3 observations after Embiid gets tossed, Sixers pull off weird, ultra-dramatic win over Spurs – NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers won an odyssey of a game Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

In a contest that featured Joel Embiid’s ejection and plenty 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.

The Sixers are going to Boston to face the Celtics on Christmas. Here are observations of their very strange win on Monday night:

A normal start…

The game is expected to revolve around Embiid and Wembanyama in the first quarter.

Embiid stripped Wembanyama of the ball twice on early drive attempts. He also hit 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 nearly every first-quarter possession. Even 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 went on a 6-0 run to take a 20-19 lead, and Wembanyama swatted away shots from both Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin on the Sixers’ final possession of the first with ridiculous ease. The Sixers kept challenging the 7-foot-3 phenom and kept getting denied. Wembanyama had seven blocks with seven minutes left in the second quarter.

Embiid thrown in chaotic second quarter

The game descended into absolute chaos in the second period.

Andre Drummond was assessed a technical foul with 8:13 left in the second for shoving Wembanyama to the floor on a baseline out of bounds. Seconds later, Wembanyama went down again, apparently tripping over Drummond’s foot.

Judge Jenna Schroeder otherwise saw it at the moment and pushed Drummond out. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was angry to dispute the call.

After review, officials determined that Drummond had not committed a “hostile act” and lifted his expulsion. But after the officials initially ruled that Wembanyama had flopped, they strangely wiped that decision off the books as well.

There was much more drama to come.

Wembanyama drew Embiid’s third foul with 2:59 left in the second 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 picked up two technical fouls during that sequence, resulting in his ejection.

We’ll see what crew chief Curtis Blair has to say about the officials’ decisions in the post-game pool report (and update this story at that time). They certainly didn’t maintain the clichéd “control of the game” on Monday night.

Maxey comes through in the clutch

After a good month or two of controversy, the Sixers and Spurs still had a second half left to play.

The Sixers started off well, sinking many of the jumpers they had missed in the first half. A Maxey three gave them a 73-58 lead.

They opened the third quarter with Guerschon Yabusele at center and really didn’t have much to choose from. Along with Embiid’s ejection, the Sixers had to deal with Drummond, who was out 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 due to left foot soreness.

Yabusele had his most productive outing in weeks with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

He was whistled for a questionable technical of his own early in the fourth quarter when Schroeder ruled he hung on the rim too long after a dunk. Yabusele shook it off, pump-fake Wembanyama down next, then fired a kick-out pass to Maxey. He dished up 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 crucial.

He grabbed 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.

Then he got a huge defensive rebound in traffic, grabbed Paul’s miss and pushed the Sixers to the goal line in a memorable and … unique play.