Six minutes was all it took for the things that had to have worried Kevin Willard ahead of Villanova’s Saturday night showdown with St. John’s to make the difference.
Villanova’s deficit at halftime was just one point, but by the time St. John’s converted the fifth Villanova turnover of the second half into a layup, the deficit was 56-39 with 14 minutes to go in an eventual 86-79 St. John’s victory.
Some inherent disadvantages were working against Villanova at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Chief among them were the size, strength, and experience that St. John’s possesses, and the way its defensive pressure can be unrelenting. Three of Villanova’s top five scorers — Acaden Lewis, Bryce Lindsay, and Matt Hodge — are in their first or second season playing college basketball. The Red Storm, meanwhile, starts four seniors to Villanova’s one. All of that showed during a 20-4 run.
St. John’s had 12 offensive rebounds to Villanova’s seven. Four of the 12 came during that fateful six-minute stretch. Each team had eight turnovers by halftime, but Villanova finished with 14, five during the opening six minutes of the second half, and St. John’s had just one over the final 20 minutes. The Red Storm converted those Villanova turnovers into 17 points. St. John’s had 42 paint points to Villanova’s 22.
The youthful Wildcats eventually got back in the game and trailed by five with 6 minutes, 36 seconds left and again inside of a minute to play. But St. John’s was too big, too strong, and too experienced for Villanova to get over the hump, no matter how hard junior Tyler Perkins and senior Devin Askew — who scored 23 and 21 points, respectively — tried.
Villanova’s lone senior starter, center Duke Brennan, a transfer from Grand Canyon, was no match for his experienced Big East counterparts. Zuby Ejiofor had 17 points and seven rebounds. Bryce Hopkins had 20 and six. Brennan was minus-14 on the night. Lewis finished with a season-low three points and a season-high six turnovers and was on the bench for the final 11 minutes.
Lewis, who was also minus-14, looked like a freshman, which has only happened a few times this season. Hodge normally scores 10.6 points per game but was held to four. Lindsay entered Saturday scoring 15.2 points per game and scored 11, all in the second half.
“Acaden, Bryce, Matt — freshman, freshman, sophomore — against grown men,” Willard said. “That’s why Devin and Tyler played well, because they’re grown men. They’re physical, able to play against a St. John’s where I think Acaden, Bryce, and Matt are all trying to figure out, ‘How do I play when I play against a physically dominant team?’ We’ve struggled against physically dominant teams for that reason.”
Saturday night offered Villanova (14-4, 5-2 Big East) a chance for its first real signature win. Instead, it showed, for now, where the Wildcats are. They have beaten teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament like Wisconsin and Seton Hall, but they have been knocked off by the three big dogs on the schedule so far: BYU, Michigan, and now St. John’s. Villanova is where it is — ranked 25th in the NCAA’s NET rankings and 27th at KenPom as of Saturday — in large part because it has beaten the teams it’s supposed to beat.
Villanova entered Saturday as the 21st team in ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi’s projected NCAA Tournament field. The best of all the No. 6 seeds. St. John’s, meanwhile, was 26th. Saturday should at least cause a flip-flop.
“You’ve got to sit back as a coach every once in a while and realize there is a process to this,” Willard said. “Sometimes you’ve got to play bad and go back and watch film and kind of … we did some things in the second half late, defensively, that made no sense.”
It is not a talent thing, Askew said. Villanova has the players, but it needs to play in games like Saturday’s to get better.
“It’s an experience thing,” said Askew, a sixth-year senior who is averaging 18 points off the bench in his last three. “As they play more games in atmospheres like that, they’ll get better. … They just have to get used to it and they will.”
Villanova coach Kevin Willard believes his team is still learning to deal with physical opponents.
The good part for Villanova is that very few teams in the Big East are built to hurt Villanova the way St. John’s can.
The Wildcats are back at the Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday night against Georgetown, which is 1-6 in the Big East. After that is another big test — a road game at No. 3 UConn next Saturday afternoon that will give Villanova a chance to quickly show what it learned from its step up in competition.
“It’s a little bit of a learning process,” Willard said. “This group, they have a great attitude, they work hard. We’re going to have some bumps in the road. It’s a part of conference play.
“We’re not at the level where we’re going to pitch a shutout. We can’t give up 50 points in the second half. We can’t give up nine offensive rebounds in the second half. We can’t come out and turn the ball over three times. That’s all part of the learning curve a little bit.”
For Eagles fans, the end came suddenly, even if the signs were there all along. That doesn’t make the loss any easier to handle. Now that it’s all over, perhaps you’re confused and consumed by strong, unexpected emotions.
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The doctor is in
Pull up a chair. Here is a guide to identifying the five stages of grief for Eagles fans.
Denial
The first reaction to loss is denial — “How many times are they going to keep running four verticals against a quarters defense??” Your refusal to accept reality could be a psychological defense mechanism to avoid intense emotional pain, but football is a painful sport.
Anger
Anger is the birthright of a true Philadelphia sports fan. Just remember that venting your anger on other people (or homes of Eagles’ coaches) is off-limits. Whether to take out your frustrations on your TV is up to you, your significant other, and your budget.
Bargaining
If you find yourself saying something like “I’d give up my first-born child for another Super Bowl win,” perhaps amend the proposition to substitute a relative of lesser importance.
Depression
If the Eagles losing a playoff game has made you mournful and sullen, giving you feelings of emptiness and hopelessness, then welcome to life as a Philadelphia sports fan.
