The Philadelphia 76ers invaded the bayou on Wednesday night to open up the 2021-22 season to take on the New Orleans Pelicans and they were locked into a battle. Without having Ben Simmons out there, the Sixers had to scrap and earn this win and hold off the Pelicans.
Eventually, they were able to come away with a 117-97 win to begin the season 1-0 sans Simmons and they did so by getting more production out of players who had to step up when needed. Joel Embiid led the way with his usual 22 points, six rebounds, and five assists, but Furkan Korkmaz had 22 points and five assists in a huge effort. Tobias Harris added 20 points and 12 rebounds.
As the new starting point guard, Tyrese Maxey had 20 points and seven rebounds, Seth Curry added 10 points, and Georges Niang added 11 off the bench. Andre Drummond pulled down 17 rebounds with six points.
Here are the player grades from the season-opening win: