On Tuesday evening, the Philadelphia 76ers kept their winning ways going with a narrow overtime road victory over the Washington Wizards. The 76ers found themselves trailing by ten with under three minutes ago in this one, but another Herculean effort from Tyrese Maxey eventually got the game into overtime, where Philadelphia secured the win.
Much has been said about just how much more joyful this 76ers team has looked so far as compared to years past, and that joy was put on full display late in the game on Tuesday, after it was clear that Philadelphia was going to get the victory, as Joel Embiid and some of his teammates on the bench trolled a Wizards fan who had been heckling them all night.
(via Statline on Instagram).
Maxey finished the game with 39 points, and Joel Embiid poured in 25 in just 23 minutes. It was a decent game from rookie VJ Edgecombe, who contributed 14 points of his own in the win.
A strange situation for the 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers didn't enter this season with a ton of optimism, thanks in large part to the health status of Embiid. So far, Embiid hasn't exactly been a picture of good health, as he is routinely finishing games–even close ones–on the sidelines instead of on the court.
However, Maxey is playing the best basketball of his career, and Edgecombe is looking like a frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, leading the 76ers to an undefeated record so far, albeit not against the strongest of competition.
It will be interesting to see how head coach Nick Nurse shakes up the rotations once other players like Jared McCain and Paul George are healthy. At this point, it's unclear what exactly this team's ceiling truly is. More serious competition likely would figure out ways to at least minimize the damage of the Edgecombe-Maxey backcourt, so the 76ers will need Embiid to be able to stay on the floor more consistently in order to truly compete.
The 76ers' light schedule will continue on Friday with a home game against the Boston Celtics.