Acceptance
After cycling through the other stages of grief, you’ll come to this conclusion: Two Super Bowl wins in the last nine seasons is not too shabby.
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Of course, once you arrive at acceptance and you’re ready to move on to next season, we’ve got plenty of Eagles content to get you ready for the offseason.
Staff Contributors
Design: Steve Madden
Reporting: John Duchneskie
Digital Editing: Matt Mullin
Copy Editing: Tony Moss
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Nick Sirianni is the son of a high school football coach and a mentee of a Division III football coach. Everyone knows this about him.
When he speaks publicly, he frequently sprinkles in references to his father, Fran, and his nine years in charge of the program at Southwest Central High School in western New York. He talks of lessons learned from his years as a player and assistant under Larry Kehres at the University of Mount Union (it was Mount Union College when Sirianni was there) in northeast Ohio.
If one of Sirianni’s greatest weaknesses as an NFL head coach is that he’s often too impulsive and emotional, maybe it’s because there’s a fine line between small town and small-time, and he can’t help himself from crossing it. Still, he ain’t changin’ now, and in an honest appraisal of Sirianni’s five years with the Eagles, one can make the case that his background might be one of his greatest strengths.
Eagles executive vice president and general manager Howie Roseman (left) says the Eagles are fortunate to have an “elite” coach in Nick Sirianni.
If nothing else, it might be one of the reasons that he’s still in this position and, if Howie Roseman was to be believed Thursday, will be for more than a minute.
“Obviously,” Roseman said, “I sit here, and I feel incredibly grateful that I’m working with someone who … is elite at being a head coach, elite at building connections with our team, elite talking about fundamentals, game management, situational awareness, bringing the team together, holding people accountable. When you’re looking for a head coach, those are really the job descriptions.”
They’re not much different from the job descriptions of a head coach at any level of football, and for all the suggestions that Sirianni is nothing but an empty hoodie, those qualities still matter at the sport’s highest level.
What’s more — and this is the important part as far as Sirianni’s future is concerned — they allow him to be flexible, to contour himself both to what the team needs in a given season … and what he needs to do to survive.
Think about Sirianni for a moment in contrast to his predecessor, Doug Pederson. It’s no secret that Roseman and Eagles chairman Jeffrey Lurie want a head coach who aligns with their thinking on how to win games. Boiled down, a head coach here doesn’t have much independence or power relative to others around the NFL. (The last time Lurie gave a coach such freedom, Chip Kelly started making holiday party-related demands, and Pat Shurmur ended up coaching the 2015 season finale.)
Pederson had been hired as an offensive guy, and he accepted that label and that arrangement right up until he and his team won Super Bowl LII in February 2018. Six months later, his memoir hit stores. At the end of the 2019 season, he asserted in a news conference that embattled assistants Mike Groh and Carson Walch would return — only to have Lurie say, Not so fast, Dougie.
The Eagles relationship with former coach Doug Pederson (left) shares contrasts to Nick Sirianni’s time as head coach.
One day after Pederson endorsed them, Groh and Walch were gone. A year later, after a 4-11-1 season, so was Pederson. So much for assertiveness, and so much for the notion that Pederson’s status as the orchestrator and often the lead play-caller for the Eagles’ offense would preserve his job. Once Carson Wentz and the offense collapsed, what reason was there to keep Pederson?
Because Sirianni’s personality is more tempestuous than Pederson’s, it was always fair to wonder whether, if he ever found himself in the same post-championship situation, he might try to flex a little bit, too. But he did the opposite Thursday, explaining why his close friend Kevin Patullo was no longer the offensive coordinator, suggesting that he would be open to having the new OC have the kind of say-so over the unit that Vic Fangio has over the defense.
“You’re looking to continue to evolve as an offense,” he said, “and I’m looking to bring in the guy [who is] going to best help us do that. I think that there are many different ways to be successful on offense, and everybody has different styles. Everybody has different players. And there’s many different ways to be successful.”
The cynical way to look at this, of course, is that A) Sirianni is acting out of self-preservation; and B) his presence acts as a Kevlar vest for Roseman, protecting him from any public-relations damage if he messes up the assembling of the Eagles’ roster. As great a general manager as Roseman has been, he still makes mistakes. And on those rare occasions when he makes more than his share, the perception that Sirianni is handed an outstanding team every year and that all he can do is screw it up sure takes a lot of heat off the guy who is calling the player-personnel shots.
There’s another prism through which to view Sirianni, though: that he doesn’t have to control every aspect of a team, or even one specific aspect of a team, to do his job and do it well. He doesn’t need to pick the players, design the offense, call the plays.
He’ll delegate responsibility, trust his people, fill in the gaps where he can and should. He’ll take the guys who happen to be on his team that particular year and play that particular hand. Sounds like what a high school or small-college coach does. Sounds like a formula to last a while with this particular franchise.
The hockey season can be a long and winding road, but right now the Flyers have gone off-roading and toward a cliff.
Eleven days ago, the vibes were high following an emotional, high-intensity win against Cutter Gauthier and the Anaheim Ducks. The whole night, Xfinity Mobile Arena was rocking in front of a sellout crowd.
On Saturday, the Flyers were booed out of their own building before they head west to play the Vegas Golden Knights, Utah Mammoth, and Colorado Avalanche — two Stanley Cup contenders and a team in the playoff picture in the Western Conference — on a trip that could send them spiraling over.
The Flyers have now lost six straight, capped off by a dreadful 6-3 loss to a New York Rangers team that confirmed on Friday, with a letter to its fans, that they have officially driven off the cliff and essentially quit on their season.
“We sucked. Plain and simple. We can’t show up,” captain Sean Couturier said. “Down 3-1, 5 minutes in, 10 minutes in, whatever it was. We’ve got to be better.”
Can the Flyers be better? Can they pump the brakes on the slide?
From the outside, six straight losses is a concern, for sure; however, the longest losing streak of the season previously was three games, Dec. 11-15 — all in overtime — so the losses alone are not setting off alarm bells.
What is setting off loud sirens is how they are losing games.
Entering their game on Jan. 8 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Flyers had allowed 2.80 goals on average across the first 41 games of the season. The past six? An eye-popping 5.17.
“Obviously, really frustrated,” defenseman Cam York said postgame, after being on the ice for three goals by the Rangers. “We’ve kind of just been shooting ourselves in the foot, making silly mistakes, I think. It’s correctable stuff, stuff that we haven’t done all year up to this point.”
Creeping back in are the odd-man rushes, the two-on-one goals, the three-on-one goals — the Rangers had both — the turnovers, the bad penalties that plagued them early in the year, and players not stepping up on the opposition.
The structure has broken down as guys are missing reads, attacking players who already have a Flyer on them, and giving time and space to the opposition. They are leaving opponents wide open on the weak side.
It does not make it easy on the goalies when they’re having to dive across the crease to stop pucks — a hallmark of what coach Rick Tocchet’s system is meant to prevent.
Is this who the Flyers really are? Was goalie Dan Vladař, who missed his second straight game on Saturday after being injured in the first period on Wednesday, hiding the Flyers’ flaws with his red-hot start?
“I‘ve been preaching since the start of the year, you cannot give weak side goals up, so you protect the middle and let the goalie have it,” Tocchet said.
“Now what happens is, when you start getting goals side to side, what are the goalies doing? They’re just playing on their heels. … But before, especially when Vladdy was here, he knew, most of the time the puck was going to be there and he was ready for it. He made those stops. I’m just using it as an example.”
There’s no denying that, beyond Vladař, the goaltending has been an issue. Aleksei Kolosov got the start on Saturday and allowed three goals on three shots — the fourth Flyers goalie in team history to finish a game with a .000 save percentage, joining Ron Hextall, Ken Wregget, and Antero Niittymäki. Sam Ersson actually made several big-time stops against the Rangers when left out to dry, but ultimately gave up three goals on 25 shots.
“Tocc always says that it’s hard for anyone to make five, six perfect reads in a game. And when you’re not playing well, and you’re in the D zone, you’re having to make 15 reads, it makes the game a lot harder,” forward Travis Konecny said.
“You guys [the media] see it, when we’re playing good and things are buzzing, we’re getting through the neutral zone, we’re playing good offense, things just kind of happen naturally. You’re not really thinking out there. And then when you have to put your thinking cap on that many times in a game, it’s hard to be perfect. More times than not, there’s going to be a mistake somewhere in there.”
The question is now what? The power play is in a familiar but unwelcome spot, ranked dead last at 14.9% — allowing two short-handed goals. (Um, did Scott Laughton’s goal on Jan. 8 break the Flyers?). The penalty kill jumped ship a while ago and is at 61.9% during the losing streak.
And now they have injury woes with Vladař (undisclosed injury); defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on injured reserve (upper-body injury) and not expected to head west; Bobby Brink on injured reserve (upper-body injury) but could draw back in on Monday against Vegas; Rodrigo Ābols got hurt during the game on Saturday (lower-body injury); and Tyson Foerster was ruled out for likely the season in mid-December.
Seventeen days ago, Flyers president Keith Jones sat down with The Inquirer and said that “the players will decide” what management will do as the March 6 trade deadline approaches. At the time, “the players have done a really good job of putting themselves in a position where we’re going to look to enhance what they’ve done,” he added.
Where do things stand now? There are 14 games between now and the trade deadline. Will they be sellers? Will they add?
As Jones said, the players will decide, so will they step on the brakes or hit the gas pedal?
Time will tell. That time is now.
The Flyers were embarrassed on Saturday against a Rangers team that waved the white flag on Friday.
Breakaways
The Flyers’ injury bug stung again just 6 minutes, 10 seconds into the game. Ābols appeared to get his right toe stuck in the ice along the boards in the offensive zone. His ankle buckled in the process, and he was unable to skate off the ice without help. He did not return with a lower-body injury, and Tocchet said postgame, “It’s not good.” … The Flyers have four players slated to play at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics and now three are hurt with Ābols (lower-body injury), Vladař (undisclosed) day-to-day, and, Ristolainen was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury after the game. … Defenseman Hunter McDonald was officially recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League after the game but watched the loss from the press box.
The Flyers begin a three-game swing through what some are calling the new “Death Valley,” beginning Monday with a matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights (8 p.m., NBCSP+).
Jared McCain has been assigned to the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats, the 76ers announced Saturday.
McCain did not play in the Sixers’ Friday loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his rotation minutes have diminished in recent games as the roster has returned to full strength. The Blue Coats play at the Noblesville Boom on Sunday and Monday.
It has been a challenging second NBA season for McCain, who is about 13 months removed from meniscus surgery and also underwent thumb surgery in September. The second-year guard is averaging 6.3 points on 35.4% shooting from the floor in 30 games, but has been surpassed on the depth chart by dynamic rookie VJ Edgecombe and sixth man Quentin Grimes.
McCain also had two-game stint with the Blue Coats in November to help him regain conditioning and his shooting stroke shortly after returning from injury. Sixers coach Nick Nurse said throughout McCain’s reacclimation that game experience is expected to help him return to form.
