I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we may only have one NBA team on our hands.

Joel Embiid returned to the lineup and helped the Sixers to a 108-100 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday afternoon. Embiid led all scorers and finished the game with 31 points and 12 rebounds. After starting 0-of-7 from the floor, he finished the game 13-of-28 and 5-of-6 from the line.

Tyrese Maxey started slowly but settled in well. He finished the game with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists for his first career triple-double. Paul George finished with 12 points on 6 of 13 shooting.

Here are some thoughts on the buzzer.

First quarter

• It was an expected slow start for the Sixers’ offense, which opened the game going 2 of 9 from the field. The two-man action with Embiid looked good, but he missed his first seven shots of the game. A pick-and-roll with George gave him an open layup, but he fumbled it.
• It wasn’t until the middle of the quarter that the offense really got going. The Bulls held them scoreless for three minutes to start. Maxey made his first step-back three-pointer for the fall, but not much else. Coming off the bench, Jared McCain didn’t have a clean shot on his first two layups, but he did knock down his first three-pointers of the game.

• The Sixers didn’t do a particularly good job of staying in front of their man on defense, but a big reason for the early shooting disparity was transition opportunities. The Sixers turned it over six times in the quarter, leading to 10 fast-break points for the Bulls. Coby White hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Chicago a 10-point lead after one point.

Second quarter

• Often lineup issues are more complicated than “This one should play over that one,” but Kyle Lowry playing over McCain just feels like self-sabotage right now. The quarter began with Lowry getting up and stripped by, of all people, Josh Giddey.
• Embiid finally got on the field and it coincided with a 9-0 run for the Sixers. He made another turnaround jumper, then missed a layup himself that turned into an and-1. Him attacking the paint is a really good sign, as he hit a wide-open layup on a pick-and-roll with Maxey a few possessions later.
• As the quarter progressed, things really went the way of the Sixers, and the main reason for that was that Joel Embiid looked like Joel Embiid again. Everything went smoothly when he started cooking from the high post. He finished the quarter with 19 points. Even a sloppy pass he threw in transition was tracked down by McCain and relayed to KJ Martin for the dunk. That ended a 15-0 run, their second long run of the quarter.

• An unusual sight was the Sixers extending the lead when Embiid went to the bench. KJ Martin continued to provide good energetic minutes, ripping off an offensive rebound from Zach LaVine for an extra throw. George continued to show off his game-making skills by hitting Martin with a dump-off and McCain with a really nice skip pass for a three-pointer. The Sixers took a 12-point lead at halftime.

Third quarter

• A small change to the lineup at the start of the second half as McCain started in place of Guerschon Yabusele. This change was made so Yabu could play the backup five when Embiid went to the bench against a small, fast Bulls team. The offense continued to roll as Maxey hit a couple of threes off the catch. Embiid had a ridiculous And-1 as he continued to stay on his heels from the nail, and George absolutely nailed a layup attempt by Ayo Dosunmu.

• Kelly Oubre Jr. was all over the glass on both ends of the floor throughout the quarter. He had nine to three balls, including three on offense, and that doesn’t include the rebounds he gave to his teammates. Maxey rewarded him for his effort by throwing him a really nice lob from the baseline.
• The only person who benefited more from Embiid’s return than Embiid himself was Maxey. He also got off to a slow start but was able to settle in as Embiid did the same. He had 12 points in the third period after only having seven in the first half. He had a much better feel for finding his teammates and had 12 assists to 3. Everything was looking good for the Sixers, and Jalen Smith drilled a buzzer-beater across half the court at the end of the quarter to bring the game to nine points bring to.

Fourth quarter

• A very ugly offense to start the quarter as it took the Sixers three and a half minutes to score their first field goal. The Bulls fought back a little, but remained scoreless for three minutes. The Sixers played solid defense for the most part during this period – Embiid and Oubre did a good job of changing the shots in the game.
• Oubre’s positive contributions today seemed to come from everywhere. He hit a three-pointer to stabilize the situation and then called an offensive foul on LaVine. A few moments later he ripped the ball away from Dosunmu. But every time the Sixers increased their lead, LaVine responded with a three.

• They were probably hoping to put this game away early so Embiid didn’t have to play the entire fourth quarter, but he was looking for something to do with it. A jumper from him and a layup from Maxey pushed the lead back to nine with a minute left, which was ultimately enough to keep the Bulls at bay.
• As the next phase of the NBA Cup moves forward, teams like the Sixers that didn’t advance will have a few extra days off. Their next game is at home against the Indiana Pacers on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.