A big preseason story about the Philadelphia 76ers was whether their stars would rest on back-to-backs. They probably didn’t imagine they wouldn’t get back-to-back wins until Dec. 3.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Sixers started their first winning streak of the season with a 110-104 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday. Philadelphia led by 19 points late in the fourth quarter, but slowly lost it until the Hornets retook the lead on Brandon Miller’s three-pointer with 1:32 to go.
They needed Tyrese Maxey to nail a layup and salt the game away with free throws to escape.
Maxey had 21 points and Paul George scored 29 for the 76ers, who beat the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night, 110-96. Sure, the Pistons were playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and yes, the Hornets were missing three players who were opening night starters, including LaMelo Ball. But when a team that was considered a title contender before the season has only four wins through November, they don’t apologize for that fifth win.
Like Joel Embiid, George wasn’t going to play in back-to-back games this season, but two injuries to his knee have kept him out of nine of the Sixers’ games. Tuesday’s output tied a season-high for George, who also delivered eight assists — Maxey had seven of his own.
After finally getting back-to-back wins, can Philadelphia dream of possibly winning three in a row? That might be unlikely. Not only will they have to beat the 15-8 Orlando Magic, stung from a loss to the New York Knicks, Wednesday night, they’ll also have to do it without George, since the game is a back-to-back.
Tuesday was a breakthrough back-to-back win. But Wednesday, resting on back-to-backs becomes the topic of conversation in Philadelphia again.