PHILADELPHIA — While the game didn’t provide a definitive answer to how competitive the 76ers will be, it did present some encouraging and not-so-encouraging signs.

Sunday’s 142-134 setback to the Atlanta Hawks at Xfinity Mobile Arena marked the first time Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey have been on the floor together this season.

Sunday also marked just the 19th game that Embiid, George and Maxey played together since George signed his four-year, $211.5 million deal on July 6, 2024. This was only the 16th game that all three finished. In those 16 games, the Sixers are 7-9.

“It was just great to get out there with those guys,” George said of the Big Three. “We just logged minutes together. I thought it was just a ton of excitement. But we obviously got work to do.”

On paper, Maxey, Embiid and George are a solid mix.

Maxey is a budding superstar. Embiid is the former MVP and arguably one of the NBA’s all-time best scoring big men. George is a nine-time All-Star forward and three-level scorer. And despite coming off July’s left knee surgery, the 35-year-old still appears to be an elite defender. However, the problem is their usage.

Maxey is good enough that if the right co-stars surround him, the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder could excel like the Cleveland Cavaliers’ perennial All-Star, Donovan Mitchell.

The Sixers’ point guard is playing at an All-NBA level. If you put the ball in his hands, he’ll make plays for you offensively.

And on Sunday, the Embiid, George and Maxey lineup looked improved compared to their limited games together last season. But it was far from Eastern Conference championship worthy.

There were times against the Hawks when the lineup looked clunky. Embiid still spends most of his time on the perimeter. The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder’s outside presence often gets in his teammates’ driving lanes to the basket.

But when things did run smoothly, Maxey and Embiid did a solid job of orchestrating the pick-and-roll and keeping George involved. George, however, failed to knock down wide-open 3-point shots on passes from the duo.

There was one moment in the fourth quarter when Maxey dished the ball to Embiid in the pick-and-roll. The seven-time All-Star, in turn, passed to a wide-open George in the corner. But he missed the 24-footer.

Then, a couple of possessions later, Maxey dished to George, who again was left wide-open in the corner for a 3. He missed, again.

But in his defense, George isn’t known as a catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter.

There were also times when the offense flowed perfectly with the trio on the floor together. And if we learned something in the overtime sessions, it’s that the Sixers need George, Embiid and Maxey on the floor together more.

The Sixers often replaced George and Embiid with undersized, non-shooting post players, which resulted in Maxey drawing extra attention. And he was also blitzed on screens, making it harder to free Maxey with screens or switches.

But due to a minutes restriction, George’s night was over after the opening minute, 22 seconds of the first overtime. Meanwhile, Embiid was unable to play in the second overtime due to his minutes restriction. Sunday marked Embiid’s first game since Nov. 8 and seventh this season due to knee injuries. This was just George’s fifth game because of left knee injury recovery and a sprained right ankle.

Without Embiid’s presence and George’s playmaking and stellar defense, the Sixers went Maxey or bust in the second overtime.

He tried to do his part, scoring all eight of his team’s points in the five-minute session. However, the Sixers’ small-ball lineup struggled on the boards. Atlanta outrebounded them, 7-2, in the second overtime, which enabled it to score seven second-chance points.

“It was tough not having [Embiid] out there in the second overtime,” coach Nick Nurse said. “He got us some open space to play in, with him just being on the floor. He created a lot of offense for us.”

Maxey finished with game highs of 44 points and nine assists to go with seven rebounds, six turnovers and one block in 52:18. He scored 24 of his points over the fourth quarter and overtime sessions.

The Sixers walked away believing a victory would’ve been in the cards had Embiid, George and VJ Edgecombe, who also sat out the extra sessions due to a minutes restriction, all played at the end. And they’re probably right under those circumstances on that particular night.

The Hawks were without perennial All-Star guard Trae Young and standout center Kristaps Porziņģis.

Right now, the Sixers are having a tough time beating quality opponents.

But …

“I never get real satisfaction out of not winning,” said Nurse, whose Sixers (10-9) have lost nine of 15 games after starting 4-0. “Right now, though, we’ve gotten so thin over the last 10, 12 days. It’s just nice to have a few guys filtering back in. That’s like hopefully we can come out of this, obviously, we try to recover and rejuvenate [Monday], and hopefully, we can get most of the guys back on the floor Tuesday, again.

“And hopefully, the minute restrictions will start going up a little bit again. That’s something to look forward to again.”

The Sixers entertain the Washington Wizards on Tuesday. The Wizards improved to 3-16 after Monday’s 129-126 home victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. They were riding a 14-game losing streak before defeating the Hawks on Nov. 25.

Embiid will miss Tuesday’s matchup due to what’s labeled a right knee injury recovery.

But once he returns, the Sixers must face reality.

Right now, they have a high-scoring speedster in Maxey and a big man who barely plays in Embiid. And when the 31-year-old does play, he doesn’t really move, especially defensively, following April’s arthroscopic left knee surgery. It was his second left knee surgery in 14 months and third in nine years.

Even though he’s averaging 32.3 points, the Sixers can’t count on Maxey to score 44 points every night. And at times this season — including Sunday — it appeared Embiid wasn’t trying on defense or just wasn’t able to get to a spot.

Offensively, the Sixers can give the ball to him, and he’ll score. He is averaging 19.4 points in just 24.3 minutes in seven games.

The problem is they’re not going to beat quality opponents with Embiid being limited. But the Sixers have to endure the process of acclimating Embiid and George, and there will likely be some collateral damage.

After all, the Sixers have been most successful in an up-tempo offense centered around ball movement. Yet Embiid is better suited to a two-man game with Maxey and isolation plays.

“It’s different because he’s still really good,” Maxey said. “We still got to get him the ball. We also got to run our stuff. It’s going to come with time. … I think that may be VJ’s first time playing with Joel and Paul. A lot of guys’ first time playing with them.

“So we haven’t really practiced with that group. It’s kind of hard, but that’s no excuse. I think we did a good enough job to win the game. We played well. We got to finish those out.”

But they’re elated to show some improvement.

“I thought offensively, it kind of felt like we did have a better little rhythm out there, kind of finding, picking, choosing different lineups to incorporate, whether it’s pick-and-rolls, positioning on the floor,” George said. “And then defensively, I thought there were a lot of positives there. But again, all of it is now we’ve got to get to work and try to be consistent together.”

While that was encouraging, the Sixers still have a long way to go.

©2025 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.