James Harden isn't with the team quite yet, but the Sixers moved to 1-0 on Friday night since landing the 10-time All-Star with a 100-87 win over the Thunder at Wells Fargo Center.
Joel Embiid posted 25 points and 19 rebounds, while Tyrese Maxey added 24 points.
Harden and Paul Millsap were the Sixers’ only two inactives the day after the team’s massive trade with the Nets.
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Neither is expected to be available for Saturday’s game against the Cavaliers. Per a team official, Millsap and Harden are currently listed as “not with team” as they go through the necessary conditions to complete the trade such as physicals. Harden missed Brooklyn’s final three games before the trade deadline with left hamstring tightness.
“I don’t know yet,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said before the game when asked about when Harden would arrive in Philadelphia and debut. “The timeline is he’ll be here soon, but as far as getting him into a game, I think we’ve had three conversations on the phone. We really haven’t even talked about that yet. I want to make sure he’s right before we get him on the floor.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (right ankle sprain), Mike Muscala (right ankle soreness), Aaron Wiggins (right ankle sprain) and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (right foot fracture) were out for Oklahoma City.
The 33-22 Sixers have three games left before the All-Star break. Here are observations on their win over the Thunder:
NBA
Embiid not his best, still stars
Embiid matched up with veteran Derrick Favors and accumulated a double-double within his first stint (11 points, 10 boards). He made a nice fast-break dish to Furkan Korkmaz for a layup, too.
Neither Embiid nor the Sixers as a whole shot well from the floor early in the game, though. He started 2 for 7 and the Sixers began 8 for 32.
It appeared Embiid was dealing with a minor forearm or wrist issue. He flexed that area occasionally during stoppages and wore a shooting sleeve on his right arm. The All-Star big man wasn’t listed on any injury reports leading into the game and presumably wouldn’t have played if he had any significant physical problem.
After the game, Embiid's right wrist was wrapped up and he said it was "pretty swollen."
“I honestly don’t know when it happened," he said. “I just woke up two days ago and my whole hand was pretty swollen, so I’m not sure what happened.”
He kept taking open jumpers throughout the night and didn’t have his typical success. Embiid was menacing to the Thunder on the other end of the floor, though, blocking five shots and anchoring the Sixers’ defense.
Embiid and the Sixers had trouble sealing the deal in the fourth quarter, but a three-pointer from Tobias Harris gave them a 91-82 lead and iced the win.
In truth, the particulars of Friday's performance aren't very relevant with Embiid. He's now got another star on the roster and the Sixers are eager to see how he'll mesh with Harden.
Haven’t seen those two in a while
Shake Milton played Friday for the first time since suffering a back contusion on Jan. 3. Paul Reed saw NBA action for the first time since garbage time of a Jan. 17 Sixers loss to the Wizards.
Milton eyed up a corner three-pointer late in the first quarter … with his foot out of bounds. Not surprising that he was rusty, but good news for the Sixers that they’ve got another healthy guard. The team’s lack of ball handling depth was a clear deficiency during Milton’s absence.
New Net Andre Drummond’s backup center stints tended to be unique and audacious, sprinkled with ill-advised solo fast breaks and brilliant passes. In some ways, Reed is similar. When last season’s G League MVP is on the floor, he usually creates a lot of action.
The positives with Reed: He scrapped for offensive rebounds, sniffed around for steals, blocks and deflections, and generally forced the Thunder to be wary of his presence.
The negative with Reed: A spectacularly botched reverse dunk try on a fast break. Instead of scoring an easy two points, Reed stumbled as he went up, missed a last-ditch layup, and ended up fouling Darius Bazley after he took the defensive rebound.
No one would’ve minded the highlight attempt if Reed converted. But, of course, you’ve got to make it. Reed played Friday over rookie center Charles Bassey, who perhaps will also get a shot at backing up Embiid. Millsap is a four-time All-Star and has served as a small-ball five before, but he turned 37 years old Thursday and last played on Jan. 13.
The Sixers have one open roster spot and might make a move in the hope of improving behind Embiid.
“Losing Drum, we’re probably going to look at the buyout market,” Rivers said pregame. “Obviously you never know who’s going to be in the buyout market these days, so we’ll look at that.”
Post-trade questions with the wings
The Sixers’ first-half offense wasn’t pretty or efficient outside of Maxey, who put the team up 46-41 on a driving layup with 1.1 seconds left in the second quarter.
He drained two three-pointers early in the third and the Sixers started to pull away from the youthful, 17-win Thunder. Matisse Thybulle opened the second half with one of his “pick sixes,” a steal into a crowd-pleasing dunk.
There’s no doubt he’s an elite defender, but Thybulle’s offensive game will be scrutinized further once Harden is in the mix. Assuming he continues to start, he’ll remain the team’s weakest starter offensively and the player who occupies the dunker spot on Embiid post-ups.
Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey’s Harden-centered Rockets teams prioritized shooting around the 2017-18 MVP. Opposing teams don’t consider Thybulle a shooter. That might not hurt the Sixers too badly because Thybulle is so valuable as a defender (and spark plug for transition offense). In thinking ahead to the playoffs, it’s also notable that they’ve dealt away far more of a non-shooter than Thybulle in Simmons.
Danny Green is comfortably superior to Thybulle in the shooting department, though he had an off night (1 for 6 from the floor). With Harden on board, it will be interesting to watch when Rivers sees fit to pair Thybulle and Green together.