Philadelphia 76ers take care of Orlando Magic 125-113 led by Embiid and Maxey’s stardom

The Philadelphia 76ers triumphed over the Orlando Magic 125-113, winning their seventh straight game and improving to 46-35 on the season.

Joel Embiid led the way with a near triple-double, scoring 32 points while notching 13 rebounds, and 7 assists on 10-23 shooting from the field.

Tyrese Maxey wasn’t far behind, tallying 28 points and 3 assists on 10-19 field shooting while connecting on 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Kelly Oubre Jr. chipped in 21 points and 9 rebounds on 6-14 shooting from the field.

Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey combined tonight:

60 points
15 rebounds
10 assists

Best duo in the East 😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/2NzeYIRBCu

— Sixerdaily (@Sixerdaily) April 13, 2024

Despite beating the Magic in all three of their regular season meetings, the 76ers are still in 7th place in the Eastern Conference due to Orlando (46-35) defeating Indiana (46-35) in two of their three games – paired with the Magic leading the Southeast division over the Pacers, which gives Orlando the better seed. 

The 76ers were without Robert Covington (knee) and KJ Martin (toe), who missed his second consecutive game. Aside from that, this is the healthiest Philadelphia has been since January. Joel Embiid continues to ramp up for the playoffs and finally, De’Anthony Melton played in his second straight game.

Kyle Lowry (knee) and Tyrese Maxey (hip) also made their returns to the court, last playing in Sunday’s win over the San Antonio Spurs.

For the Magic, Wendell Carter Jr. endured back spasms early in the 1st quarter and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game for Orlando.

76ers’ Joel Embiid couldn’t be stopped

After exploding for a near triple-double at halftime (21 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists), Joel Embiid proved that he can handle elite defenses when the stakes are at their highest, even coming off a meniscus injury.

The Magic are ranked 2nd in the NBA in defensive rating, holding opponents to 113.2 points per 100 possessions and Embiid countered everything Orlando had to throw at him. When the likes of Goga Bitadze and Jonathan Isaac defended him in single coverage, Embiid simply went at them off the bounce or popped a mid-range jumper, either way, Embiid inevitably drew contact. 

The Magic threw some zone defense and double teams at Embiid when he caught the ball and the reigning MVP wittingly responded by using his gravity to create open shots for weak-side shooters in Kelly Oubre Jr, who was thrown a ridiculous skip pass from Embiid, Nicolas Batum, and Buddy Hield.

What a pass from Joel Embiid. 🥶

pic.twitter.com/20W7DA4wOY

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 12, 2024

Another wrinkle in Embiid’s game as of late has been his perimeter shooting as Embiid is shooting 48.1% from deep on 5.4 attempts since his return from his meniscus injury. Embiid shot 4-7 from the perimeter tonight with him confidently drilling spot-up threes around the wing and coming off of flare screens to do so.

Embiid scored just 11 points in the 2nd half, which was likely due to fatigue and the injury scare to the knee he sustained his meniscus injury, but luckily, he’s a part of one of the NBA’s finest one-two punches as Tyrese Maxey took over the 4th quarter.

Tyrese Maxey takes over for 76ers

Tyrese Maxey scored 11 of his 28 points in the final frame and an excitingly successful attempt to close Orlando out. Maxey put the ball in the bucket in a variety of ways like turning the corner with his quickness off the dribble, creating space in isolation, and using ball-screens to drain triples against mismatched bigs, while being defended by quality defenders in Jalen Suggs and Gary Harris.

he's literally Tyrese Maxey. 💁‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/BKCNVsJd5K

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 13, 2024

In terms of playmaking, Maxey didn’t have much to show for it with only 3 assists, but Maxey wasn’t put in situations where he had to make plays for others. The Magic played single coverage against Maxey for most of the time and the all-star guard punished them for it while on the other end, recording a poetic transition block on former 76ers first overall pick Markelle Fultz.

Playoff defenses will be much more aggressive against Maxey in terms of doubling, blitzing off the pick-and-roll, and zoning when he goes to the rim, but Maxey has proven he can handle a variety of coverages, especially during the two-month frame when Embiid was sidelined and Maxey was the number one option.

76ers elite defense on Paolo Banchero

The 76ers won most of this game with their star duo, but not all of it as Philadelphia’s defense on all-star Paolo Banchero came straight out of Nick Nurse’s wildest dreams. Banchero was held to just 22 points on 7-24 shooting from the field.

Although Tobias Harris (14 points on 5-10 shooting) didn’t contribute a whole lot offensively, he delivered point-of-attack defense on Banchero that was just as impactful. Harris matched up with Banchero well in terms of height and physical frame and as a result, Banchero struggled to bulldoze through Harris and get his shots off. Harris kept up with him off the dribble and navigated pick-and-rolls well by going under and recovering. 

Joel Embiid’s presence at the rim also made Banchero’s life even harder with Embiid providing great strong-side interior help as Banchero attempted to drive to the basket as the 76ers sent a lot of bodies at Banchero and went zone here and there. To Banchero’s credit, he did make some solid reads using the defensive attention he warranted notching 7 assists, but overall, he’ll have to be a more willing passer come the postseason.

The 76ers will host the Brooklyn Nets in their final game of the regular season which could very well determine where Philadelphia finishes in the Eastern Conference. Tip-off is at 1:00 p.m. EST exclusively on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Mandatory Credit: Copyright 2024 NBAE(Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)