Before his surgeries, McCain was a Rookie of the Year frontrunner after averaging 15.3 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 23 games. He shot 38.3% on 5.8 three-pointers per game, after connecting on 41.4% of his long-range attempts during his one college season at Duke.
Albie Crosby has come across several talented athletes over his two decades as a high school football coach. But DJ Moore was “always one of the elites in that group.”
It makes sense, considering the success the 28-year-old is having in his eighth NFL season.
The Chicago Bears receiver, who graduated from Imhotep Charter in 2015, has been a critical part of the passing game since his arrival in 2023, while etching his name into franchise history.
The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018, and Moore caught a 25-yard game-winning touchdown to seal a thrilling 31-27 comeback victory over the Packers in the wild-card round. St. Joseph’s Prep graduates D’Andre Swift and Olamide Zaccheaus also scored as the Bears (12-6) advanced to the divisional round for the first time since 2011 and will face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday (6:30 p.m., NBC10).
The wild-card matchup was Moore’s first NFL playoff game, and he’s experiencing his first winning season since his senior year at Imhotep.
“When you look at it, no winning seasons since high school. It’s crazy,” Moore told Marquee Sports Network ahead of the Bears-Packers game. “This is my first time in this thing, too, so I’m just going with the flow and working hard.”
That aspect of Moore has never changed.
He always wanted to be the best, Crosby said, who took over at Simon Gratz in late December after spending nine season at Neumann Goretti. Moore was the talk of the area. His skills caught the attention of coaches while he was in grade school, Crosby among them.
When Crosby became the head coach at Imhotep in 2012, Moore was in his sophomore season and played receiver, running back, and was the team’s kicker. He still holds the Philadelphia Public League record for most kicked points.
As a junior, he helped ignite Imhotep’s run to its first-ever state championship appearance. However, the Panthers got trounced, 41-0, in the PIAA Class 2A championship game by South Fayette of Allegheny County. That didn’t matter to Crosby, because his players had the experience of a lifetime at Hersheypark.
Imhotep finished 12-2 during Moore’s senior campaign. While it lost to Archbishop Wood in the first round of Class 3A playoffs, moments from that year have stuck with Crosby.
Former Imhotep star DJ Moore, who now plays for the Chicago Bears, caught a game-winning touchdown in his first NFL playoff game.
“We played Trinity High School, and into the third quarter, our kids started cramping up,” Crosby said. “Injuries started happening. We lost our quarterback. So the next week, we played Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia, and I had to put DJ in at quarterback.
“Then, we had another national game where we played against Friendship Collegiate Academy outside of D.C., they thought they got the team with DJ at quarterback. … First play, quarterback’s back, and DJ’s at wide receiver. We throw a little screen to DJ, and he takes it 80 yards.”
Moore finished with 35 receptions for 1,012 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2014 and was the No. 12 player in Pennsylvania, according to 247Sports.com’s recruiting rankings.
Despite the accolades, he’s a “private young person” off the field. He also had a strong support system, and his mother, Cookie Ridley, used to attend every game, Crosby recalled.
“He had an advantage when he turned to the sideline, he knew that there was loved ones looking out for him,” Crosby said. “His mom was one of the team moms, and she made sure that all the kids felt loved. He was a special kid because he embraced that. There was never no jealousy. He loved that his mom loved everybody. It speaks volumes of a young person that can share their parents.”
Crosby often brings up Moore’s journey when he’s coaching his high school or seven-on-seven team. But when he thinks about the impact he may have had on Moore, Crosby hopes he offered more lessons about life than football.
“I’m super proud of him,” Crosby said. “To be the father that he is, be the husband that he is, to be the son and brother that he is. All that is what makes me extremely proud.”
During his three seasons at Maryland and five with the Carolina Panthers — who drafted Moore in the first round with the 24th overall pick in 2018 — his teams compiled 13-24 and 29-53 records, respectively. With the Bears, he’s having career highlights.
In his first season, Moore finished with a career-high 1,364 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Last year, he had a career-best in receptions with 98. He hauled in six touchdowns and had 682 receiving yards in 2025.
Moore will have the crowd behind him on Sunday, and his former coach also will be cheering for him and the Bears back in his hometown.
“I’ll be rooting for him like crazy,” Crosby said. “Rooting for him, rooting for Olamide, and Swift.”
The Flyers face the New York Rangers on Saturday before embarking on a three-game road trip through what some are calling the new Death Valley.
Whether they will have reinforcements as the team heads west to face the Vegas Golden Knights, Utah Mammoth, and Colorado Avalanche is the big question.
According to Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, who spoke Saturday morning at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Bobby Brink is a “possibility against Vegas.” Brink was placed on injured reserve on Thursday, retroactive to Jan. 6, when he was injured on a blindsided hit by Anaheim Ducks forward Jansen Harkins just 2 minutes, 38 seconds into the first period.
It had seemed earlier in the week that the winger would return, but he was not on the trip for the losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, and he has now missed six games. Brink skated Saturday morning and, if he is good to go,they’llappreciate having back his production — 11 goals and 20 points in 41 games — and chemistry with Noah Cates.
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladař is considered day-to-day. It’s uncertain if he’ll travel with the team on their road trip.
Goalie Dan Vladař‘s status for the road trip is a little more up in the air.
“At this point, I’d say day to day,” Tocchet said. “It depends [on] how he feels after therapy. So it’s like, one of those things every 24 hours, you kind of, you get better or not? What percentage? So it’s hard to really pinpoint things exactly.”
