Jan 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) drives against Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) during the fourth quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA -- It took until the 43rd game of the season for coach Nick Nurse to roll out the starting lineup that many expected. Injuries have hampered the team this season, from the daily status of stars Joel Embiid and Paul George to the knee injury that cost Kelly Oubre, Jr. almost two months of the season.
Thursday against the Houston Rockets at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, each of those three were healthy and in the starting lineup, joining Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe.
It was the first time this season they began a game together. And of the 19 different starting lineups that Nurse has thrown out so far, this appears to be the most high-powered at the offensive end.
But is that enough to propel them to where they want to be as the end of the season inches closer?
It looked decent enough Thursday night in a 128-122 overtime win against a very good Houston Rockets team that is led by ageless Kevin Durant, who poured in 36 points.
Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid DOMINATED in PHI's W!
MAXEY: 36p, 10a, 3s
EMBIID: 32p, 15r, 10a
Tonight is the 14th time the duo have each scored 30+ in the same game, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain and Hal Greer (16) in @sixers franchise history. pic.twitter.com/dU3vv5mAem
There appeared to be a fluidity at the offensive end that seemed to be more natural than at most times during the season. Early on, Oubre, Jr. hit a wide-open corner three as Maxey and Embiid both threw passes out of double-teams.
Maxey found himself not having to work through double- and triple-teams as much as he has through most of the season. There was an easy dunk for Edgecombe off a side out of bounds play.
Embiid, who threw out of traps so well all game, found a wide-open George under the basket (though his dunk was blocked).
It seemed so comfortable with those five out there to start and finish the game the Nurse even played Embiid a season-high 45 minutes.
"I think more performance-based more than anything," said Nurse on his reasoning for starting Oubre, Jr. in a spot that Dominick Barlow had recently. "It's a tough one. I think Barlow's played outstanding. But Kelly's obviously a pretty big spark plug, getting to the rim, just starting a really tough matchup every night as well."
The Rockets had no answer in stopping the Sixers big three, which was Maxey, Embiid and Oubre, Jr. as the three combined for 94 points.
That wasn't the big three envisioned by most when the season began, as George was expected to be that other big scorer. But on a night where his offense struggled a bit, George was huge at the defensive end, especially late in the contest, to help preserve the win.
But it was the offense that garnered the most interest for the game with the new lineup, and efficiency was in plain view as the Sixers had 41 assists on 49 made field goals.
"It felt really good because it wasn't easy," said Nurse. "They were moving pieces like crazy. They were moving matchups and they played a whole bunch of different schemes and tried to keep guys in certain places and keep guys out of things. Our guys did a good job.
"There were some new wrinkles to kind of some old stuff that we've been running a lot that we sprinkled in there tonight that were good. I thought we reacted really well to the double-teams. So, yeah, it was pretty good."
Maxey (36 points and 10 assists) and Embiid (32 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists) are just flat-out scorers and an early dribble-drive, with a spin move that ended in a layup by Embiid gave visions of what he can do when healthy. it appears as if he's getting there more and more every game.
Former Sixers' player Furkan Korkmaz said back in Sept. 2025: "Until now I thought Joel Embiid was the best player, best center I was playing with, but I think we can tell it's Alperen Sengun now"
Embiid just posted his staredown of Sengun with the caption "Furk..." on IG pic.twitter.com/pMzG60PdNs
George is just the consummate professional, knowing what is best from him for the team. It may be passing up a good open shot to get a teammate a great open look. It may be him stepping further from the basket to draw a defender with him to open up something for a teammate. Or it could be him, struggling with his offense but willing to take a big shot anyway, like he did Thursday in the fourth quarter when he drilled a three with 2:11 to go to cut the deficit to two.
And then again at the beginning of overtime when he drained another three to give the Sixers a lead.
In Edgecombe and Oubre, Jr. the team has threats from inside and out.
As Oubre, Jr. has gotten back to what appears to be full health in his last three games - all starts - he has drained 11 of his 18 three-point attempts.
It's almost unending the possibilities of how good this unit can be offensively. And it's just getting started.
"That was good resilience by us," said Maxey, who appeared to have the game-winning layup that should have been a goaltending call with three seconds left in regulation. "That's a tough game to win. You go up, get down, fight all the way back, think you're about to win it, basically, and then go to overtime and win it.
"All of us being healthy feels so good. Knowing that we have so many options that we can go to. That starting lineup was good. We fought our tails off, played the right way. And that was our practice. We ain't practiced together."
Which, of course, means it should only get better from here.
In improving to 24-19 on the season, the Sixers are right in the mix of a spot anywhere from second to eighth in the very wide-open Eastern Conference. And as an NBA executive told me, the Sixers are a very dangerous team that will be a very tough out in the playoffs.
"We just have to make sure we have the right spacing," said Embiid. "Kelly was great. That's the second game that I felt like he's back to where he was at the start of the season. You add an offensive threat like that in the lineup and you don't give up anything defensively, that's going to take you places."
Especially if the former MVP keeps growing his game the way he has the past few weeks.
After a big game on the anniversary of his 70 point game, Joel Embiid said he might have to make this an even more special date.
“Maybe I should have a baby on January 22nd…me and my wife when i get home, we’re probably going to talk about, start making those calculations” pic.twitter.com/6ShOLPislI
"To start the season I was in and out," said Embiid. "So I just had to take a step back and focus on everything. I'm just going out to be consistent."
It wasn't a season-changing win for the Sixers. But it was one that, perhaps, we may point to as the beginning of something that becomes pretty interesting.
"Not to discredit any team that beat us, but a lot of the losses were very winnable games and we could very well be top two, top three in the East, to look at the big picture," George said. "This is what we say. Being a team that can be a force and compete. At the end of the day, just compete. When the chips fall, anything can happen. I think that's what we're designed to be. We just have to keep chipping away, getting better."
