The Philadelphia 76ers went the distance-and then some-in their latest battle against the Atlanta Hawks, pushing the game into double overtime before ultimately falling short. But the real story wasn’t just the final score.
For the first time all season, the Sixers had Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris all sharing the floor. That’s a big deal, even if the minutes were still being carefully managed.
Let’s start with Embiid. The reigning MVP has only suited up for seven games so far this season, and this was his first appearance since early November.
The team continues to take a cautious approach with his right knee, and while he’s been a full participant in practice, game speed is a different animal. You can run all the drills you want, but nothing replicates the rhythm and intensity of live NBA action.
After the game, Embiid wasn’t dwelling on the loss. In fact, his tone was more reflective than frustrated.
“When it was almost a month, and you only have two court sessions going up and down, it's going to be tough,” Embiid said. “It feels like the first game of the season.
You build on it, and I'm not even mad about tonight, I'm just happy I got to play the game of basketball. Build on it and go from there next game, whether shots fall or not.
I don't really judge myself based on shots falling. That's all about how I moved laterally, jumping, all that stuff.
Tonight was a good step towards that.”
That’s exactly the mindset you want from your franchise cornerstone. Embiid knows the bigger picture here.
It’s not about dropping 30 on night one back-it’s about how the body responds. How he moves.
How he feels. And in that regard, this game was a win.
Still, this is the NBA, and chemistry matters. The Sixers are trying to build something real, and that requires time on the floor together.
Every missed game, every skipped rotation, chips away at that cohesion. There’s no shortcut to building trust and rhythm with teammates-especially when you’re trying to integrate Maxey’s evolving role and Harris’s consistency into a lineup that’s still finding its identity.
But this is the trade-off for long-term health. The Sixers know that if they want to make noise in the postseason, they need Embiid at full strength. That means some bumps in December are worth it if they lead to a dominant April.
So yes, the loss stings. But Embiid’s return was the real headline.
He’s back, he’s moving well, and he’s focused on the right things. If the Sixers can continue to manage his minutes smartly while building that on-court chemistry, this team still has the potential to be a serious threat in the East.