Though idle for some time, Embiid and George had the Sixers running smoothly Wednesday

When it comes to rust, Joel Embiid showed about as much as a new car coming off the assembly line.

Wednesday marked the center's first game action since acquiring an oblique strain on Feb. 26 against the Miami Heat. He missed 13 games, 26 days without live action. According to the team, his on-court workouts with teammates was very limited, with the majority of his conditioning done in a weight room or on the court by himself. 

Embiid did fumble a very nice pass from Paul George in the lane that slipped through his hands less than two minutes into the game. Other than that, pretty much perfection. His jumper looked as smooth as always, whether it was a spot-up three or a mid-range fadeaway. His handle outstanding, backing down a plethora of smaller Chicago Bull defenders and beating more than a couple off the dribble. He threw skip passes with both hands, even once batting a pass, hot-potato style, to an open VJ Edgecombe for a three. All this even though he admitted after the game that the oblique still isn't fully healed.

The comeback was a little different for George, who was seeing his first action since being given a 25-game suspension for violating the league's anti-drug policy. He hadn't seen the floor since Jan. 29, although he was able to take the floor with teammates during practices and shootarounds, and put in yeoman's work on his own while being sidelined. But you couldn't tell that in the first half as he missed eight of his 10 shots from the floor, including all but one of his five threes. He stayed involved, grabbed five rebounds and dealt a couple of assists in his 14 and a half minutes of play, but the shot wasn't there. Yet.

George stormed out in the second half, going for 10 points in the third and 13 in the fourth. He shot 9-for-12 in the half, including 5-of-8 from three, for 23 of his 28 points. He made two threes and a fadeaway in under a minute and a half midway through the third and even nailed a 30-footer from straightaway. 

He was the perfect compliment to Embiid, who collected 35 points, six rebounds and seven assists in one of the least stressful dominating performances one may ever see.

"I just shot the ball and it went in," deadpanned Embiid after playing his 34th game of the season and helping the Sixers up their record to 40-33. "It kept going in so I was like, let's keep shooting. It's good. Obviously, we've only got a couple games (together), but we've had the whole season to be on the same page. We know what we're doing so it's all about getting everybody back and playing good basketball before the big dance. We're at the point where we just need a couple (games) to get in rhythm, get in shape.

"Getting PG back, getting him ready for the big games ahead was a good start. He needs to get into a rhythm."

No matter where they are physically, the two looked pretty good in leading the Sixers to the 157-137 thumping of the Bulls. And if there is more health to be gotten, who knows how good it can get. There are still two more starters waiting in the wings in Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr.

"I was just really happy with the way the ball kept moving," said coach Nick Nurse. "We as a team played really good offense there for a long stretch. We got double cuts and kickouts and extra passes and guys making the right decision. Just overall I liked how the ball was moving for everybody. Joel obviously got us going and, again, the spacing is different and you see the difference for (Dominick) Barlow cutting and you see the three-pointers again are there with Joe stretching the floor and PG stretching the floor all that stuff becomes more available."

And Wednesday, the team ran as smooth as a brand new car just off the lot.