Sixers Bell Ringer Season Rankings:
Jared McCain – 8
Tyrese Maxey – 4.5
Paul George – 3.5
Joel Embiid – 3
KJ Martin – 2
Guerschon Yabusele – 2
Ricky Council IV – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Kelly Oubre Jr. – 1
(No poll was released after the 12/16 win over Charlotte, so Paul George and Tyrese Maxey each received half a Bell Ringer in a Liberty Ballers first game.)

The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 111-103 on a dramatic night in South Philadelphia.

This one was absolutely strange. I hear you say, “What Sixers game?” is not weird at this point?” and you’re not wrong! But unfortunately, more madness from your Philadelphia basketball team. Andre Drummond was ejected, then ejected again. Joel Embiid was (really) kicked out. And all before halftime! However, to read about this drama, You can go here.

When it comes to actual basketball on the court, the Sixers struggled, especially after losing Embiid in the second period. Philadelphia actually led by 15 points in the third period over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, each playing in their own role. However, the Spurs didn’t let up and looked absolutely relentless from a distance down the stretch. After shooting 7 of 31 (23%) from long range in the first three periods, San Antonio shot 8 of 14 (57%) from long range in the fourth period, rallying and even walking the team in this game narrowly in the lead.

Ultimately, Tyrese Maxey and Guerschon Yabusele made some crucial plays on both ends of the court as the Sixers went on a 9-3 run in the final 1:20 minutes to regain the lead over the Spurs and earn Philadelphia its 10th win of the season .

The Sixers have Tuesday off before playing at the Boston Celtics on Wednesday afternoon in the NBA’s Christmas games. The competition begins at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer. If you ask me, despite some good moments from other players, there are really only two options.

Guerschon Yabusele: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 1 block

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Yabusele has been crazy for the Sixers lately. One imagines that these types of performances are exactly what the franchise had in mind when they brought him to Philadelphia after an impressive performance at the Paris Olympics this summer. He’s definitely living up to that hype right now, and he’s doing it all off the bench.

Speaking of the Paris Olympics, Yabusele spent much of the night harassing fellow Frenchman and Olympic teammate Wembanyama on both ends of the floor. Not an easy task, but Yabusele did an excellent job. He never shied away from tormenting Wemby defensively whenever he got anywhere near the basket, and that was one of the reasons Wembanyama scored the most points of the six three-pointers he had (of course), but just from a basket in the basket tonight.

Yabu was just great overall defensively, with one block and four steals – one steal came with less than a minute to play and the Sixers only had a one-point lead. Maxey hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, essentially putting the game out of reach for the Spurs.

Not to mention, he scored 17 points off the bench by shooting 6-for-8 from the floor, including a couple of huge three-pointers that he scattered all over the place. It’s worth noting that some of this attacking success was clearly due to Yabusele’s understanding of how to deal with Wemby. If Wemby was brought into cover, Yabu would shoot from long range. When Wemby was at the arc, he would try to push him back or throw him off balance to get around him.

Yabu also had a monster slam (on a play with possibly the Sixers’ best ball movement all season). And yes, that whistle at the end means he’s being given a technical trick to hang on the rim. It was exactly that kind of game.

And that’s exactly the kind of player Yabusele is proving to be. If you need a triple, he’ll sink it. When you need to defend the biggest in the league, he’s ready. When you need extra effort for a rebound or a loose ball, you can rely on the Dancing Bear.

Tyrese Maxey: 32 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

It was a tough first period for Maxey, who shot just 1-for-5 from the floor in the first frame. Some were due to the fact that it must be difficult to shoot with Victor Wembanyama anywhere close, but others were long-range misses, something that has always seemed to stifle Maxey a bit so far this season. He really got going in the second period and seemed to really get going in the third, hitting three of four attempted triples in the penultimate frame to extend the Sixers’ largest lead of the night.

But really we have no choice but to talk about the last few minutes of the game. Here, Maxey did what he has done time and time again throughout his career: he turned his back on the Sixers. By the time the game ended, he had already scored six points in a competitive fourth frame. With a minute to go, the Spurs were ahead by one and in possession of the ball, probably on the verge of being eliminated with as much as a full 24 seconds left. Maxey took advantage of a casual pass from Julian Champagnie as he crossed midfield, intercepted the pass brilliantly, rammed it into the goal on the other side and caused the foul.

Now he actually missed the foul shot. I shudder to think if the game would have ultimately come down to one point. Luckily, Maxey immediately made amends. With the ball back in the Sixers’ hands thanks to a Yabusele steal, Maxey made a three-pointer that extended Philadelphia’s lead to four and ultimately sealed the Sixers’ victory.

Maxey nearly managed a triple-double in this game with 32 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He also had three thefts.