The Philadelphia 76ers (18-7) faced the Charlotte Hornets (7-17) on the second night of a back-to-back. The Sixers didn’t play with their food and came out of Buzz City with a huge win to push their winning streak to six. The final score: 135-82. Good lord.

Let’s break down the Sixers' win over the Hornets.

Sixers player notes:

Joel Embiid: 42 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 18-23 FG shooting

Do you think Embiid did damage against another team missing its best center?

The big man shot his smooth-as-butter middie over and over on the way to 18 points on 8-11 shooting in the first quarter (plus nine rebounds). He didn’t let his attentiveness slip against the clearly inferior opponent on either end of the floor. Tonight was his 10th straight 30-10 game and 11th straight game with 30 points. That breaks a franchise record previously set by…Joel Embiid, last season. All he needed was 30 minutes to thoroughly dominate.

Tyrese Maxey: 21 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 8-13 FG shooting

Embiid was the main story but Maxey was plenty sensational himself. He caught fire from deep and bashed the Charlotte defense over and over again whether he did or did not have Embiid. Five of his eight triples found the nylon as he scored 17 points in the second quarter.

Hornets player notes:

Terry Rozier: 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3-10 FG shooting

Terry wasn’t very scary in this one. No one expected him to keep pace with the stars across from him but he didn’t give the Hornets any sort of boost on offense. To make matters worse, he also suffered an injury in the third quarter.

Brandon Miller: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4-16 FG shooting

Miller had the green light to create with so many injuries to Charlotte, including LaMelo Ball, but it's clear that he has a ton of work to do. He did at least rack up some assists and was one of just two Hornets to record multiple assists in the first half along with Ish Smith. Games like this where he gets lots of on-ball reps against a good team can be helpful in his development. But they won’t exactly be nights to remember.

Game recap:

1st half

Back-to-backs are always tough, especially when they don’t take place in the same city, but the Sixers had a few things going for them. The Hornets are not only a bad team but were without Ball, P.J. Washington, Gordon Hayward and Mark Williams. Plus, because Philly demolished the Detroit Pistons yesterday, their key players got some extra rest down the stretch of the game, keeping them fresher for this one.

The Hornets had Rozier start out on Maxey and Nick Richards on Embiid while Nicolas Batum guarded Rozier, De'Anthony Melton on no. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller and Tobias Harris started on Miles Bridges.

Embiid scored the first eight points of the game for the Sixers with an array of feathery jumpers while Harris supplied the next seven points. The Sixers' defense was super active in this one, generating defections and loose balls on what felt like every Charlotte possession. Embiid made sure the glass stayed clean, rebounding with gusto on each missed shot. Richards didn’t make it six minutes without committing a pair of fouls. His backup was Nathan Mensah, who was playing in his second NBA game.

All the Sixers needed to do was space out along the baseline and let Embiid do his thing. He brought the ball up so that he could get right into his office. The simplest offense was the most effective. Without anyone who could create a shot nearly as easily, the Hornets' offense had to work incredibly hard to score. Try as Process legend Ish Smith did, Charlotte trailed 33-17 at the end of the first quarter.

When Embiid went to the bench, Maxey carried the takeover torch, drilling a pair of triples and assisting Paul Reed on a bucket. The Sixers set him high screens and watched as he did the rest. On the times he got the ball, Kelly Oubre Jr. took it right to the Hornets, playing with the palpable desire to stick it to them that Embiid shows against guys like Ben Simmons and A Horford on occasions. He missed some shots where he had tunnel vision but did have a very nice putback dunk.

Oubre and Miller bumped heads on one play as the former Hornet went for a steal, sending Miller back to the locker room, though he would later return. Although the Charlotte offense had awoken to become NBA-caliber, the Sixers stars could not be contained. Teaming up together down the stretch of the first half, they opened up shots like they were Ziploc bags. The Hornets pulled over the low man to take away Embiid posting up but all that did was let Maxey drain another triple. There was really nothing they could do.

At the half, the Sixers led 73-44. Embiid and Maxey combined for 48 points in the first half.

2nd half

The Sixers went almost three minutes without scoring to start the third quarter. Maxey and Embiid weren’t going all out as they had in the first half. Things got tougher for the Hornets as Rozier fell to the ground in pain after running into Embiid's elbow and left the game. He suffered a nose injury on the play.

Eventually, Embiid got back into a scoring groove and pushed the Sixers' lead higher. He knew he was playing for the right to sit out the fourth quarter and bully-balled his way for buckets at the rim with some help from Batum's masterful entry passes. He notched another 40-burger on a jumper from the elbow. Harris got a few chances to get to cooking in the post, coming away with a smooth fallaway shot and a nice spin move to the paint where he fed a cutting Oubre for a dunk.

The Sixers led 100-59 heading into the fourth quarter. This isn’t really something that the Sixers should be vastly commended on but the fact that they have yet to badly play down to competition is very nice. After a few years of no lead being safe with Doc Rivers, they haven’t had to throw the main guys back out there to stave off a comeback attempt. Nurse mentioned that Embiid's defense yesterday was where it needed to be and he clearly took note. He set the tone and everyone followed.

Jaden Springer, a Charlotte native, started the fourth quarter as the Sixers pushed the lead to 50. The other deep-bench Sixers joined him shortly thereafter and pushed the lead beyond 50. The hot shooting extended to Mo Bamba, who buried a few jumpers. Danuel House Jr. pitched in 10 points. This was Philly’s first 50-point victory since 1970.

Random rumblings:

  • Alaa Abdelnaby calling the Hornets' press “generic” made me laugh.
  • Bridges had a +/- of -56, which ties for the second-worst EVER in a game in NBA history. That’s what'll happen when you play the most minutes and can’t buy a shot, apparently.

The Sixers will face the Chicago Bulls back at home on Monday.