Vladař suffered what looked to be a lower-body injury in the first period against the Buffalo Sabres, when he wasn’t sure where a missed shot by Josh Doan went before Rasmus Dahlin scored a power-play goal. The netminder, who is one of Czechia’s three goalies for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, allowed two goals on five shots in one period of action during the Flyers’ 5-2 loss on Wednesday.
According to a team source on Thursday afternoon, the Flyers may have avoided the worst-case scenario on his injury. While the early findings are positive, they won’t know more for a few days. Whether or not he goes on the trip is to be determined.
“Yes, I think,” Tocchet said before adding, “still got to talk to the doctors on that, because if he’s not going to play in the games [maybe not]. Is there a possibility for the third game? Maybe. That’s what we’ll decide.”
Although the team source also stated that Rasmus Ristolainen’s early findings were also positive and that they may have avoided the worst-case scenario, the defenseman will not make the trip west.
“I don’t think it’s a long-term. Is it a week thing? Maybe,” Tocchet said. “If I say a week and it’s not seven days, you guys (the media) are going to kill me. But it’s definitely a week. It could be eight days, nine days, I don’t know.”
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen will not travel with the team on their three-game road trip.
Ristolainen is out with an upper-body injury. When and how the injury was sustained is unknown. He was a full participant at morning skate and took power-play reps with the top unit in Buffalo on Wednesday, but then did not skate in the game that night.
It’s another unfortunate setback for the 31-year-old blueliner. He made his season debut on Dec. 16 in Montreal after undergoing surgery on a right triceps tendon rupture in late March. It followed a pair of procedures in 2024, which also repaired a ruptured triceps tendon. Flyers general manager Danny Brière said last April that the injury was similar, although he wouldn’t confirm whether he suffered a torn tendon again.
The 76ers nearly pulled off their first win over the Cavaliers this year, after Wednesday’s blowout loss. But in the final moments, the Sixers just couldn’t close it out.
After Wednesday’s loss, Nick Nurse changed his strategy entering Friday’s game, electing to match Cleveland’s two-big lineup of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen with his smaller lineup instead of trying to equal their size.
“The choices are, go big and try to match their size or make them match yours,” Nurse said. “For the most part, I think the guys we had in there were the guys we wanted in there.”
Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr. both got a lot of run off the bench, while Jabari Walker got just four minutes, and Andre Drummond and Jared McCain didn’t play at all. Grimes scored 14 points with seven rebounds and four assists, and Oubre scored 12 points and grabbed two offensive rebounds.
Nurse also turned to Trendon Watford for two key stretches in the second and third quarters. Watford scored just four points on two shots, but grabbed two offensive rebounds, and the Sixers were plus-five with him on the floor.
“We had just a little bit of a rough patch in the second with execution and ball handling, and decided to go with him for that,” Nurse said. “I liked them having to play our smaller lineup [more] than I did our bigger lineup.”
McCain, the Sixers’ 2024 first-round pick, has mostly played limited minutes since returning from a meniscus tear and a torn UCL in his thumb. But Friday, McCain had his first DNP since November. Before his season-ending injury last year, McCain was named Rookie of the Month and showed promise, but even with Nurse open to a smaller, guard-heavy lineup, he didn’t factor into the game.
Maxey struggles
After putting up just 14 points on 5-for-16 shooting in Wednesday’s blowout loss to Cleveland, Tyrese Maxey didn’t fare much better on Friday. Maxey shot 9-for-23 from the field and 2 of 8 from three-point range, ultimately scoring 22 points in the loss.
Maxey said that the back-to-back set’s two games felt a bit like a playoff series, with both teams making adjustments after Wednesday’s “Game 1,” turning Friday into something like a Game 2.
Most of the Sixers’ defensive adjustments worked, especially on Cavs star Donovan Mitchell, who shot 4-for-13 from the field after a 35-point game on Wednesday. But Maxey couldn’t find a way to break free offensively.
“They do a good job on all my ball screens, they put a lot of attention on me,” Maxey said. “A lot of times, even when I come off a ball screen with Joel and Jarrett Allen’s guarding him, I’m just stringing them out, he stays on me, and I’m throwing it back to Joel. And then, I missed some good looks tonight.”
The Cavaliers threw a lot of bodies at Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey to confuse him on offense.
Nurse agreed that Maxey wasn’t as accurate as usual, especially from three-point range.
“They got some great size,” Nurse said. “They did a pretty good job of putting two on him a lot. He didn’t get a whole lot, I thought, at the basket.”
But despite Maxey’s struggles, the Sixers were able to keep the game competitive until the final moments, getting the ball to the weak side and giving more opportunity to the Sixers’ other stars, like Joel Embiid, who had a team-high 33 points.
Defense
The Sixers focused their game plan heavily around Mitchell on Friday, especially with Cavs guard Darius Garland out with a foot injury he suffered on Wednesday.
Unlike in the previous matchup, they kept Mitchell in check. Jaylon Tyson ended up doing the most damage, scoring 39 points on 13-for-17 shooting, including making 7-of-9 three-point attempts. But despite the ultimate result, the Sixers made progress defensively, Sixers forward Paul George said.
“We held Donovan to a rougher night, Mobley to a rougher night,” George said. “We didn’t predict Tyson would go for 40, but that’s basketball. It was his night tonight …But when you go into a game and we follow the game plan to make it as tough as possible for Donovan, I thought we executed that.”
