Sixers takeaways: Paul George thrives as point-forward, Joel Embiid plays his best and more from win vs. Pacers

Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Dec 12, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

PHILADELPHIA — Paul George is starting to live up to the hype.

Joel Embiid can still have lethal scoring nights.

VJ Edgecombe is back to playing at a high level, and he could do more if the 76ers keep him involved throughout.

Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 115-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

George shows his worth

George had to deal with the attention, the scrutiny and the spotlight that came with signing a four-year, $211.5 million contract with the Sixers on July 6, 2024. He’s been mostly criticized over the past year while dealing with injuries and underperformances.

But the 6-foot-8 forward’s team-first mentality and ability to adapt to various roles have been on full display in the nine games he’s played this season. And with Tyrese Maxey sidelined with an illness, George excelled in the point-forward role against the Pacers (6-19).

He put his imprint on the game from the start, scoring the first two points of the game before assisting on the Sixers’ next two baskets.

The nine-time All-Star ended the quarter with eight points and two assists before finishing the game with 23 and five, respectively. George also had six rebounds and a steal and served as a solid two-way player.

On offense, he ran the team well, creating shots for himself and teammates. Defensively, he was active and made the Pacers work hard for shots. He remained in constant communication with teammates on both sides of the ball.

These are the things the Sixers (14-10) envisioned when signing him to the maximum-salary contract to form a Big Three with Embiid and Maxey.

Embiid shines

This was Embiid’s best game of the season.

His 39 points were the most he’s scored since finishing with a career-high 70 points against the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 22, 2024. Embiid also finished with nine rebounds and three assists.

After scoring just four points in the first quarter, he combined for 29 points over the second and third quarters.

For the game, he made 12 of 23 shots. His biggest basket came on a put-back while being fouled with 2 minutes, 56 seconds remaining. He made the foul shot to give the Sixers a 108-102 lead.

The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder later grabbed a huge defensive rebound on Pascal Siakam’s missed layup with 1:57 left. That led to George’s layup, which made it 112-105 at the 1:41 mark.

The 2023 MVP made just 2 of 8 3-pointers, showing that he still needs to improve in that area. Embiid also needs to do a better job from the foul line, where he shot 13 for 18. But he did attack the basket more, which was part of a night when he moved better than in any game this season.

This was an outstanding offensive performance, considering he was shooting career lows from the field (40.7%) and on 3-pointers (21.4%) in the first nine games of the season.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was asked if he was surprised by Embiid’s productivity.

“Great player, perennial All-Star, on the Olympic team,” Carlisle said, “He’s a Hall of Fame guy. Who’s surprised? I’m not surprised.”

If he and George continue to play this way once Maxey returns, the fifth-place Sixers should ascend in the Eastern Conference standings.

Edgecombe must remain aggressive

At the start of the season, Edgecombe was the overwhelming Rookie of the Year favorite. But a heavy workload, a tweaked role, and a left calf strain slowed him down a bit … until recently.

Now well-rested and healthy, Edgecombe is excelling once again. The 6-4 combo guard averaged 12.3 points on 44.8% shooting — making 6 of 12 3-pointers — in the three games heading into Friday’s contest. He followed that up with 22 points on 6-for-10 shooting, to go with four rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Edgecombe scored 14 of his points on 5-for-6 shooting in the first quarter. However, he attempted only four shots afterward, making one to score eight points.

The third overall pick is playing well and showing that he can provide a key role. He just needs to remain in attack mode for four quarters. One can argue that his lack of aggressiveness stemmed from Embiid and George dominating the ball. However, he must remain involved.