In their first game after a two-day Thanksgiving break, the Sixers returned to action Saturday night when they faced Tobias Harris, Paul Reed and the Detroit Pistons on the road, looking to erase the bad taste in their mouths from when Harris and co. beat them handily in Philadelphia a month earlier.

Help came in the form of Paul George, who returned from his left knee bone bruise after being sidelined for 10 days -- beating his prior recovery time of three weeks when he suffered the same injury last month. George only ended up missing three games this time around, a welcomed development for a Sixers team hoping to get the nine-time All-Star back on the floor in order to then help him find his best form.

Meanwhile, joining Joel Embiid (left knee injury management, personal reasons) as "out" on the injury report were veteran point guards Kyle Lowry -- missing his fifth straight game with a right hip strain -- and Reggie Jackson, who is dealing with right knee soreness. Caleb Martin, who missed his first game of the season on Wednesday due to upper back soreness, also remained out despite five much-needed days of rest. On top of it all, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse made a surprising call to remove Jared McCain from his starting five after a successful seven-game run as a starter.

It took five weeks, but the Sixers have officially played a complete, excellent game of regular-season NBA basketball. Their second quarter was subpar -- albeit not disastrous -- and the team otherwise looked like the best possible version of itself for the duration. Here is what stood out from the Sixers' 111-96 victory in Detroit on Saturday night:

Jared McCain returns to bench, assumes backup point guard role

With Lowry and Jackson sidelined -- and two-way point guard Jeff Dowtin Jr. not active for this game -- Nurse had no choice but to use the 20-year-old McCain as his lone backup point guard behind Tyrese Maxey.

Instead of starting McCain at the two alongside Maxey and ensuring at least one of them was on the floor at all times to command the Sixers' offense, Nurse returned the rookie split them up from the outset, with Kelly Oubre Jr. returning to the starting five alongside Maxey, George, Guerschon Yabusele and Andre Drummond.

In recent games, McCain had become the Sixers' second-most frequent primary ball-handler behind Maxey, but has often initiated offense in lineups also featuring Jackson -- whose presence has served as a safety blanket of sorts for a rookie who has never run an NBA-level offense. This time around, there was no safety blanket: when Maxey was resting, the show was McCain's to run.

McCain's progression as a facilitator since the start of the season -- culminating in Nurse feeling comfortable in using him as a true point guard -- has been nothing short of remarkable, one of the most impressive aspects of McCain's brilliant rookie season.

Asked earlier this month about his improvement reading defenses, McCain explained in tremendous detail how his mindset has changed.

"Instead of reading my defender, I'm reading the back-side defender, or not even reading the first help-side, I'm reading the second on the back-side, seeing if the big is pulling over, seeing if the help is crashing down to the baseline person or lift up to the wing and I can hit the wing when I'm driving baseline," McCain said. "Just reading defenses, I think it's going to come with time and watching film."

Drummond quickly goes down

Returning to the city that served as his NBA home for the first several years of his career, Drummond threw down an alley-oop slam early on in this one. But moments later, he landed right on the foot of Harris, turning his right ankle and causing the Sixers' starting center an immense amount of pain. The Sixers were forced to foul intentionally and call a timeout. Drummond was helped to the locker room without putting any weight on his ankle:

Instead of bringing McCain onto the floor and sliding Yabusele up to center, Nurse called upon rookie center Adem Bona to maintain significant size across the positional spectrum. Drummond was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game with a right ankle sprain.

George leads excellent opening statement

Drummond's scare aside, the Sixers had what was likely their strongest start to a game all season in this one. Detroit was forced to call a timeout in response to a 20-7 Sixers lead after just five minutes and change, with George's presence quickly looming large for a team that needed it badly.

George missed a mid-range jumper on the first possession of the game, but quickly leveraged the threat he provides as a scorer to create opportunities for his teammates. George assisted an Oubre triple and dunks for Drummond and Bona before getting on the board with a pull-up three from the top of the key:

Bench mob keeps things going

The Sixers failed to escape Wednesday's overtime game against the Houston Rockets with a win, but the game did provide a runway for Ricky Council IV to show signs of a second-year leap. After a disastrous beginning to his sophomore season, Council posted the first double-double of his NBA career. It all started when he put together a strong two-way sequence immediately upon entering the game.

On Saturday, Council once again chose to not wait for his moment. He checked into the game before Bona shot the second of two free throws, and when Bona's shot missed, he battled for the offensive rebound and ended up scoring an and-one. This is how you set the tone:

Council has the ability to change the complexion of any given contest with his athleticism and energy. The Sixers are pleased to see him doing that of late.

MORE: Film breakdown of Council's double-double

KJ Martin also gave the Sixers a strong burst of athleticism and energy off the bench early, including a block, rebound and self-created transition and-one:

Far too often this season, a Sixers team on the older side has been on the wrong end of athletic discrepancies. Playing Council and KJ Martin helps Nurse quite a bit in terms of trimming those deficits.

Poor offense in second quarter causes Sixers' lead to diminish

The Sixers only totaled 20 points in the second quarter, and the Pistons posted 32 en route to a productive frame which helped them cut the deficit to just five points by intermission. Council remained aggressive and effective -- he was the only Sixer in double-figures at halftime, with 13 points -- but the players around him struggled on that end of the floor.

Chief among those who could not find a scoring groove was Maxey, who headed back to the locker room with a 3-of-12 shooting line from the field despite knocking down a pair of triples on four long-range tries. Maxey's 1-of-8 shooting performance inside the arc was very uncharacteristic.

McCain, meanwhile, went the entire first half scoreless. He did not attempt a single a field goal or free throw, nor did he assist any made baskets. In McCain's 13 minutes of first-half action, the Sixers were outscored by eight points.

Maxey stages heater early in third quarter alongside his buddy

Immediately following Maxey's shaky first half, the All-Star point guard went nuclear in the opening minutes of the second half. Maxey scored the first five points of the second half with a triple and breakaway layup, then scored another five points on another three followed by a one-on-one blow-by of Harris:

The first Sixers points of the second half not scored by Maxey were scored by his closest friend on the team, KJ Martin, who started in Drummond's place following intermission. When George found Oubre in the corner for three but Oubre could not connect, the player Maxey calls "Jack" threw down a monstrous left-handed dunk:

Moments later, KJ Martin knocked down a corner triple off a Maxey dish before throwing down another lefty slam. He made his first six shot attempts of the game in addition to being absolutely everywhere on defense.

Earlier this month, KJ Martin spoke with PhillyVoice about his friendship with Maxey, upbringing as the son of a former No. 1 overall pick, first full season in Philadelphia and more:

MORE: KJ Martin one-on-one

Sixers never look back, posting first complete victory of season

The Sixers' first two wins of the season came in overtime battles which could have easily gone either way. Their win over the Brooklyn Nets last Friday was a regulation victory, but it took Maxey and McCain taking over down the stretch to outweigh multiple brutal stretches. The team had yet to stage a genuine wire-to-wire victory... until this one. There was no collapse in the fourth quarter, as the Sixers held their lead with a firm grasp.

McCain was not particularly effective, while Eric Gordon's significant struggles off the bench continued. Nearly everywhere else, though, Sixers submitted strong performances.

Maxey's brilliant third quarter made up for his lackluster first half. Bona stepped up in the absence of Drummond and provided quality minutes. Council was the leading story of the first half; one could argue the same could be said about KJ Martin in the second half. George did not score the ball all that well, but used his reputation as a scorer to create offensive opportunities for his teammates while also having a strong performance on the glass. The jobs of Oubre and Yabusele were simplified, and each one filled in the gaps as needed.

Perhaps the lesson here: the more athletes the Sixers can play on a given night the better. They are still just 4-14 on the season, but have finally completed a decisive win and can carry some momentum into a very winnable game on Tuesday.

Up next: The Sixers will have another two days off before facing the Charlotte Hornets on the road. The Sixers knocked off Charlotte in one of their overtime victories, doing so without Embiid or Maxey on Nov. 10 (George was unable to play in the overtime period due to a minutes restriction he was grappling with at the time).

Hornets All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball, who scored 38 points for Charlotte that night, will be sidelined for the game with a left calf strain which is expected to keep him out for multiple weeks. Grant Williams, who scored 17 points with three blocks and two steals in that game, recently suffered a season-ending knee injury.

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