PHILADELPHIA _ Joel Embiid showed why the 76ers are much better when he plays.
The two-time All-Star finished with 33 points and 12 rebounds in Sunday afternoon's 106-89 victory over the Indiana Pacers. This marked his first game back after missing the last eight with tendinitis in his left knee.
His return came at a perfect time for the Sixers (42-25), who lost two straight and three of their last four games without him.
By virtue of going 3-1 in the season series against the Pacers, the win elevated the Sixers to third place in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers (42-25) dropped to fourth, and Philly holds the tiebreaker assuming both teams finish the season with identical records
Embiid's return was a key subplot to a game that was important for seeding purposes.
His return to the court came one day after playing 5-on-5 basketball for 75 minutes with staff members at the team's practice facility in Camden.
Sixers coach Brett Brown said the center's conditioning earned a "C" grade.
"I think it's average, and it should be average," Brown said. "He will be the first one to tell you that. It's actually better than I expected, but it's anything that's elite, him getting up and the floor."
In his first action since the Feb. 17 All-Star Game, the two-time All-Star played in four-minute clumps. Initially, the Sixers weren't cohesive while he was on the floor. A lot of that had to do with Embiid trying to do a lot offensively during those short playing-time stretches. That left his teammates standing around and watching him. The only problem is that the big man was rusty and over-aggressive at times.
Yet, he had nine points on 4-for-10 shooting to go with six rebounds, two turnovers and three fouls _ including a technical _ in 13 minutes, 52 seconds of action in the first half.
His technical foul came while arguing a phantom foul call he received while guarding Domantas Sabonis with 1:19 left in the first quarter.
But Embiid settled down was more himself after intermission. He had 24 points on 7-for-11 shooting in the second half. He was much better than the Pacers, who made just 8 of 35 after intermission.
His hot shooting and the Pacers' poor shooting helped the Sixers battle back from an 11-point third-quarter deficit. The Sixers knotted the score at 70 on Embiid's foul shot with 16 seconds left in the quarter. Then James Ennis quickly added a pair of free throws to put the Sixers up two.
The Sixers led 76-70 with 11:13 left after Embiid scored the first four points of the fourth quarter on a layup and pair of foul shots.
Jimmy Butler blocked Sabonis' put-back on the ensuing possession, and his pull-up jumper at the other end made it a 78-70 game with 10:47 to play. The Sixers stretched their lead to 10 points (80-70) after Butler's foul shots 39 seconds later. Ennis' 3-pointer at the 5:59 mark gave them a 90-77 advantage.
The went on to take a 103-85 lead after Mike Scott's jumper with 1:26 remaining.
Embiid has been dealing with knee soreness at different stages of the season. Embiid sat out the Sixers' loss to the Trail Blazers in Portland on Dec. 30 because of the soreness.
This time, he was scheduled to be out at least a week. Brown said on Feb. 27 that he expected Embiid to return against the Golden State Warriors on March 2. But the following day, Brown said "we're still learning more" about the reexamination of the knee.
Embiid went on to miss four more games.
"You learned quickly that you missed Joel," Brown said of the eight games without the 7-foot-2, listed 275-pounder. "Let's start with that. We're an entirely different team. The priorities defensively and offensively change. I feel it defensively more than anything, more than offense."
