Instant observations: Paul George closes out Magic in Sixers’ road win

Paul George played crunch-time closer in another solid outing for the Sixers‘ veteran stars, leading Philadelphia’s fourth-quarter close in a 103-91 victory over the Magic. That win gave the Sixers the season series victory over Orlando, which could loom large if these teams end up in a battle for playoff positioning down the road.

Here’s what I saw.

Shaking off a brutal first half

The first half of Friday night’s game was one of the great crimes against shooting we have ever seen committed. Anthony Black was the only player on either team to make more than a single three, with the Sixers and Magic going a combined 3/33 from downtown in the opening 24 minutes. In an era where the worst shooters on the roster are often better than the best shooters from previous eras, that’s almost impossible to pull off.

It certainly wasn’t for lack of quality attempts, at least on Philadelphia’s end. Tyrese Maxey missed a couple of gift-wrapped threes from the left corner in the first quarter. VJ Edgecombe turned an open look into a wedgie between the rim and the backboard. Joel Embiid stepped into reasonably good looks and clanged them off the iron. It was borderline inexplicable how often and how badly the Sixers missed. Did they drink around the world in Epcot on Thursday night? Do we have a Disney World correspondent who can confirm or deny? Where’s Mickey Mouse when you need him for an exclusive interview?

The only saving grace for Philly was that their hosts were nearly as bad, and I thought the Sixers’ defense of the three-point line was a touch better with a slightly more “earned” half there. The result of the game was always going to come down to who remembered a basic fundamental of basketball at halftime.

Two things shifted for the Sixers at halftime. The first was, unsurprisingly, a change in form for Tyrese Maxey. Keeping him down for a full four quarters has been damn near impossible for opponents this season, and he opened his second half with a short midrange jumper, bumping off Wendell Carter Jr. on a switch to get one to drop around a minute into the half. That was all it seemed to take to spark a fire for No. 0, who canned a transition three off the bounce a minute later before hoisting an audacious heat check shortly after that make.

From there, the Maxey we’ve come to know and love came roaring to the front. In the final minutes of the third, he hit a runner on the move, a spin move into a layup, and a deep three to cap off the run, putting himself on 26 points heading into the final period. Not bad for a relative “off” night.

Comparatively, Joel Embiid had a middling game, but even a middling Embiid game comes with positive caveats in recent weeks. This resembled a bad game for the younger version of Embiid, dotted with silly turnovers and a few bad shots but ultimately powered by strength and finesse around the rim. That feels like progress to me — I will take errors of execution over an inability to move and react to what’s in front of him. And his power moves (and dunks!) are showing up more and more:

Thankfully, the Magic had the gall to throw some single-coverage possessions at Embiid on offense, and god bless Noah Penda, but he simply has no chance to deny 21 from getting where he wants whenever he wants to get there. Embiid was able to get some easy free throws and layups as the Sixers started to pull away in the third quarter, giving them easy buckets on a night when those were often hard to come by. The Magic refused to send help for most of the second half, and Embiid

After those two did their thing in the third, credit to Paul George for having his lone good stretch of the game as Embiid and Maxey rested on the bench. This has become a critical stretch for George late in games, a shift where he’s asked to help VJ Edgecombe hold down the fort and buy rest for the glossier stars. The first five minutes of the fourth quarter were all PG, who hit a follow-up layup on his own miss to open the scoring before hitting a lefty layup and multiple midrange pull-ups to push Philadelphia’s lead to double digits.

George was their leading man in the final period, showing the upside of keeping a potent third option on the roster. Dare I say they’re starting to look like we expected when George signed?

Subdued? Certainly. But after a loud and dominant game against the lowly Wizards, this was a professional, if slightly understated, effort from the big three to beat a solid playoff team. Job well done.

A spark from the bench

In light of the horrific start to the game on offense, it was Jabari Walker who emerged as one of the game’s most important players in the first half. I know, I’m as shocked as you are. But it’s undeniable that Walker brought the necessary steel against an Orlando team that sustained its own offense with tenacity on the glass, playing tough hoops on both ends.

Walker is just good enough at a few things to be able to stress the opponent based on how they play him. One of the only fluid sequences of the first half came with Walker making multiple drive-and-pass moves while attacking from the right corner, starting a chain of swing passes that eventually led to his drop-off pass to Andre Drummond, who dunked it to end an outstanding possession.

His stat line was as pedestrian as it gets, with just two rebounds, a steal, and a pair of points earned at the free-throw line. But the Magic’s bully-ball approach stopped paying dividends almost immediately after he checked in, so he gets a gold star from me.

VJ Edgecombe, quiet but effective

We had a rare referee injury in the first half of the game, with replay announcement extraordinare Bill Kennedy limping off the floor before eventually being wheeled to the locker room, nursing what I initially thought was a hamstring injury. The foul totals don’t necessarily support this, with the Sixers and Magic combining for 18 first-half fouls, but it felt like this game got much more raggedy and physical when the crew shifted.

Frankly, the original crew wasn’t firing on all cylinders even when they had a third pair of eyes to help out. Two goaltend calls at either end were missed in the first quarter, and soon after Kelly Oubre was denied his earned two points, VJ Edgecombe was the victim of another missed call, as Goga Bitadze swung a bear claw out and smacked Edgecombe in the face. The rookie grabbed at his right eye immediately and was forced to go to the locker room, though he was thankfully able to return at the start of the second with no major harm done.

The shame of it was that Edgecombe had been rolling early in the game, filling the box score with excellent floor reads and a dedicated approach to the glass, and that began to come unraveled a bit when he checked back in. His missed three from the right corner was impressively ugly, and I was ready to start concocting a story about his own version of the Sixers rookie curse, with his altered eyesight changing his career forever.

Thankfully for the Sixers, it was mostly just the shooting that went awry for the rookie. This was one of his best floor games of the season, with Edgecombe making smart read after smart read on the break and in the halfcourt. Rather than hitting the gas and trying to go up over people repeatedly, he’s learning to pick his spots and use the attention his explosiveness can draw to playmake. Had the Sixers been able to hit a shot in the first half, he would have cleared the double-digit assists line with ease, and he turned the ball over just once while running the offense for most of the night.

He still scooped a dunk for you all, too:

Other notes

— I thought this was one of the best games of timeout usage for Nick Nurse all season. Hit them with one early when Orlando got off to a dominant start on the glass, got them off the floor as the Magic made a mini run late in the fourth, and won a challenge to save a foul on Maxey. Well done, coach.

— Watching George and Embiid combine for big defensive plays in crunch time brought real warmth to my heart.