Tuesday night’s matchup was a major step in the right direction for the Philadelphia 76ers since they finally got their star center, Joel Embiid, back in the mix.

However, the results of the NBA Cup opener against the New York Knicks didn’t exactly inspire a ton of hope after a brutal start to the 2024-2025 NBA season.

Getting Embiid back was a good step, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done over the next few weeks. The star center has to get back into game shape after missing the entire preseason and the first few weeks of the regular season.

Embiid checked in for 26 minutes on Tuesday. He missed all but two of his 11 field goal attempts. After knocking down eight free throws, the big man wrapped up the game with 13 points. Along with his scoring, Embiid also dished out five assists and came down with three rebounds,

Philly watched their star offseason acquisition, Paul George, have his best outing in their uniform. While George is still on a minutes restriction himself, the nine-time All-Star produced 29 points on 7-11 shooting from three. George produced a double-double, as he collected ten rebounds to go with his scoring.

Once again, the Sixers enjoyed watching their rookie first-round pick Jared McCain go to work. Off the bench, the former Duke guard dropped 23 points in 30 minutes.

In the end, the result wasn’t ideal. The Sixers dropped to 0-1 in the NBA Cup group stage while also falling to 2-8 with their overall record. Meanwhile, the Knicks improved to 5-5 with the 111-99 win over Philadelphia.

As a result, fans had mixed reviews for Embiid and Philadelphia on Tuesday.

@PHLSixersNation: Paul George made 7 threes tonight. McCain is a legit NBA player. This game was really positive.

@Brodes81: How I feel watching the 4th Q… #Sixers

@AnthonyMSG: Sixers fans heading home 😂

@Lloydbanks: Sixers fans leaving with 4 minutes left..disrespectful

@RBPhillyTake: Saw a lot of positives from the Sixers tonight. Need to get healthy and get everyone back on the floor together. But this was a good start.