Joel Embiid was out. The 76ers were on the second night of a back-to-back and the man who just returned from knee surgery this past week was told to take a seat and not overtax himself. Embiid’s absence helped trigger two key things.

First, Victor Wembanyama put up another historic game — 33 points with five 3-pointers, 18 rebounds and seven blocks.

However, that wasn’t enough because Tyrse Maxey took over for Philadephia giving the team a career-high 52 in a 133-126 double-overtime victory.

It wasn’t just Maxey. Ricky Council IV got hot in the fourth and finished with 11 points, while Nicolas Batum hit a key 3-pointer late.

The 76ers have now won five straight and are sitting as the No. 7 seed in the East with the win, just one game behind Indiana at No. 6 and the chance to avoid the play-in altogether. From Indiana to Miami at No. 8, the three teams are all within 1.5 games of each other heading into the final weeks of the regular season. It’s going to be a wild week in the East.