76ers vs. Hornets: Player Observations After Sixers Take Down Charlotte Again
The Philadelphia 76ers and the Charlotte Hornets needed a fifth quarter to settle the outcome of their Monday night battle at the Spectrum Center. For the first time in a month, the Sixers picked up two-straight wins as they wrapped up the overtime matchup on Monday with a victory.
Instead of leaving Charlotte, the Sixers remained in North Carolina as they faced the Hornets once again on Wednesday night. To no surprise, the Hornets remained undermanned as five of their players are in the NBA's health and safety protocol.
Despite being shorthanded, the Hornets were ready to put up another fight with a scrappy performance on Wednesday. Through the first quarter of action, Philly and Charlotte were neck and neck as they tied at 26 points.
In the second quarter, the Hornets slightly pulled away as they outscored the 76ers by two points and went into halftime up 53-51. A strong third-quarter effort by Joel Embiid and the Sixers sent Philly into the final quarter with a one-point lead before they eventually closed the game out with a 110-106 victory.
With that win, the Sixers pick up their third straight victory and advance to 14-11 on the year. Now, let's observe the Sixers' individual player performances.
The Starters
Defensively, the veteran had a decent outing. He wrapped the game up with four rebounds on the defensive end and had two blocked shots. Offensively, Green's three-point shooting wasn't all that sharp as he knocked down just two of his five attempts.
The veteran forward started off strong and finished the same way. In his first nine minutes of action, Harris went 3-4 from the field and collected eight points. During his final nine minutes, he hit on three of his six shots for another eight points. In total, Harris wrapped up the game with 18 points and six rebounds.
Joel Embiid
Once again, the Sixers' big man was dominant in every aspect of the game. On the defensive end, Embiid grabbed seven of his eight boards and snatched a steal. Then on the offensive end, he led the Sixers in scoring once again with 32 points. Embiid had a season-high of 19 free throw attempts on Wednesday and hit on 15 of them. In addition to his scoring, Embiid shared the ball well too as he accounted for four assists.
Seth Curry
Embiid might've stolen the show for the Sixers on Wednesday, but Seth Curry deserves a round of applause for his performance as well. All year long, Curry has proven to be extremely efficient from the field and has heated up for the Sixers more often than not. In a little under 35 minutes in Charlotte, Curry hit on 50-percent of his threes and totaled for 23 points. And his shooting wasn't even the most impressive aspect of his game on Wednesday. Along with putting up the second-most amount of points for the Sixers, Curry also had a game-high of eight assists, which marks his highest for the season.
Lately, Tyrese Maxey hasn't been as impressive as he was throughout the first 20 or so games of the season. In 26 minutes on Wednesday, Maxey put up just six shots. He had a quiet night offensively as he accounted for just six points, tying with Danny Green. Also, he turned the ball over three times, which is uncharacteristic for Maxey. Granted, he is battling an illness but the young point guard has certainly been dealing with some growing pains even before he missed his first matchup of the year on Monday.
The Bench
After a strong outing with the starters, Milton reverted back to his bench role. He didn't get too many opportunities to score, but Milton continues to look solid as he put up eight points and three assists in 22 minutes off the bench.
We all know how good Thybulle's defense is, but lately, the Sixers have wanted to see improvement from the young guard on the offensive side of the ball. The good thing about his Wednesday night performance is that he wasn't hesitant to shoot as he put up seven attempts. The bad news is that shots weren't falling. Thybulle hit on just 28-percent of his shots and went 0-3 from beyond the arc.
The Sixers didn't get a ton of scoring from their bench on Wednesday, and Niang wasn't an outlier as he put up just five points in 15 minutes. More shots from Niang would be ideal, but he did a fine job on Wednesday during his limited shift.
The Turkish reserve continues to struggle to create a positive impact. While he didn't take away too many shooting opportunities on Wednesday as he attempted just a couple of shots, Korkmaz finished the night without collecting a single bucket. It seemed Korkmaz was slowly turning a corner after entering a massive slump, but his Wednesday night performance took him two steps back.
Andre Drummond
The veteran big man was quietly productive in Charlotte. Although he took just two shots, Drummond knocked them both in. He also paid two visits to the free-throw line and hit on all of his shots. In total, Drummond helped lead the bench with eight points and also collected five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.