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell was held to only 13 points in Friday’s Sixers loss.
That defense also led to more offense. The Sixers had 11 steals, and scored 32 points off of 18 Cavaliers turnovers, with 21 of those points coming in the first half.
But the final, game-losing possession, with Evan Mobley getting the ball from Tyson for an easy dunk in the paint, was an example of where the Sixers still need to grow defensively.
“There’s still steps,” George said. “There’s a long way. I still think we’ve got to get to where we’re not giving up so many layups and baskets at the rim. I thought we did fairly good.”
Tyrese Maxey could easily begin rattling off several games that the 76ers had already let slip away this season.
Both visits to the Chicago Bulls. Both contests against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons, including a Nov. 14 trip in which they led in the fourth quarter. Two games against the Toronto Raptors, a potential first-round playoff opponent.
That barely scratched the past 12 days. The Sixers on Jan. 5 lost in overtime to a Denver Nuggets team that intentionally rested the bulk of its rotation. Then, last Sunday, they surrendered a four-point lead with 20 seconds remaining in regulation in Toronto before falling in overtime. Then came Friday night, when the Sixers blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 117-115 defeat at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
And in the bunched-up Eastern Conference standings — where three games separated second place from seventh entering Saturday — Maxey acknowledged that “those hurt.”
“We’ve had plenty of them,” the star point guard added. “ … But it’s OK. You’ve got to keep going. We’ve got 42 more games, so can’t dwell on it.”
The consequence of such late collapses was immediately clear late Friday, when the 22-18 Sixers dropped from fifth place to seventh in the East. They also are quite acquainted with down-to-the-wire scenarios, entering Saturday tied for third in the NBA with 25 “clutch” games played, which is classified as a game with the scoring margin at five points or less with five minutes remaining in regulation.
Recent results, though, have shifted from the early season, when part of this team’s resurgent charm was its knack for flipping poor third quarters into valiant comebacks. Their three consecutive clutch defeats have dropped their record to 13-12 in such games, which partially mirrors a perplexingly average 10-11 home record.
“It kind of evens out a lot over the year,” coach Nick Nurse said after Friday’s game. “I thought we were really great early, and I think we’ve got to get a little bit better right now at it.”
The Sixers entered Saturday ranked sixth in the NBA in defensive rating in those clutch minutes (101.2 points allowed per 100 possessions), but 17th in offensive rating (109.7 points per 100 possessions). Standout veterans Joel Embiid and Paul George both attribute those offensive sputters to execution woes, particularly while still gaining rhythm with a finally healthy roster.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points in his team’s first win over the Sixers this week.
“We’ve just need to be organized,” Embiid said after Friday’s game, “and, I guess, keep running the same plays that are working.”
Added George: “We’ve got to probably drill it a little bit more. We’re out there together. We kind of know where we’re at. What we’re doing. What we’re running. What sets can we get into? Because the fact of the matter is they’re not going to make it easy for us.”
That starts with Maxey, the NBA’s third-leading scorer who will have the ball in his hands in crunch time.
He was self-critical after missing potential game-winners at the end of regulation and overtime against Denver, noting that he should have been more demonstrative in directing teammates and where he wanted the ball. He believed he and the Sixers had improved in that regard in their first matchup in Toronto, when he ripped off seven consecutive points — including what could have been a game-clinching deep shot — before the Sixers botched an inbounds pass. On Friday, Maxey shook loose for a game-tying floater with 8.1 seconds remaining before Evan Mobley’s winning dunk, but had been physically guarded throughout a 9-for-23 shooting night.
“Just not good enough down the stretch,” Nurse said of Maxey and the offense, “with either making a shot or getting a good enough one.”
During the final 3 minutes, 53 seconds — when Cleveland staged a 13-4 run to close the gap and seize the lead — the Sixers missed four out of their five shot attempts that came from Maxey, George, Embiid, and Kelly Oubre Jr. That put the Sixers “in scramble mode” on defense, Nurse said, whenever the Cavaliers turned missed shots or turnovers into transition opportunities. Maxey also emphasized an uptick in “broken plays,” such as loose balls and rebounds that the Sixers have not secured frequently enough in those crucial late minutes.
“Those come back to bite you,” Maxey said.
This was a rare week for the Sixers to play two consecutive games apiece against the Cleveland and Toronto, who also are in the thick of those muddled East standings. The Sixers are now 0-3 against the Cavaliers, officially losing the tiebreaker before a final meeting in March in Cleveland. They have finished the regular-season series against the Raptors at 2-2.
The positives? The Sixers have clinched a 2-1 tiebreaker against the Orlando Magic, whom they play only three times in the regular season. And they hold a 2-1 lead over the Celtics before their final matchup in March in Boston, and 2-0 lead over the New York Knicks ahead of two home games next weekend and just before the All-Star break.
Sixers forward Dominick Barlow was back in the rotation after suffering a back contusion earlier this week.
Maxey enthusiastically clapped when asked earlier this season about his team’s abundance of close games, believing they would hold long-term benefits. Nurse added that, whenever he is asked about this topic at coaching conventions, he stresses that defensive execution is “equally important — maybe more” than offensive execution.
“And then, like anything else,” Nurse said, “it takes some work. It takes some repetition. It takes some focus. And then it takes belief.”
The past 12 days have demonstrated that the Sixers still have room to grow in those areas. Because they let three consecutive clutch games slip away, which caused them to slip down the crowded East standings.
“We’ve got to close games,” Embiid said, “and we’ve had a lot of games that [we] probably wish we could take it back.”
