Sunday stats: Joel Embiid finally finds his force while Paul George grows into the stabilizing influencer the Sixers need
When the Sixers take on the Hawks in Atlanta on Sunday evening, there is a bit more at stake than what meets the untrained eye.
First of all, the game will feature two teams separated by one game in a packed Eastern Conference in which very few teams will be able to create considerable separation during the 82-game regular season. It could be an important game for the purposes of playoff seeding, or even a team earning a playoff spot versus being forced into the Play-In Tournament.
And, ahead of what will be the Sixers’ second four-day layoff in as many weeks, it is a chance to become winners of five of their last six games and improve to 15-10 on the season. They are creating significant momentum for themselves right now, but a win against a good team – one that outlasted the Sixers in a double-overtime thriller in Philadelphia two weeks prior – would be a more emphatic way to signify that the Sixers are a serious playoff contender.
To get to their current 14-10 record, the Sixers have relied on Tyrese Maxey, whose workload has been larger than that of any other player in the NBA this season as he has ascended into All-NBA discussions. But on Friday night, as an illness forced Maxey to miss his first game of the season, VJ Edgecombe put the Sixers ahead early with a much-needed scoring barrage. Then the Sixers’ two highest-paid players picked up the slack and powered the Sixers to a victory over the Indiana Pacers. In this week’s Sunday stats, a look at the most impressive performances of the season from Joel Embiid and Paul George:
35
The number of consecutive regular-season games in which Joel Embiid scored fewer than 39 points before Friday’s win over Indiana.
How long had it been since Joel Embiid scored at least 39 points in a regular-season contest before Friday night? The last time he reached that mark was on Jan. 22, 2024. That was the night he scored 70 points against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
It has been a while. Embiid used to submit showings of this caliber multiple times in a week without anybody batting an eye; now a single 39-point game is the most encouraging performance he has had in nearly two full years. After scoring four points in nine minutes in the opening frame, Embiid went into takeover mode, scoring 35 more points in under 27 minutes to lead the Sixers to a Maxey-less victory:
Joel Embiid had his best game of the 2025-26 season to date in the Sixers’ win over Indiana on Friday, posting the following career-highs:
31:56
39 points
9 rebounds
12-23 FG
10-15 FT
All 12 of Embiid’s baskets against the Pacers: pic.twitter.com/cKwKo0Bqsc
— Adam Aaronson’s clips (@SixersAdamClips) December 13, 2025
Embiid could have surpassed the 40-point mark if not for an unusually shaky night shooting free throws. However, the most encouraging aspect of his outburst was the fact that he found himself at the line as often as he did. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has often said over the years that Embiid is at his best when he is consistently driving to the basket. Embiid has severely lacked force for the better part of two seasons. He found it on Friday.
“The practices helped, his own individual work away from practice certainly helped, which is a great sign,” Nurse said. “…I keep saying he’s best when he’s driving. He drove. I thought he drove it a lot to draw the fouls early. That puts them in a tough situation of [deciding] how to play him. And probably the best thing about it all – I mean, 39 is great, but it came in a lot of different schemes they threw at him, and I thought he read the different stuff pretty good.”
Is Embiid’s renewed intensity as a driver powered by a different mindset or improved trust in his body?
“Just a little bit of both,” Embiid said. “Obviously, without Tyrese, had to do a little bit more than usual, but I think I’ve had quite a good three or four days, just working every day and trying to get back in the rhythm, and I think that’s what it comes down to.”
What have those days entailed for Embiid?
“Working every day, being on the court, being consistent,” Embiid said. “Obviously, it’s easier to be consistent when everything is going well physically. So just being able to do that and trusting that.”
MORE: Is Maxey for Giannis Antetokounmpo a fair trade?
29.2 percent
Paul George’s usage rate in Friday’s win over Indiana, his second-highest mark of the season.
When the Sixers were in Milwaukee last Friday, the Bucks were adamant that Maxey would not be the one to beat them. Maxey had torched the Bucks to the tune of a career-high 54 points just a few weeks prior. Milwaukee forced the ball out of Maxey’s hands at every possible turn, and the game found Paul George.
George had a 29.4-percent usage rate that night, with Nurse putting him on the ball for the entirety of crunch time. George paid it off:
So, moments after Maxey was ruled out on Friday, Nurse intimated he would lean into putting George on the ball the same way he had seven days prior. And for much of the second half, it was the nine-time All-Star controlling the ball and the pace for the Sixers.
The ball touched George’s hands on just about every critical possession down the stretch of the game, and he and Embiid had their best tandem performance since joining forces at the beginning of last season. George’s individual usage rate was nearly identical to the figure he posted in Milwaukee, and an argument can be made this was the most encouraging display George has provided in a Sixers uniform:
With Tyrese Maxey sidelined, the Sixers put Paul George on the ball a whole lot in Friday’s win over Indiana. George was outstanding:
23 points
8-17 FG, 4-9 FG, 3-3 FT
6 rebounds
5 assists
All of George’s made baskets and assists, including a terrific closing effort: pic.twitter.com/ghjda3IjxR
— Adam Aaronson’s clips (@SixersAdamClips) December 13, 2025
“I mean, I’m comfortable with the ball,” George said. “More than anything, it’s just continuing to prove to myself and remain confident as I continue to trust my body, gain confidence on the floor that my body can still produce… I feel good down the stretch. I felt good tonight.”
On both ends of the floor, George has the capability to be the ultimate stabilizer for this Sixers team. He has been one of the central figures in their remarkable defensive turnaround over the last few weeks; Nurse often makes a point to credit George’s communication as a defender in addition to his positional versatility.
On offense, George is a safety valve at the ends of shot clocks, a secondary shot creator when Maxey is on the floor and an occasional go-to scorer when Maxey is off the floor. His spot-up three-point shooting will always be there, providing a strong baseline of value. But after a disappointing debut season in which George looked incapable of consistently creating shots for himself or others, he is finding that spark again.
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