The Philadelphia 76ers were in desperate need of a clean bill of health. They returned home on Monday to host the Oklahoma City Thunder and they got it as Ben Simmons and Furkan Korkmaz returned to the lineup while Tobias Harris continued to get himself back into a rhythm.
Combined that with the excellence of Joel Embiid and the Sixers cruised past the Thunder 121-90 to put a halt to a 4-game losing skid. Embiid led Philadelphia with 21 points on 6-for-10 shooting with five rebounds and he made the right decisions all night long and the Thunder had no answers for the MVP candidate.
Simmons had 12 points and four assists in his return to the floor, Korkmaz had 10 in a start for Danny Green who was out due to left hip recovery, Harris had 11 points, Seth Curry added nine, Tyrese Maxey had 11, and Dwight Howard had nine and 11 rebounds off the bench. Paul Reed had 10 and nine rebounds in garbage time minutes.
Here are three observations from a much-needed win: