On Saturday night, the Philadelphia 76ers mounted a second-half comeback against the Brooklyn Nets. They leaned hard on four players during the fourth quarter. You’d think that superstar center, Joel Embiid, would be driving that push, right? Surprisingly, he wasn’t on the floor at all. In fact, Embiid sat out the entire final period. With a shot at closing the gap in the play-in race and their stars all suited up, the Sixers couldn’t afford to let this one slip.

Tyrese Maxey, stepping up with ice in his veins, drilled the game-tying shot with 23 seconds to go. Just when it looked like overtime was inevitable, Nic Claxton crashed the glass, tipping in Keon Johnson’s miss right at the buzzer. And just like that, the Nets stole a 105-103 win, leaving Philly stunned.

Right now, it looks like the Sixers only have two plans to follow. First, tank to protect their draft pick. Second to keep Embiid healthy. We saw what they did to protect their pick, Paul George has some advice on the latter. When asked if he had any advice for Embiid, George didn’t hold back. “Dr–s helped me. That’s what’s kind of getting me over the hump,” he said bluntly before elaborating on the challenges of recovering from injury.

“But I mean, I get it, especially for how big he is, the size he is, and how he plays. I know it takes a toll on him. I think the best thing for it is reps. Once your body is conditioned, you build a callus for, you know, that constant beating and pounding,” he explained.

His approach? Pushing through the discomfort. “So that was the best thing for me, was just kind of playing through it. And you know, eventually your body gets adjusted to it and gets used to it.”

PG has had his fair share of injuries, he himself is taking pain injections to play for the Sixers. You and I both would’ve loved what Embiid had to say after the match, but the 22-23 season MVP declined an interview after the game. But Nick Nurse did not, and he explained why he chose not to play Embiid.

The reason for not playing Joel Embiid in the 4th quarter revealed

Embiid’s knee issues kept him off the court, so the Sixers turned to their supporting cast to try and spark a comeback. Coach Nick Nurse explained the decision, saying, “That group [Maxey, Grimes, Oubre, PG, Yabu] was just playing so well together and had a good feel for the game at that point. I just wanted to let them roll with it.”

That choice allowed Tyrese Maxey, Quentin Grimes, Guerschon Yabusele, and Paul George to log every minute of the fourth quarter, while Kelly Oubre played about nine minutes and Ricky Council IV contributed three minutes during crunch time.

Trailing 83-76 at the start of the final quarter after enduring nearly a 20-point deficit earlier, the team picked up the pace without Embiid. The game turned into a heart-stopping battle, nearly pushing it into overtime. With the score tied at 103 during Brooklyn’s final offensive push, a missed three almost shifted momentum. However, a tip-in layup with one second left gave the Nets a 105-103 victory.

Concerns arose about whether Embiid’s absence indicated a new setback, but Coach Nurse clarified that the star is merely managing his knee issues. In scenarios like these, the supporting cast must step up, and last night they did everything possible to keep the Sixers in the game.