Feb. 1, 2026, 7:03 a.m. ET
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers were able to handle business on Saturday with a 124-114 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. On a day when the Sixers received some bad news with Paul George being suspended for 25 games due to violating the league’s anti-drug policy, Philadelphia was able to band together and get a much-needed win.
Joel Embiid had 40 points and 11 rebounds while Kelly Oubre Jr. added 19 points and 10 rebounds, Tyrese Maxey had 18 points, eight assists, and five rebounds, VJ Edgecombe had 15 points and five assists, and Dominick Barlow added eight points and three rebounds. Trendon Watford added five points, six rebounds, and four assists while Jared McCain had 12 points.
Here are the three biggest takeaways following the win:
Embiid looking dominant
The Sixers needed a dominant Embiid game to stay in the win column and continue growing as a team. The big fella brought it on a high level in this one. He did it all. He shot 13-for-27 from the floor, 3-for-5 from deep, and 11-for-14 from the free-throw line to lift the Sixers to a win. He looked like himself as he continues to take steps forward. It’s incredibly impressive to see him look like an All-Star again and Philadelphia is reaping the benefits of having him be a dominant force once again. He got off to a great start against Pelicans big man Derik Queen and Yves Missi and carried it throughout the night.
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“Obviously, I thought he got off to a great start,” coach Nick Nurse said. “I thought he did a good job of drawing fouls in the first half. Just using a lot of the court. Then he, obviously, hit some big shots at the end, right? Nice to see some of those 3s go in when we really needed them there down the stretch, but he was pretty tough. A lot of minutes. So, pretty good.”
Slowing down Pelicans star Zion Williamson
Williamson was held in check for just 11 points on 2-for-6 shooting as guys like Barlow and Jabari Walker did a great job of slowing him down throughout the night. Williamson did not score until the 1:11 mark of the third quarter and he seemed uninterested in trying to attack Philadelphia’s interior defense. The Sixers put up a fight and they frustrated the Pelicans star from the jump.
“I think, again, we did a good job of—I mean, we had a pretty long list of things we wanted to do against him, and we executed most of them really well,” Nurse added. “It kind of starts with transition. He didn’t get too much bringing the ball at us, and again, Barlow did a good job fighting him. Jabari did, Watford did Kelly did you know a bunch of guys—(Adem) Bona had him for a while. So it’s kind of one of those things where you throw a bunch of guys at him, and you throw a pretty extensive schemes list at him too, and we were able to get it done most of the night.”
Oubre steps up
There was so much that Oubre brought to the table on Saturday. He was able to knock down a handful of 3-pointers, attack the basket, provide some tough-minded defense, and grab a handful of boards to give the Sixers a big boost in a variety of ways. Philadelphia needed all of it in this one and will need him to keep going with this type of play going forward. He is going to be the key to the Sixers staying afloat over the next 25 games to stay above the play-in tournament and in the top 6 for a guaranteed playoff spot.
“He played good,” Nurse explained. “He did this thing. I think, again for me, when he’s kind of smooth in the 3-ball, when it’s coming off smooth and it looks good, that’s always going to be huge for us, because I think he’s going to get some opportunities. I thought he did get on the defensive glass. I mean, he’s battling defensively as well. Yeah, he played pretty good.”