The Sixers won an odyssey of a game Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.
In a contest that featured Joel Embiid’s ejection and loads of officiating controversy detailed below, they pulled out a 111-106 victory over the Spurs.
Tyrese Maxey had 32 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals for the Sixers, who moved to 10-17.
The 15-14 Spurs were led by Victor Wembanyama, who tallied 26 points, nine rebounds, eight blocks and four assists.
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The Sixers will head to Boston and face the Celtics on Christmas. Here are observations on their very strange win Monday night:
A normal start …
The game expectedly revolved around Embiid and Wembanyama in the first quarter.
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Embiid stripped Wembanyama of the ball twice on early drive attempts. He also canned a three that put the Sixers up 7-2.
Next up for Embiid was former teammate Charles Bassey. Regardless of the Spurs’ center, the Sixers got Embiid the ball on just about every first-quarter possession. Though he wasn’t on his A-game, he managed nine points in 10 minutes.
With Maxey flanked by bench players, the Sixers struggled late in the first quarter.
The Spurs made a 6-0 run to take a 20-19 lead and Wembanyama swatted shots from both Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin on the Sixers’ last possession of the first with ludicrous ease. The Sixers kept challenging the 7-foot-3 phenom and kept getting rejected. Wembanyama had seven blocks with seven minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Embiid tossed in chaotic second quarter
The game devolved into absolute chaos in the second period.
Andre Drummond was assessed a technical foul with 8:13 left in the second for pushing Wembanyama to the floor on a baseline out of bounds play. Seconds later, Wembanyama went down again, seemingly because he tripped over Drummond’s foot.
Umpire Jenna Schroeder saw it otherwise in the moment, ejecting Drummond. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was irate in disputing the call.
Upon review, the officials determined Drummond had not committed a “hostile act” and rescinded his ejection. However, after the officials initially determined that Wembanyama had flopped, they also strangely wiped that decision off the books.
“After review, it was determined that Drummond stepped on Wembanyama’s foot,” crew chief Curtis Blair told The Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey in the postgame pool report, “and it was deemed incidental contact.”
There was much more drama to come.
Wembanyama drew Embiid’s third foul with 2:59 to go in the second quarter by taking a charge and Embiid’s reaction was apoplectic.
He yelled at Schroeder and followed her across the floor before being separated by teammates and coaches near the Sixers’ bench. He got two technical fouls during that sequence, resulting in his ejection.
Blair said Embiid was “given two unsportsmanlike technical fouls, which by rule is an automatic ejection.” He said Embiid made “incidental contact” with Schroeder and “there was nothing that warranted any further punishment.”
The officials certainly did not maintain the cliched “control of the game” Monday night.
Maxey comes through in clutch
Following a good month or two’s worth of controversy, the Sixers and Spurs still had a second half to play.
The Sixers started it well, sinking plenty of the jumpers they’d missed in the first half. A Maxey three gave them a 73-58 lead.
The Sixers opened the third quarter with Guerschon Yabusele at center and really didn’t have much of a choice. Along with Embiid’s ejection, the Sixers had to deal with Drummond being out for the rest of the night with a left big toe contusion. On top of that, KJ Martin was ruled out early in the fourth quarter because of left foot soreness.
Yabusele had his most productive outing in weeks, posting 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting, four rebounds and four steals.
He was whistled for a dubious technical of his own early in the fourth quarter when Schroeder ruled that he’d hung on the rim too long after a dunk. Yabusele shook it off, pump faking Wembanyama next time down and then firing a kick-out pass to Maxey. He dished to Caleb Martin for a corner three that extended the Sixers’ lead to 89-79.
San Antonio surged ahead in the fourth quarter. Former Sixer Julian Champagnie started knocking down jumpers and a Chris Paul triple lifted the Spurs to a 95-94 edge.
Down the stretch, Maxey's clutch contributions were decisive.
He nabbed a steal and then slammed in an and-one lefty dunk that put the Sixers back on top. The All-Star guard missed the ensuing free throw, but Yabusele chased down a massive offensive rebound. Maxey made it count with a step-back three over Jeremy Sochan.
He then snared a giant defensive rebound in traffic, grabbing Paul's miss and pushing the Sixers to the finish line of a memorable and ... unique game.