The Eagles bowed out of the playoffs in the wild-card round, setting in motion an offseason that likely will feature a lot of change. Players and coaches will come and go, and the team won’t look the same when it takes the field for training camp in July. Some of that began right away, when offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo was relieved of his duties two days after the season ended.
We’ll keep you updated on the entire Eagles offseason at The Inquirer with news and analysis on the team as it goes through a critical offseason.
Is a new deal in the cards for tight end Dallas Goedert coming off a career season?
Roster decisions
Scheduled free agents
The Eagles have 20 pending free agents, 10 on offense, nine on defense, and punter Braden Mann.
Offense
TE Dallas Goedert: Goedert reworked his deal last offseason to stay with the Eagles and scored to a career-best 11 touchdowns, an Eagles tight end record. Considering the Eagles don’t have any tight ends on the roster, they may look to bring the 31-year-old back after he got through the season relatively healthy.
WR Jahan Dotson: The little-used third receiver could find a new home this offseason. WR3 is a tough position on this team behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and it seems unlikely the Eagles will find it worth bringing Dotson back.
OT Fred Johnson: Johnson left for free agency after last season, but the Eagles traded for him before the season for some insurance at tackle, and they needed it. It remains to be seen how the Eagles approach the draft and free agency, but Johnson’s return would put an experienced body on the depth chart.
TE Grant Calcaterra: As mentioned, the Eagles don’t have any tight ends. Calcaterra has been productive when the Eagles use him as a pass catcher, but he’s not a great blocker, and the Eagles need their tight ends to block.
OL Brett Toth: The do-it-all lineman has been a valuable asset in Jeff Soutland’s offensive line room. He can fill in at any position.
TE Kylen Granson: Granson was a big part of the Eagles’ special teams, despite having a limited role in the offense. The tight end position is in flux, but Granson could return as a depth piece.
OL Matt Pryor: The Eagles brought back a familiar and experienced face in the offseason for some depth. Pryor gave that and provided positional versatility. But he wasn’t all that great in relief.
RB AJ Dillon: Dillon started the season in the mix to get snaps behind Saquon Barkley, but he fell out of favor after the Eagles traded for Tank Bigsby. Dillon was inactive for most of the second half of the season and logged just 12 carries. The Eagles are pretty set at running back with Barkley, Bigsby, and Will Shipley.
QB Sam Howell: The Eagles weren’t comfortable with Kyle McCord as QB3, so they acquired Howell before the season. Will McCord be ready after spending the 2025 season on the practice squad?
FB Ben VanSumeren: VanSumeren changed positions from linebacker to fullback and made the 53-man roster, but his season ended on the opening kickoff in Week 1. The Eagles signed Kansas City’s Carson Steele to a futures contract. Will they bring back VanSumeren and have a fullback competition?
The Eagles got a good look at linebacker Jaelan Phillips after acquiring him at midseason.
Defense
EDGE Jaelan Phillips: The deadline acquisition stepped in right away and was a difference-maker along the defensive line. The Eagles need a top-end edge rusher to add to a unit that has Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith under contract. Phillips would make sense.
LB Nakobe Dean: Dean returned from patellar tendon surgery in the middle of the season and looked like he didn’t miss a beat. But the Eagles drafted his replacement last season in Jihaad Campbell.
S Reed Blankenship: Blankenship has been a big part of the defense for the last four years. He has started 50 games and is a leader. The Eagles are thin at safety, but it remains to be seen what Blankenship’s market looks like and if the Eagles will be in the mix.
CB Adoree’ Jackson: Jackson was up and down in training camp and to start the season, but he played his way into a starting job opposite Quinyon Mitchell. He’ll be 31 next season, and the Eagles probably want to get better at CB2.
S Marcus Epps: Epps stepped in as a starter after Drew Mukuba went down. He’ll be 30 before the season starts, though he could find his way back to the Eagles and compete for a job.
EDGE Brandon Graham: Graham came out of retirement and briefly changed positions when Jalen Carter went down and the interior needed a boost. Will he go back into retirement?
EDGE Joshua Uche: Uche seemed to be playing his way into a bigger role when the Eagles brought Graham out of retirement, which forced Uche to a lesser role. The Eagles are thin on the edge, though Uche seems to be more of a depth piece right now.
EDGE Azeez Ojulari: Ojulari ended up behind Uche on the depth chart and then missed most of the season after being placed on injured reserve.
EDGE Ogbo Okoronkwo: Okoronkwo made the team out of training camp as a depth edge rusher but suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4, the only game in which he played.
Special teams
P Braden Mann: Mann had a great season. He ranked fifth in the NFL in punt average (49.9 yards). It would make sense for the Eagles to want to bring him back.
Jordan Davis, left, and Jalen Carter could both be in consideration for new deals.
New deals?
There are a few players under contract who could be in the running for a new contract with the Eagles.
DT Jordan Davis: The Eagles picked up Davis’ fifth-year option last offseason and he remains under contract for the 2026 season. But after a breakout 2025 season, he likely earned himself a lot of money.
DT Jalen Carter: The Eagles likely will do what they did with Davis and pick up Carter’s fifth year, but it might be time for an extension now. Carter didn’t have his best season after a dominant 2024. The Eagles may be able to sign him to a more team-friendly deal, though Carter and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, may opt to play 2026 on his current deal and revisit the big-money deal next offseason.
DT Moro Ojomo: Ojomo is set to play the final year of his four-year rookie deal in 2026. The seventh-round pick has been a major success story. Will the Eagles look to lock him up beyond 2026? Will they be able to afford all of these defensive linemen with big contracts coming in the future for other defensive stars like Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean?
