The Sixers are closer to the team that was promised than the haters hoped was possible after a dispiriting month. It’s only a matter of time before they get there, assuming the stars stay healthy.

"He is the piece. He is The Process," Paul George said of his Philly co-star, who made his season debut Tuesday.

Joel Embiid's second media availability of the regular season -- and his first since being reinstated from a three-game suspension and stepping onto the floor for his season debut -- was full of Embiid's typical cat and mouse games.