PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers returned home and secured a big win over the New York Knicks following two consecutive road losses. Despite the victory, Joel Embiid was critical of the Sixers for their defensive issues.

While Embiid led the game with 35 points and Tyrese Maxey had 27 points, Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson each had 30 points and the Knicks shot 53.1 percent from the field. The Sixers' defense was weak in the first half. It gradually got better but was still problematic for much of the game.

“You're not gonna be good defensively if you can't guard the ball and that's been an issue,” Embiid said. So we got to be better at stopping the ball because if you can't stop the ball, it puts the whole team in rotations. We just got to be better.”

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Joel Embiid is obviously a strong defender but can only do so much. The guys around him often get moved easily by screens or lack the foot speed to stay in front of guys. The Sixers get crushed by drive-and-kick sequences, as well as around-the-perimeter passing when their defense gets scrambled. In recent weeks, Philly's defense has been very bad.

“If you can't guard your man, it doesn't matter if you have a rule of not helping on good shooters. The first thing you got to take away is the paint,” Embiid said. “So if you're going to do that, and it's going to create rotations all over the place, someone is going to be wide open. Like I said, when you're playing against a team that has a lot of good shooters all over the place — for example, last game in Boston — it's hard to know where to leave because they just got shooters all over the place. So like I said, it just starts with the ball.”

The Boston Celtics indeed took advantage of the Sixers' inability to contain the ball on Wednesday and shot the lights out in a win despite missing several starters. Point-of-attack defense has been an issue that Philly has to clean up by the time the playoffs approach.