The Newz (Act 5)

Let me just get it out of the way: Joel Embiid is back. That would have trumped everything else that happened over the past week regardless. In a relatively barren stretch, it completely owns the headlines. That's why I'm not even going to put that story in a subheading, I'm slapping it right here in the cold open. My site, my rules.

Embiid missed ten games with a bone bruise and had not seen action in 22 days prior to returning to the hardwood for Saturday night's victory over the Timberwolves. After taking off the next night against the Memphis Grizzlies (a loss) to ease him the stress of a back-to-back, he was back manning the 5-spot Tuesday night in a win over the Celtics.

How did he do in his first two games back? I'll take 29.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks in 30.7 minutes after missing 3+ weeks. I'll definitely take 18.5 free throw attempts. It's honestly incredible how he can slip back into the lineup and, though clearly rusty and getting his legs back underneath him, throw up lines like that. Stay healthy for the stretch run, big fella.

Other things did happen this week though. I think...

National Spotlight

Everyone wants to see Embiid.

Not that the Sixers were hurting for nationally televised games, but now they've picked up another. The league announced that ESPN has picked up Sunday night's road game against the Dallas Mavericks. Originally scheduled for 8:30 p.m., the game has been flexed an hour earlier, and tip-off will now be at 7:30 p.m.

I know, I know...it isn't all about Embiid. The Mavericks are a pretty good team, and I hear that Luka Doncic feller is halfway decent at the whole, you know, basketball thing.

But I stand by what I say! Everyone wants to see the Sixers' big man.

Neck and Neck with the Nets

I touched upon this during my weekly game report, but the Brooklyn Nets have finally run the Sixers down. They actually briefly held first place by virtue of having played an extra game, but the Sixers' victory over the Celtics and the Nets' night off erased that. The two teams now hold identical records, but Philly holds the tiebreaker.

This isn't exactly a surprising story, but it isn't inspiring nonetheless. The Nets haven't even had their Durant-Harden-Irving monster together for even ten games. And it seems like they are holding a house of cards--as soon as Kevin Durant is declared healthy from his right hamstring injury, James Harden suffered the same injury himself, and will be out for the next 10 days at least. Kyrie Irving isn't exactly a model picture of availability, either.

And yet they keep winning. In their last 25 games, the Nets are 21-4.

I know this isn't necessarily a news story, but I think the race to secure the 1-seed in the East over these teams' final 21 games is something worth monitoring.

Where the Hell is Hill? (Heh.)

You may have recall hearing about the Sixers acquisition of George Hill at the trade deadline. You may not recall seeing Hill take the court.

That's because he hasn't yet.

The 34-year-old guard has not played since January 24 after suffering a right thumb injury and subsequent surgery. Unfortunately, over ten weeks later, there is still no timetable for his return. When healthy, the veteran will provide the Sixers with intelligent game management and support playmaking, excellent outside marksmanship, and tough backcourt defense. In 14 appearances this season, Hill is averaging 11.8 points on 50.8/38.6/84.0 to go along with 3.1 assists against just .9 turnovers. He is a great addition to this roster.

It's just really a shame we don't know when he'll suit up.

Other Odds and Ends

This is a new thing I'm thinking of featuring regarding other minor stories that you might be interested in that, frankly, aren't worth my time to really cover. To whit:

--Ben Simmons got some shade thrown at him by ESPN in ranking the best 25-and-under players in the league. Or did he? You be the judge.

--Everyone loves a good nickname, right? The Sixers have had their fair share over the years. The awesome folks at Rookie Wire put together a list of the 101 best in NBA history, and Philly is prettttyyy well represented.

--Finally, Tobias Harris reunited with best buddy Boban Marjanovic to film a Goldfish commercial. The result is predictably awesome: