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  • Sixers takeaways: Winless with their Big Three, Joel Embiid injury scare, and more from loss to Nets

    Sixers takeaways: Winless with their Big Three, Joel Embiid injury scare, and more from loss to Nets

    The 76ers are winless when Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey play together.

    It’s always a scary moment when Embiid falls on the court.

    Eric Gordon can still shoot.

    And the Sixers must get healthier for their upcoming five-game road trip.

    Michael Porter’s 28 points leads Nets to a 114-106 win over the Sixers

    Those things stood out in Tuesday’s 114-106 setback to the Brooklyn Nets at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    Winless with star trio

    The Sixers (16-12) know much of their success ultimately will depend on how they play when Embiid, George, and Maxey are available.

    Well, let’s say they have a lot of work to do.

    Tuesday’s loss dropped the Sixers to 0-3 this season in games in which all three play. They suffered a 142-134 double-overtime home loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 30. And the Sixers lost, 112-108, at home to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 7.

    The team was missing several rotation players because of illness and injury. The Nets (9-19) also have won two straight and six of nine games. However, with their best three players, the Sixers were expected to beat Brooklyn.

    Sixers forward Paul George scores two of his 19 points on Tuesday night.

    So what’s the next step to a victory?

    “We all just got to figure out how to find rhythm, playing off one another,” George said.

    But early Tuesday, the Sixers lacked ball movement. It was a game in which Embiid and George tried to get themselves going. Meanwhile, Maxey was a bystander, despite entering the game as the league’s third-leading scorer at 31.7 points.

    He was scoreless on 0-for-1 shooting in the first quarter and finished with 13 points. He missed 11 of 14 shots — including all five of his three-pointers. Maxey also finished with three rebounds, two assists, four steals, and four turnovers.

    Afterward, Maxey said he didn’t get into rhythm.

    But was only getting one shot attempt in the first quarter a result of that? Or was that a matter of trying to get others involved?

    “I feel like I was trying to make the right play,” he said. “But I got to stay aggressive.”

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    Embiid had 27 points on 8-for-13 shooting along with six rebounds, four assists, three turnovers, and two blocks. George had 19 points on 5-for-14 shooting to go with four rebounds, two assists, four steals, three turnovers, and two blocks.

    As a team, the Sixers shot 40.7% — including making just 7 of 27 three-pointers. They also committed 17 turnovers.

    “Just being stagnant,” George said of what led to the Sixers’ struggles. “We got stagnant, loss of rhythm, team-wise. And we just played slow. I think our pace was a little slow, which, give them credit. They were making shots, which made it tough to get out, and play, and run fast.”

    Embiid scare

    Embiid went back to the locker room after falling to the court 25 seconds into the second half after being fouled by Terance Mann. It initially appeared that Embiid turned his ankle. However, he reached down and grabbed his right knee.

    The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder returned with 6 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the quarter. Embiid has already missed 16 games this season because of injuries to both knees. The Sixers had to be elated that this wasn’t serious.

    Embiid returned to the bench midway through the quarter with both of his knees wrapped.

    “Just hyperextended it,” Embiid said. “Went to the locker room, checked it out, and we’ll see how I feel.”

    Before the injury, he was off to a solid start, with 19 first-half points on 7-for-10 shooting.

    Embiid had missed the previous two games because of an illness and right knee injury management.

    “It’s all right,” he said of his hyperextension. “We’ll see how it feels. Obviously, when you’re hurt, it’s kinda hard to judge, so we’ll see how it feels tomorrow.”

    Sixers center Joel Embiid (left) attempts a layup against the Nets. He scored 27 points.

    Gordon is still a sharpshooter

    Gordon, who turns 37 on Christmas Day, has had a solid NBA career. But now in his 18th season, the shooting guard rarely plays because the Sixers have younger, more athletic guards in Maxey (25), VJ Edgecombe (20), Quentin Grimes (25), and Jared McCain (21).

    While he’s not as mobile as before, Father Time has not impacted Gordon’s shooting. He shot 61.5% from the field and 62.5% on three-pointers in his first five appearances of the season.

    He made his sixth appearance on Tuesday with Edgecombe and Grimes sidelined by an illness.

    And Gordon again had a solid shooting night.

    He finished with a season-high 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting. He made his first three shots.

    The Indianapolis native entered the game with 3:56 left in the first quarter. He made a layup at the 3:00 mark. Then he drained a three-pointer to tie the score at 27 with 16 seconds left in the frame. He hit his third shot attempt, a three-pointer that gave the Sixers a five-point cushion, 1:28 into the second quarter.

    He added a three-pointer in the final second of the third quarter.

    “I’m going to be ready for whatever opportunity comes,” Gordon said. “I played in this league for a long time. I can still move. I can still shoot. I can still create my own shot. I don’t know, maybe we will see when the times get harder, play against tougher teams, or whatnot.

    “But I know we got a lot of young guys that we need to continue to play and whatnot. I’ll just be ready when it’s my time because I know I can fit in and gel with these guys and keep the floor open for these guys. As you can see, whether I play, miss 10 games and don’t play, come in, you know, I’m still going to be ready to go.”

    A need to get healthy

    Before the game, the Sixers were excited to have Embiid, Maxey, and George together on the floor.

    But they didn’t like the fact that several of their key rotation players were sidelined.

    Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) have been out for several weeks. Dominick Barlow also missed Tuesday’s game because of illness.

    With Edgecombe and Barlow sidelined, the Sixers started McCain and Jabari Walker alongside Embiid, George, and Maxey.

    Grimes and Barlow initially were listed as questionable on Monday evening’s initial injury report. The team announced Tuesday morning that Edgecombe also was questionable. Moments later, they canceled the morning shootaround.

    But the team has been dealing with illness for a couple of weeks.

    Paul George (left) and Tyrese Maxey celebrate after George made a shot against the Nets on Tuesday night.

    Maxey missed the Sixers’ games against the Indiana Pacers (Dec. 12) and Hawks (Dec. 14) with an illness. Embiid sat out both games of Friday and Saturday’s back-to-back against the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks with an illness and right knee injury management.

    “It has kind of gone for a bit,” coach Nick Nurse said. “It probably started with Tyrese, but that would seem to be an isolated case, and now it’s kind of making its way a little bit, obviously. The guys that weren’t feeling great yesterday didn’t report to practice. This morning, when we didn’t see much improvement and added another to the list, we postponed shootaround, as you guys well know. You probably would have been here this morning. Just keeping the guys away until we can bring them to the game.”

    Michael Porter Jr. (center) is defended by Paul George during Tuesday night’s game.

    The Sixers can only hope Edgecombe, Grimes, and Barlow are back when they embark on their five-game road trip against the Chicago Bulls (Friday), Oklahoma City Thunder (Sunday), Memphis Grizzlies (Dec. 30), Dallas Mavericks (Jan. 1), and New York Knicks (Jan. 3).

    With the trio out, Justin Edwards was the sixth man. Gordon was the seventh man, and Kyle Lowry was the ninth. This was the fifth game for the 39-year-old Lowry, who’s in his 20th NBA season.

    “You know what we missed? We missed three athletes,” Nurse said. “Other than Tyrese, that’s our speed, right there. We got Q, explosive. Barlow, athlete. VJ, athlete that we [depend on]. We missed all three of them. And it kind of made it hard for Tyrese to not … have other guy [Edgecombe] out there to crack into the paint a little bit and do some of the things that VJ does for sure.”

    This was a bad loss to a team over which the Sixers had averaged 18-point victories in their first two meetings.

    “They were definitely missed,” George said. “Their energy, their extra plays. Those guys have a great feel for the game and just understanding where to be the defensive mindset. So they were for sure missed.

    “But, you know, this is a very winnable game with [the Nets also being] down [players.] So you can’t make excuses that they weren’t there.”

  • Sixers’ Quentin Grimes watches his brother — and Canucks defenseman — Tyler Myers face the Flyers

    Sixers’ Quentin Grimes watches his brother — and Canucks defenseman — Tyler Myers face the Flyers

    On Monday at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Flyers fans would boo the Vancouver Canucks, like they do with every opposing team.

    But one Canuck, defenseman Tyler Myers, had a cheering section to drown out the noise, led by his half brother, 76ers guard Quentin Grimes.

    Grimes and Myers are the only pair of brothers to ever play in the NHL and NBA.

    Their mother “gets on my dad a lot about who’s got the best genes in the family,” Grimes said jokingly. “She gets the bragging rights on that.”

    Myers was born Feb. 1, 1990, 10 years before Grimes was born, in Houston. His father Paul, a former college hockey player, encouraged him to put on skates. Their mother, Tonja Stelly, and later Grimes’ father, Marshall Grimes, both former college basketball players, taught Myers how to play basketball.

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    “He said he had a pretty good crossover and stuff like that,” Grimes said. “He definitely [has] a little bit of game to him, for sure.”

    When Grimes was much younger, he said the two sometimes would try and play one-on-one. “Just messing around, trying to play against the tallest guy I’ve ever seen,” he said. Myers is one of the NHL’s tallest players, standing at 6-foot-8, compared to Grimes, who is 6-4.

    The brothers never lived together. Myers left Texas shortly after Grimes was born to live in Calgary with his father, where he grew into a professional hockey player. Grimes stayed behind in Texas, but the two of them would see each other as often as they could during the summer or school breaks.

    Sixers guard Quentin Grimes has a half brother who plays for the Vancouver Canucks.

    Myers became a mainstay in the NHL while Grimes established himself as a top basketball prospect. When Grimes was a junior in high school, the two got back in regular touch, with Grimes tapping into Myers’ years of experience as a professional athlete as he was just starting out.

    “It’s been growing ever since I got pretty good at basketball,” Grimes said. “My mom was asking him some stuff to help me be a professional: eating habits, how to take care of your body, and stuff like that.”

    The Canucks defenseman is one of just 28 active players to play more than 1,100 games in the NHL, a feat he has accomplished over 17 seasons. Myers had one goal and eight points this season. Grimes, in his fifth NBA season, is averaging a career-best 15.3 points for the Sixers.

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    The sports might be different, but the daily routines of the NBA and NHL schedules are nearly identical. They play 82 regular-season games from fall to spring, with a similar playoff and travel structure.

    That means that whenever Grimes is going through something, Myers said usually has experienced it, too, and they’ll talk about it.

    “Watching him on the court, you can tell his confidence and his mindset just have come such a long way,” Myers said. “I remember that progression when I was a young kid from 20 to 25, it looked very, very similar.”

    Tyler Myers (left) of the Vancouver Canucks pursues former Flyer Cam Atkinson during a game in 2023.

    Grimes said Myers has been critical in teaching him how to be a pro. He’s nowhere close to Myers’ longevity in his sport, but seeing the habits and routines up close helped him transition into the league.

    “Listening to your body if you have nagging injuries,” Grimes said. “[Myers would] always say that he would take some lighter days or try to do that. Early in my career, I would just try to grind and grind and grind, and then an injury gets worse, and your body just breaks down a little bit.”

    Myers, who has played in cities that don’t have NBA teams his entire career, has seen Grimes play in person in the NBA only once, when the Canucks’ extended road trip to New York gave him a day off on a night with a Knicks home game.

    Unfortunately, Grimes played just a few seconds before he suffered an injury and missed the rest of the game.

    “I showed up a couple minutes in; the game had started already,” Myers said. “A couple minutes went by, he came in, and like a minute later, he was laying on the floor, hurt. I was bad luck that day, and that was the only time I’ve been able to overlap with him.”

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    One day, Myers hopes to have another opportunity to see his younger brother play a full game in person, but he’s been following his career from afar. Grimes is a bit luckier — he gets to see Myers play about once a year, including on Monday night for the first time in Philly, since all the teams he has played on have been in cities with NHL teams of their own. He also has made trips to Vancouver and Buffalo.

    “This is fun for me, to be a fan,” Grimes said. “Get rowdy, because hockey fans are completely different from NBA fans. They get real rowdy. I like to get rowdy with them, talk a lot of smack with the other fans if they’re in the arena.”

    The Canucks had a cheering section at least 12 strong at the Flyers’ arena, including Grimes, their mother, and several other family members making the trip to celebrate having both brothers together around the holidays. The Canucks ultimately lost the game, 5-2, but Myers still gave them something to cheer about, earning a secondary assist on Vancouver’s first goal.

    Myers, who now has three children of his own, couldn’t remember the last time they had a group this big together around the holiday season.

    “Having this so close to Christmastime is a little bit more special,” Grimes said ahead of the game. “Knowing that Christmas is around the corner, our mom came up, a lot of our family came up for the game, so it’ll be pretty special.”

  • ‘This is who he is’: High-flying rookie VJ Edgecombe has exceeded Sixers’ expectations

    ‘This is who he is’: High-flying rookie VJ Edgecombe has exceeded Sixers’ expectations

    NEW YORK — Exactly six months before Christmas Day, the 76ers received an early holiday gift in VJ Edgecombe.

    On June 25, they selected the combo guard from Baylor over the polarizing, perceived-to-be-more-NBA-ready Ace Bailey with the third pick of the NBA draft.

    “He’s a dynamic athlete, potential All-Star, two-way player,” Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said of Edgecombe the night of the draft. “Really helped his team. He’s got all these winning qualities that we think fit. Great teammate. His story and what he has done to get to this point is really unbelievable.

    “We think he’s on a great trajectory to take where he’s come from and continue to improve … all the way through a very long and very promising NBA career. And we’re excited it’s here with the 76ers.”

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    The 6-foot-5 , 195-pounder made Morey look like a genius by scoring 34 points on 13-for-26 shooting to go with six rebounds in the Sixers’ 117-116 season-opening victory over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. It was the third-highest scoring debut in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 43 points on Oct. 24, 1959, and Frank Selvy’s 35 on Nov. 30, 1954.

    And nothing has changed since then to make the Sixers rethink the selection.

    Edgecombe outperformed No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg while finishing with 26 points, six rebounds, and four assists in Saturday’s 121-114 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    It was his fourth straight game with at least 22 points, tying Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel for the longest 22-plus-point streak by a rookie this season.

    Edgecombe is averaging 16 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.3 steals in 24 games. He is also shooting 38.3% from three-point range.

    Meanwhile, Bailey averaged 10.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists through 26 games with the Jazz. His highest-scoring games were 21 points twice, whereas Edgecombe has scored at least 21 points seven times while playing alongside Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George.

    Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe scored 23 points and made clutch plays in a win over the Knicks.

    And even though he shone in Saturday’s game against the struggling Mavs (11-18), folks were still marveling over Friday’s performance against the NBA Cup champion New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

    Following his stellar performance in the 116-107 victory over the Knicks, several Sixers were asked if his play has surprised them this season.

    “Sadly, no,” Maxey said. “I want to say yes, but, sadly, no. Like, this is who he is, you know what I mean? We realized that Game 1. Yeah, you can do what you want to do in the preseason, and all that and practice in training camp, but when the lights come on, you just never know, and the lights came on, and he came on with it.”

    Against the Eastern Conference second-place Knicks (19-8), Edgecombe finished with 23 points, 18 of which came after halftime. He also finished with four assists, two steals, and one block while being a plus-13 and logging a game-high 38 minutes, 4 seconds.

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    His most notable achievement was his stellar defensive performance against Knicks guard Jalen Brunson. The two-time All-Star point guard finished with 22 points on 7-for-22 shooting and missed 6 of 7 three-pointers. With Edgecombe guarding him, Brunson was held to six points on 1-for-10 shooting in the second half.

    He kept hounding Brunson with his ability to get over screens.

    “To be honest, it’s kind of like a skill and wanting to do it,” Edgecombe said of battling through screens. “You know, everyone, when you see a teammate come in, you say, ‘Oh, switch.’ But that’s like wanting to [stay on your man]. You got to put in the effort, and knowing who I’m guarding also, an elite player, someone that thrives off coming off ball screens … so I’m just trying to make it difficult.”

    Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe held Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson to six points on 1-for-10 shooting in the second half on Friday.

    Andre Drummond has been most impressed by the Bahamian’s poise.

    “Despite whatever comes in the game, he still plays the game,” Drummond said. “He doesn’t get too sped up, and the way that he defended Brunson [Friday night] was textbook.”

    But isn’t it rare for a 20-year-old rookie to have that kind of poise?

    “I think I told you guys at the beginning of the season that he doesn’t count,” Drummond said. “He’s been a professional for God knows how long with the Bahamian national team. So he knows what it takes to play against tough competition. He’s been doing it since he was very young.

    “So no surprise there. We are just going to expect more from him. That’s all.”

    But coach Nick Nurse admitted that Edgecombe surprised him against the Knicks. The coach mentioned his tough buckets down the lane when the Sixers needed them and raved about Edgecombe’s huge two offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter to keep possessions alive when they desperately needed to match the Knicks’ scoring.

    “So that was, I don’t know, surprising,” Nurse said. “He’s really good. He’s getting better, too.”

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    Edgecombe averaged 19.6 points on 48.6% shooting — including making 14 of 28 three-pointers — in the five games entering Saturday.

    But his role has shifted game to game, with his responsibilities affected by Embiid and George missing time because of injuries and Maxey being sidelined for the two games before Friday with the flu.

    “To be honest, when one of them is out or not, the three of them tell me all the time, ‘Stay aggressive,’” Edgecombe said. “So regardless of the game, they are going to tell me to stay aggressive all the time. In Atlanta [on Sunday], Joel was telling me, ‘Stay aggressive.’ ’Rese tells me, ‘Stay aggressive every night.’ P always tells me, ‘Be aggressive; be aggressive.’

    “So I say my role is just to be myself, and the adjustment to the pro game has been going well, to be honest with you. It’s the pros, the best players in the world. Just to be in the league, I know I have a lot of work to do because one day I want to be the best player.”

    Sixers guard Vj Edgecombe (77) scored 17 of his 26 points in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.

    With Maxey out against the Hawks, Edgecombe scored 17 of his 26 points in the third quarter to keep the Sixers in the game. He did that while making 5 of 7 shots, including all three of his three-pointers. He was 4-for-4 from the foul line while playing the entire quarter.

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    Edgecombe has been solid for most of the season. It’s just been a matter of keeping him involved. He gave the crowd in Atlanta a glimpse of what he can do when the offense runs through him. Then he showed folks at MSG why he’s an early Christmas gift for the Sixers.

    “Do I surprise myself? No, I don’t, to be honest,” he said. “I don’t want to sound cocky or nothing, but I don’t surprise myself at all. I know what I’m capable of doing.”

  • Jabari Walker shuts down Cooper Flagg, Tyrese Maxey gets hot when it counts, and other takeaways from a Sixers win over Dallas

    Jabari Walker shuts down Cooper Flagg, Tyrese Maxey gets hot when it counts, and other takeaways from a Sixers win over Dallas

    As much as the 76ers may want things to change, they’ve remained the same. Yet it has yielded positive results.

    Meanwhile, VJ Edgecombe and Dallas Mavericks guard Cooper Flagg are far from ordinary rookies. But on Saturday, Edgecombe shone brighter.

    And Joel Embiid is, once again, wading into the dangerous territory of being disqualified for regular-season awards.

    Those things stood out in the Sixers’ 121-114 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    According to the script

    Coming off Friday’s 116-107 statement victory over the New York Knicks, the Sixers (16-11) were expected to have a comfortable win over the Mavs. But they once again struggled in the third quarter and needed to mount a fourth-quarter comeback.

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    The Mavs shot 78.9% (15-for-19) in the third quarter to outscore the Sixers, 35-23, and take a 97-91 advantage into the fourth. In addition to not getting stops, the Sixers hit just 8 of 23 shots.

    But the Sixers opened the fourth quarter with a 24-7 run to take a 115-104 lead on Tyrese Maxey’s three-pointer with 6 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the game.

    Maxey scored 16 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter on 6-for-10 shooting. The Sixers went with a lineup of Jared McCain, Jabari Walker, Adem Bona, Edgecombe, and Maxey for the final 13:11. That grouping shot 50% from the field in the fourth quarter while holding the Mavs to 30.4%.

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    Coach Nick Nurse stuck with that lineup because he felt his trio of guards in McCain, Maxey, and Edgecombe were all impacting the game.

    “As far as the two bigs, I felt Jabari was playing Flagg super physical,” the coach said. “And the other thing, we started doing some switching between the four and five. Jabari also would get switched onto [Anthony] Davis and was playing him physically to get him off the block and battle him.

    “I don’t know how many rebounds Jabari got. But it sure seems like he snatched a bunch of them down there, that was also critical.”

    Adem Bona played all of the fourth quarter when the Sixers rallied for the victory.

    Walker, a power forward, grabbed six of his eight rebounds in the fourth quarter. He also scored his only two points and recorded his steal in the quarter. On a two-way contract, Walker also helped hold Flagg to four points on 2-for-6 shooting in the final quarter.

    “We got a great scout report,” Walker said. “ … I think [Dominick] Barlow started off on him. Big credit to him. He had a great night tonight also. I want to show him some love with that. I think either one of us could have finished the game. We both understand that about each other. So, some games it is going to be [like that]. So I just tried to feed off the energy he had tonight.”

    He also studied how Barlow forced Flagg into certain spots defensively, and implemented that in the fourth quarter.

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    Barlow, the starting power forward who is also on a two-way contract, tied a career high with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting.

    The Sixers have won seven games this season while trailing at the start of the fourth quarter, which is tied for first in the NBA.

    Not your ordinary rookies

    Sixers fans know Edgecombe is special. And they were aware of all the hype surrounding Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick, coming into the game.

    The 19,056 in attendance found out Saturday that the hype surrounding Flagg is legit. At 6-foot-9, Flagg, who turns 19 on Sunday, is a mix of explosiveness, power, and a solid basketball IQ.

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    Before Walker kept him in check late, Flagg had his way with Barlow through three quarters, scoring 20 of his 24 points on 6-for-10 shooting. He also went 8-for-8 from the foul line and recorded all three of his assists during that time.

    But even before the fourth quarter, Flagg took a backseat to Edgecombe.

    The 6-5 , 195-pound shooting guard got things going early for the Sixers, scoring 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the first quarter.

    “He’s making all kinds of plays,” Nurse said. “I think that’s the big thing. Where do you want to start? Big rebounds? Knocking the ball away? But probably the offensive rebounds [three], the biggest ones are you get a tough stop. It’s a fairly close game. We get the ball out, he takes it coast to coast and moves through for an easy bucket when scoring is pretty hard in the fourth, right? Those are like super momentum plays.”

    Cooper Flagg of the Mavericks lays the ball in as the 76ers’ Andre Drummond looks on.

    He and Flagg don’t play like rookies, which has been indicative of how several of the league’s top rookies have performed this season.

    “It’s amazing,” Nurse said. “You are right on with your point. The rookies that have impacted in a big way is really something. Especially considering those two guys are really young. I guess they’re really good. I think most rookies, you will see flashes. You will see one great game, then six go by. These guys are starting to do it like night in, night out. And to me, that’s like what the NBA is.”

    No awards for Embiid

    Saturday marked the 16th game that Embiid has missed this season because of left knee injury management, right knee injury management, right knee swelling, and an illness.

    He sat out Friday and Saturday because of right knee injury management and an illness.

    Nurse was asked whether Embiid had a setback with his health.

    “Nah, he went into last night with both of those things,” the coach said of the knee and illness. “He just didn’t have a great week with the illness and a little bit of soreness in the right knee. And fortunately, we can get through the week and … get another couple of days, and hopefully get him going.”

    The NBA, in cooperation with the National Basketball Players Association, instituted a 65-game rule two seasons ago for players to qualify for awards, hoping it would deter players and teams from relying on load management.

    Sixers center Joel Embiid missed his 16th game of the season on Saturday.

    Embiid was disqualified in each of the last two seasons. He played in 39 games in 2023-24 and 19 in 2024-25. The most games Embiid can play this season is 66 if he doesn’t miss another game, starting with Tuesday’s home game against the Brooklyn Nets. But his availability for many of those games is doubtful since Embiid is not expected to play back-to-back nights.

    Nurse’s first season was in 2023-24. Embiid was playing better than his MVP season before having the first of two left knee surgeries in 14 months.

    “He had a serious injury and hasn’t quite been able to get back,” Nurse said. “You asked me if I’m empathetic, absolutely. You know, I thought we were going [upward] for a bit. I think we’ve got to try to keep going that way.”

  • Sixers takeaways: A statement win, VJ Edgecombe’s third-quarter dominance and more from win over Knicks

    Sixers takeaways: A statement win, VJ Edgecombe’s third-quarter dominance and more from win over Knicks

    NEW YORK — The 76ers showed that they can still beat teams with winning records.

    VJ Edgecombe continues to take over in the third quarter.

    And Jared McCain is back to feeling healthy.

    Those things stood out in Friday’s 116-107 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

    Statement victory

    The Sixers (15-11) have played hard in most of their games, with several of those contests having exciting finishes. But the fact remained that they were 4-10 against teams with winning records.

    So this matchup against the Eastern Conference’s second-place Knicks (19-8) was a chance for the Sixers to make a statement.

    Mission accomplished.

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    Before Friday, their only victories against teams with winning records came against the Boston Celtics (on Oct. 22 and Nov. 11), the Orlando Magic (Oct. 27), and the Toronto Raptors (Nov. 8). And this victory snapped their five-game losing streak against winning teams.

    The Sixers tried to downplay this victory, saying it wasn’t a statement win.

    “No, I think it’s just another one, to be honest,” Tyrese Maxey said. “Obviously, it’s a really good team, but it’s just another win. We have a long way to go. We have to keep getting better and get onto the next game, which is tomorrow.”

    But beating the Knicks has to be a confidence boost, considering their recent results against winning teams, right?

    “It’s definitely good to get the win, especially a team in the East,” Maxey said. “We got a game tomorrow. You know, it’s the NBA, so we got to try to win against them tomorrow.”

    The Sixers will entertain the Dallas Mavericks at 7 p.m. Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    Against the Knicks, the Sixers played hard and kept things competitive throughout, as expected. But down the stretch, they made the clutch plays that winning teams have usually completed against them.

    “Yeah, this is something we talked about, you know, finishing games and not allowing it to slip down the stretch of the game, coming out slow in those third quarters,” Andre Drummond said. “So, I think for us, we’re starting to turn it around a little bit, little by little. So, we’ll take the small victories and progress that we’re making and continue to build on it.”

    They took an 88-87 lead into the fourth quarter after Adem Bona split a pair of foul shots. Then Maxey’s three-pointer gave them a 97-92 advantage with 8 minutes, 4 seconds remaining. Then, Edgecombe’s three-pointer with 2:44 left made it a 108-102 game. And Maxey hit another three-pointer with 47.9 seconds left to extend the Sixers’ lead to nine points.

    The standout point guard showed why he’s worthy of being voted an Eastern Conference All-Star starter by outplaying the Knicks’ All-Star point guard, Jalen Brunson.

    The Sixers picked up a rare victory over a winning team in Friday’s defeat of the New York Knicks.

    Maxey finished with a game-high 30 points while making 6 of 12 three-pointers to go with nine assists. Brunson finished with 22 points on 7-for-22 shooting – including missing 6 of 7 three-pointers – along with six rebounds and nine assists.

    With Edgecombe guarding him, Brunson was held to six points on 1-for-10 shooting in the second half.

    “He’s a tough player,” Edgecombe said. “Everyone knows he’s super good. I just try to make it difficult. You’re not going to hold him scoreless, but just try to make it difficult. I was just trying my hardest to make sure he didn’t get off any clean looks or anything like that.”

    In addition to shutting down Brunson, Edgecombe had 23 points, four assists, two steals, and a block.

    Drummond showed his shooting range while starting at center in place of Joel Embiid, who had the night off. Drummond made a career-high three three-pointers while finishing with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. It was his 10th double-double of the season.

    Third quarter Edgecombe

    This was the second consecutive game where Edgecombe dominated in the third quarter. The shooting guard scored 11 of Friday’s points on 5-for-6 shooting, including hitting a three-pointer, in the quarter.

    This comes after Edgecombe scored 17 of his 26 points in the third quarter of Sunday’s 120-117 loss. On that night, he made 5 of 7 shots, including all three of his three-pointers, in the quarter. Like on Sunday, Edgecombe played the entire third quarter.

    His ability to take over enabled the Sixers to snap out of their third-quarter blues.

    Joel Embiid will miss Sixers’ matchup vs. Knicks with illness and knee management

    “I have to be more aggressive in that quarter,” Edgecombe said. “It’s not just that whole quarter, it’s the whole game. I know myself. I tend to be slow in the third quarter. We are trying to get over that hump where we start to slow in the third. If that takes me scoring, I’ll do that.”

    He added seven points on 3-for-4 shooting in the fourth quarter. But the third quarter got him going and kept the Sixers in the game.

    “We talk about the third quarters a lot,” McCain said. “It’s something that we’re trying to obviously get better at, and when he’s aggressive like that, especially in the third, that’s what we need. So, he was perfect, and he’s been doing great with the thirds.”

    Karl-Anthony Towns, left, was one of the few bright spots for the Knicks on Friday.

    Mr. Healthy

    McCain can just focus on hoops.

    Friday marked his second game playing without a brace on his right thumb since returning from September’s surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

    “Thank God for that,” McCain said. “So now, I guess that’s pretty much the last thing, now. Just being able to get back in rhythm without a brace and without the tape around it. So last game was the first time we just tried it, and now it’s just getting used to it.”

    Jared McCain opens up about protecting his mental health with students at Level Up Philly: ‘It humbles you’

    The second-year combo guard went scoreless on 0-for-5 in Sunday’s 120-117 road loss to the Atlanta Hawks. However, he tied season highs with five assists and two steals. On Friday, McCain finished with 12 points, three rebounds, and one assist. He hit several big shots and closed out the game for the Sixers.

    McCain was also still working his way back from last season’s left-knee injury.

    The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder missed the final 4½ months of last season with a torn meniscus. McCain suffered the injury on Dec. 13 during a home loss to the Indiana Pacers. He said Friday morning that he’s confident in the knee.

    “I think I’m back,” he said. “I mean, I think I’m fully to where I need to be. I think most of it now is just being able to know when I’m coming in and being warm and being ready to come in, because the knee will get stiff if I don’t keep it warm.

    “So, kind of just when I go back to warm up, I try and get ready, but sometimes it goes longer, and so I have to keep staying warm, keep doing jumping, or whatever I’m doing to get warm.”

  • Maxey, Edgecombe help the 76ers hand the Knicks their second home loss of the season

    Maxey, Edgecombe help the 76ers hand the Knicks their second home loss of the season

    NEW YORK — Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points, VJ Edgecombe had 23 and the 76ers became just the second visiting team to win at Madison Square Garden this season, beating the New York Knicks 116-107 on Friday night.

    Andre Drummond, starting with Joel Embiid out because of an illness and right knee injury management, had 19 points and 13 rebounds. The center was 3 for 4 from 3-point range.

    The 76ers snapped the Knicks’ six-game winning streak by outscoring them 28-20 in the fourth quarter, when Maxey scored 11 points and Jalen Brunson missed all five of his shots and was scoreless.

    Brunson finished with 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds, but shot 7 for 22 a night after making the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left in a victory at Indiana. Karl-Anthony Towns also scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

    In their first home game since winning the NBA Cup on Tuesday, the Knicks fell to 13-2 at home. They had been off to their best start at MSG since 1992-93.

    They celebrated the Cup title before the game, though they have chosen not to hang a banner to commemorate it, as previous champions the Lakers and Bucks did.

    The Knicks wasted Mitchell Robinson’s best game of the season. The center had season highs of 21 points and 16 rebounds and was a stunning 7 for 8 at the free-throw line after he came into the game 6 for 27 (22.2%) for the season.

    Mikal Bridges also scored 21 points.

    Maxey and Edgecombe combined for 18 points in the fourth quarter after the 76ers led by one going into the period. The Knicks were 1 for 8 on 3s in the quarter.

  • Joel Embiid will miss Sixers’ matchup vs. Knicks with illness and knee management

    Joel Embiid will miss Sixers’ matchup vs. Knicks with illness and knee management

    NEW YORK — Joel Embiid has been ruled out for Friday night’s game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden with an illness and right-knee injury management.

    The 76ers center was initially listed as questionable due to illness only. However, he’s been dealing with right knee issues since early November, which led to him missing nine consecutive games earlier in the season.

    Embiid’s absence from the Knicks game should not come as a surprise, though. The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder doesn’t play on both nights of back-to-back games. After facing the Knicks (19-7), the Sixers (14-11) will play the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    The Sixers are back, but tonight’s game won’t air on NBC Sports Philadelphia

    Embiid is averaging 20.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. He had a season-high 39 points and nine rebounds in a 115-105 home victory over the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 12. Two nights later, Embiid had 22 points and a season-high 14 rebounds in a 120-117 road loss to the Atlanta Ha

    wks.

    He’s already missed 14 of the Sixers’ 25 games this season.

    Embiid isn’t the only Sixer who will miss the game. Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) will remain sidelined.

  • The Sixers are back, but tonight’s game won’t air on NBC Sports Philadelphia

    The Sixers are back, but tonight’s game won’t air on NBC Sports Philadelphia

    The 76ers return to the court to face the New York Knicks Friday night, but you won’t find the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia or anywhere else on TV.

    Instead, Sixers fans will need to log in to Amazon Prime Video, which is streaming tonight’s game exclusively as part of a 11-year deal with the NBA that runs through the 2035-36 season and totals nearly $20 billion.

    That means you’ll have to wait a day to hear from Sixers’ announcer Alaa Abdelnaby, who got into a back-and-forth with the league’s referees this week over a no-call at the end of Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Kate Scott, Abdelnaby’s broadcast partner on NBC Sports Philadelphia, will appear on Inquirer Live at 11 a.m. to speak with beat writer Gina Mizell.

    It’s also unclear if Joel Embiid will take the court tonight. The Sixers big man is listed as questionable for the game due to an unspecified illness. Embiid, who is dealing with knee issues, has started 11 games for the Sixers so far this season, including four of their last five. He put up a season-high 39 points in the Sixers’ win against the Indiana Pacers last Friday night.

    Unlike Amazon’s Thursday Night Football, which broadcasts NFL games locally in the teams’ home TV markets, the only way to watch tonight’s Sixers game is to log in to Prime Video.

    The good news is, if you already have Amazon Prime for free shipping, you also get Prime Video for free. Otherwise you can subscribe to Prime Video on its own for $8.99 a month.

    Sixers fans will also need to log in to Amazon next week. Philly will be back on the subscription streaming service Friday, Dec. 26, to face the Chicago Bulls.

    Then there’s Peacock, which is also streaming exclusive NBA games this season as part of NBC’s deal with the league. Sixers fans will need to log on to stream the team’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 5, but that’s a problem that can wait until next year.

    Amazon has familiar NBA voices on its broadcast

    Ian Eagle will call tonight’s Sixers-Knicks game on Amazon’s Prime Video.

    Calling tonight’s Sixers-Knicks game on Amazon will be former TNT announcers Ian Eagle and Stan Van Gundy, with Cassidy Hubbarth reporting from the court at Madison Square Garden.

    Eagle is among the top play-by-play announcers in all of sports. In addition to his role at Amazon, Eagle also calls NFL games for CBS alongside J.J. Watt and has been the voice of the Brooklyn Nets on the YES Network for more than 30 years.

    As with the NFL, Amazon has quickly put together a fun pre- and postgame show on a wild, two-story set hosted by Taylor Rocks. Tonight’s studio analysts will be former NBAers Blake Griffin, Steve Nash, and Udonis Haslem, who still holds the record as the longest tenured undrafted player in league history (20 seasons).

    Tonight’s Sixers’ game is the first of a doubleheader that will stream on Amazon tonight, followed by a Western Conference matchup between the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder (who have lost just two games this season) and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

    Sixers’ record and Eastern Conference standings

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    Sixers news

    Tyrese Maxey is part of a young group bringing new life to the Sixers.

    Upcoming Sixers TV schedule

    • Friday, Dec. 19: Sixers at Knicks (7 p.m., Prime Video)
    • Saturday, Dec. 20: Mavericks at Sixers (7 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia)
    • Tuesday, Dec. 23: Nets at Sixers (7 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia)
    • Friday, Dec. 26: Sixers at Bulls (7:30 p.m., Prime Video)
    • Sunday, Dec. 28: Sixers at Thunder (3:30 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia)
    • Tuesday, Dec. 30: Sixers at Grizzlies (8 p.m., NBC/Peacock)
  • The Big Picture: Eagles big shut out, Sixers defend home court, and the week’s best sports photos

    The Big Picture: Eagles big shut out, Sixers defend home court, and the week’s best sports photos

    Each Friday, Inquirer photo editors pick the best Philly sports images from the last seven days. This week, the Eagles dominated the Las Vegas Raiders, 31-0, to end a three-game losing streak and secure their first shut out win since 2018.

    The Flyers took the Carolina Hurricanes to a shootout last Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena, but lost 4-3. The Sixers, though, defended home court with a strong performance by Joel Embiid in last week’s 10-point win over the Indiana Pacers.

    Meanwhile, Villanova picked up a much-needed nonconference win over Pittsburgh, buoyed by a strong performance from Duke Brennan.

    And finally, our Alex Coffey spoke to Billy Gordon’s family, who still has his VHS collection of basketball games of nearly five decades in Cobbs Creek.

    Our photographers were on hand for it all.

    Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kenny Pickett gets his jersey grabbed by Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt during the third quarter of Sunday’s game.
    Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts evades Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Darien Porter during a run in Sunday’s game.
    Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt watches the action as snow falls at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.
    Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert drops a pass in the end zone against the Raiders on Sunday.
    Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith catches the football with Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Darien Porter in coverage during the second quarter of Sunday’s game.
    Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson (center) stops a shot attempt from Carolina Hurricanes left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (right) with teammate Ty Murchison last Saturday night.
    Flyers center Trevor Zegras celebrates his first period goal against the Hurricanes last Saturday.
    Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe is fouled by Pacers forward Pascal Siakam while attempting a dunk last Friday. The Sixers won 115-105.
    Villanova forward Duke Brennan (center) is defended by Pittsburgh forward Roman Siulepa (right) during the first half at Finneran Pavilion on Saturday. Villanova own 79-61.
    Crates filled with various tapes of NCAA, NBA, and WNBA games from 1986 to 2024 in the room of Billy Gordon in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday. Gordon taped and collected men’s and women’s college and professional game broadcasts for 38 years until his death in 2024.
  • Gameday Central: Sixers Extra with Kate Scott

    Gameday Central: Sixers Extra with Kate Scott

    We’re kicking off Sixers Extra with our first guest — Sixers play-by-play announcer Kate Scott. Watch her interview with The Inquirer’s Gina Mizell here.