Sixers Bell Ringer: Sixers regroup at home with win over Hawks

Sixers regular season Bell Ringer standings:

James Harden - 4
Tyrese Maxey- 3
Joel Embiid - 3
Tobias Harris - 1
Georges Niang - 1

Two nights ago in Atlanta, the Philadelphia 76ers looked absolutely lost on the offensive end in their 104-95 loss to the Hawks. The Fire Doc Rivers buzz reached a fevered pitch. Naturally then, in the second half of their home-and-home with Atlanta, the Sixers looked light years better. Their 67 points in the first half were the most for the Sixers in a half this season. They later extended the lead to as much as 27 points in the third quarter. Of course, we know from recent history that no 20-point-plus lead against the Hawks is safe. But even though Atlanta drastically trimmed the Sixers’ advantage and made it a two-possession game in the fourth quarter, Philadelphia held on for the win, 121-109. Now for this evening’s Bell Ringer candidates.

Joel Embiid: 42 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers

Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

Joel Embiid looked to make it his personal mission to avoid a similar fate to Thursday night against this same opponent. It took him just three minutes this time to reach double figures, and the first quarter ended with 14 points and four assists from the big fella. All game long, Joel was absolutely en fuego from the mid-range, continuing his strong results from that area this season. He showed off tremendous footwork to keep Clint Capela lunging and feinting at air, and when Frank Kaminsky had to take his turn, fuhgeddaboudit. Embiid also channeled his inner Jalen Hurts as a distributor, and cleaned up some of the sloppiness in the giveaway department from one game prior. Sprinkle in a strong defensive effort up until he got winded, and it was probably Joel’s best game of the season. The only downside was the Sixers’ late-game letdown meant Embiid had to play 40 minutes on the front-end of a back-to-back.

Tyrese Maxey: 26 points, 2 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers

Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

Tyrese Maxey’s shooting efficiency had taken a nose dive since James Harden was sidelined. Random shooting slump that’s bad to happen every now and then over the course of a long season? Or a sign that increased ball-handling responsibility was causing a drag on his game? Hopefully just the former, with supporting evidence that Maxey was excellent on Saturday, finishing 10-of-18 from the field, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc, plus a season-high nine dimes. Not only did Maxey have the range from distance, but the pick-and-roll game was humming and he had his patented floaters in the mid-range working. A good sign for Maxey’s PG1 prospects over the next month without Harden.

Tobias Harris: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Like Maxey, Tobias had his most efficient game shooting the basketball since Harden hit the sidelines, finishing 7-of-13 from the field and chipping in with a 6-of-6 night at the charity stripe. Molded into a catch-and-shoot weapon over the last nine months, we saw Harris knock down one trailing three tonight. But with additional usage at his disposal sans-Beard, Tobias also converted a number of bruising drives Saturday night, finishing through contact for some tough finishes around the rim. One savvy backdoor cut in the third quarter even led to a thunderous one-handed slam. Harris has now reached at least 21 points in three of his past four games.