHILADELPHIA – Sixers head coach Nick Nurse sat at a podium on Thursday night and declined to pull punches. His team had won a game without playing well.
"I think we're pretty lucky, to be honest with you, that we got out of there with a W," Nurse said. "Not very good on the glass, not very good in transition, not very good on defense... We were very fortunate to get out of there with a win tonight."
Even against the lowly Sacramento Kings, that poor effort put the Sixers in an 11-point hole midway through the fourth quarter. Of Nurse's 10 rotation players, eight struggled in this one. So how did the Sixers erase that deficit and win in the final seconds?
The other two players.
"I mean, listen: Joel and Tyrese were great," Nurse said. "Let's not kid ourselves: they were awesome."
In this week's Friday film, reflecting on an outstanding combined performance from Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, who totaled 77 of the team's 113 points and scored every basket in the Sixers' comeback down the stretch:
This game will be remembered for what Embiid and Maxey did in the final minutes to drag the Sixers across the finish line – their game-winning connection on the final play might be the only play people actually remember – but these were tremendous wire-to-wire performances from both players.
Embiid and Maxey were legitimately elite from start to finish, and their supporting cast never made any sort of waves. It truly felt like a team testing the limits of how much of an offense can be carried by two players in a victory.
Mired in what can only be considered a slump for elite players, Maxey finally broke out of his relative struggles, scoring 40 points and torching Kings defenders at all three levels. For much of the season Maxey has played with a free-flowing nature that has powered his latest leap, but over the last month or so he has felt more liable to lulls. Some of it might be teams loading up against him and some of it might be fatigue. But Maxey would be the first person to say he has not been good enough recently.
On Thursday, Maxey had that early season pep in his step again. It carried him from a first-quarter heater to a game-winning basket courtesy of an Embiid assist on the Sixers' final possession of the game:
Tyrese Maxey scored 40 points in the Sixers' win over Sacramento on Thursday, capped off by a game-winning and-one layup.
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 30, 2026
All 12 of Maxey's made baskets: pic.twitter.com/QV2x1IOuFi
Joel Embiid in the Sixers' win over Sacramento on Thursday:
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 30, 2026
37 points (13-21 FG, 1-2 3P, 10-13 FT)
8 assists
5 rebounds
All of Embiid's baskets and assists: pic.twitter.com/bjFM10ERE1
Beyond the fact that Embiid and Maxey were outstanding, it is worth making this point: they were outstanding together. Everyone knows how good their two-man game can be, and while those actions are the Sixers' bread and butter on the offensive end of the floor they try not to rely on them too much. Embiid, Maxey and Nurse want everybody to be involved in the offense, not just the team's two best players. Embiid has become a particularly passionate believer in the idea that running the team's most effective stuff too much can become a problem.
Vintage Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey two-man work: pic.twitter.com/7oYgwPpsD9
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 30, 2026
But on a night like Thursday when nobody else could find a spark, even Embiid was willing to acknowledge what felt obvious, even if suboptimal, in the moment.
"I think it's one of those nights where you've got to go," Embiid said. "The game was very close, they can't stop it, and I think there are some nights where we've got it going and we're up by 10-15, it's okay to do something else, but when the game is close, just go to your bread and butter, and whatever it takes to win."
Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid force a switch late in the shot clock and Maxey gets Embiid the ball in the post; Embiid hits a circus shot: pic.twitter.com/1ZfEHoxz3e
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 30, 2026
The Sixers only made two shots in the first five-plus minutes of the fourth quarter of their win over Sacramento on Thursday.
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 30, 2026
From there, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey made all six of the team's baskets to come back and win: pic.twitter.com/TwEQIXExvQ
After a game the Sixers won on a thrilling game-winning basket, the tenor of Nurse's availability and the mood of the home locker room were similar. Everyone was happy to escape with a win, but eager to correct many of the issues that presented themselves against Sacramento.
As he scheduled a practice for Friday morning, Nurse told his team a message he has been trying to focus on all season.
"We need to worry about the 76ers, man," Nurse said. "Doing what we're capable of doing, playing a little bit for the bigger picture, worrying more about us than who we're playing, and executing."
