Sixers Bell Ringer: Joel Embiid, once again, overwhelms Charlotte for third straight victory

Sixers Bell Ringer regular season standings

Seth Curry: 6

Tyrese Maxey: 5

Joel Embiid: 5

Tobias Harris: 3

Andre Drummond: 3

Furkan Korkmaz: 1

Charles Bassey: 1

Looking to punch their third straight win and move to 14-11 on the year, the Philadelphia 76ers stayed put in Charlotte for another duel with the shorthanded Hornets. Despite a discombobulated offense and far too many defensive breakdowns inside, they prevailed, 110-106. Superb shot-making from Joel Embiid and Seth Curry, along with a few timely stops, carried them. It’s time to talk Bell Ringer. Let’s get to it.

Joel Embiid: 32 points, eight rebounds, four assists, one steal

Fresh off a season-high 43 points, Embiid was slow out of the games with just nine points on 3-of-7 shooting in the opening two quarters. After halftime, though, he dominated an undersized Hornets front line for 23 points on 5-of-9 shooting and went 12-of-15 from the charity stripe. He routinely sealed off smaller defenders for beneficial positioning inside and Sixer ball-handlers did fairly well to feed him.

Over the final 4.5 minutes, he continued to stabilize Philadelphia offensively with eight points, including an impressive standstill triple and thunderous dunk on a face-up touch. A compromised Charlotte squad is not the perfect litmus test, but the past 2.5 games (dating back to the second half against Atlanta) have resembled Embiid’s scoring chops from last season’s MVP-caliber campaign.

Seth Curry: 23 points, eight assists, one steal

Just like his superstar running mate, Curry notched nine points before intermission and turned up the dial afterward. Following halftime, he scored 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a pair of long balls, and regularly buoyed Philadelphia’s stagnant offense with off-the-dribble shot-making. Together, Curry and Embiid combined for 37 of the Sixers’ 59 second-half points. They connected in dribble handoffs, and the rhythm absent during his six-point showing Monday returned to help fuel his bucket-getting. He’s now recorded nine games with at least 20 points and is simply enjoying a stellar season thus far, of which the Sixers have needed every bit.

Andre Drummond: Eight points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block

In what’s once again become commonplace since Embiid returned to the lineup, Drummond excelled as a reserve. He set rugged screens to carve out space for ball-handlers, jammed home a pair of dunks, ran the floor hard in transition on both ends and flustered Charlotte’s initiators with active hands and lively rim protection. The dude is simply playing excellent basketball for this team and that continued Wednesday night.