Contracted players who could be on the way out
The Eagles have some players on the 2026 roster who may not be here when training camp starts.
K Jake Elliott: Elliott has had two consecutive seasons where he didn’t perform well enough. His 2025 field goal conversion rate was just 74.1%, the lowest of any kicker who played a full season.
WR A.J. Brown: Will his frustrations with the offense cause him to ask for a trade? It would be a costly move for the Eagles, but they’ve willingly taken on dead cap in the past. The Eagles would have a big hole to fill if it came to that.
RT Lane Johnson: Johnson remains one of the best tackles in football, but his availability was an issue this season. He missed the final eight games of the season after suffering a Lisfranc injury in his right foot. The Eagles probably would love him back, but Johnson will be 36 in May and won’t play forever.
QB Tanner McKee: Will the Eagles look to ship McKee to another team for a draft pick? McKee’s Week 18 performance didn’t help their cause.
CB Kelee Ringo: Ringo remains under contract on his rookie deal, but he seems like a change-of-scenery candidate. He has struggled to get on the field with the Eagles, though he has been great on special teams.
Howie Roseman will be central to the selection of a new offensive coordinator.
Coaching staff changes
Patullo’s ouster kicked off an offseason that could see a few more coaching changes.
The Eagles, of course, are looking to hire an offensive coordinator. Nick Sirianni said he wants the Eagles’ offense to continue to “evolve” and the team appears to be going after some experienced play-callers to get their offense back on track.
Who else could be on the move?
For starters, special teams coordinator Michael Clay is not under contract for next season.
Additionally, defensive backs coach Christian Parker has been a popular name for defensive coordinator openings. Defensive line coach Clint Hurtt has been a coordinator before and, after his work with the Eagles’ front, could get some interviews.
A new offensive coordinator could mean more shakeup on the offensive staff, too.
Guard Joel Bitonio has been a respected member of a Browns team that has otherwise struggled for most of his tenure.
2026 free agency targets
What do the Eagles need most? What kind of players will be on the market?
First, the Eagles need to know what happens with the futures of key offensive players like A.J. Brown and Lane Johnson.
At the moment, they have just over $15 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap. That’s not a lot, but Howie Roseman has shown the creativity to use void years and spread cap hits out over multiple seasons.
Free agency begins March 11.
Position groups and players to target
Offensive line: Will Johnson return? Will Landon Dickerson ever be healthy again? Can Cam Jurgens bounce back? Big questions facing the Eagles, who need to restore their offensive line this offseason. Reinforcements likely will come via the draft, but free agency offers some options.
Indianapolis Colts right tackle Braden Smith, for example, has dealt with injuries but could provide insurance for Johnson and help the Eagles bridge their way to the next young tackle. Old friend Isaac Seumalo fits that bill, too, at guard. Same with Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio.
Wide receiver: Regardless of what happens with Brown, the Eagles could use some more help at receiver. They won’t be playing in the George Pickens pool, and probably not Alec Pierce, either, but what about Romeo Doubs, Kendrick Bourne, or Van Jefferson at WR3?
EDGE: Jaelan Phillips should be at the top of the Eagles’ wish list. Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith are the only two edge rushers under contract. The Eagles will draft at least one rusher, but they need a top-end talent like Phillips. If not Phillips, other top options would be Trey Hendrickson, Odafe Oweh, Boye Mafe, Joey Bosa, and Khalil Mack. There’s always the possibility of Roseman figuring out a way to trade for Maxx Crosby, too.
Tight end: Dallas Goedert may be in the running to return. But if not, the Eagles could eye someone like Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts, who finally played to his potential this season. Pitts attended Abington and Archbishop Wood before playing at Florida in college. Other free agents include Isaiah Likely, David Njoku, and Tyler Higbee. The Eagles probably will use a draft pick on one, too.
Cornerback: Quinyon Mitchell eventually will re-sign at the top of the market, and you don’t see many teams spending that type of money on two players at this position. But there are some options the Eagles could target, like Tariq Woolen, Roger McCreary, and Jamel Dean. Will those players be too costly? We’ll see.
Safety: Reed Blankenship has been solid for the Eagles, but he’s not great in coverage. The Eagles could be looking to pair Drew Mukuba with a better player on the back line, and they could look to do that via free agency. Old friend Kevin Byard has been really productive with the Chicago Bears, though he could command a bigger contract than the Eagles are willing to give out. Los Angeles Rams safety Kamren Curl could be an option.
The 2026 NFL draft
The Eagles’ needs here will become clearer after free agency, though our Devin Jackson looked at a few potential targets at pick No. 23.
The draft will take place beginning on Thursday, April 23, in Pittsburgh.
Before that, there are some other key dates and events to look out for.
The East-West Shrine Bowl is on Jan. 27; the Senior Bowl is on Jan. 31; the yearly NFL Scouting Combine begins on Feb. 23; and teams have until April 15 to conduct visits, tests, and interviews with prospective draft picks.
Will there be more drama around the Tush Push this offseason?
League meetings
The annual league meeting is from March 29 to April 1 in Arizona. It is there that the Tush Push likely will be another big topic of conversation and could meet its demise.
But the Eagles’ lack of success using their signature play this season could result in some teams backing off a little bit. We’ll see.
There’s also another league meeting May 19 and 20 in Orlando.
2026 Eagles schedule
The Eagles’ opponents are known. They play home games vs. their three divisional opponents (Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Giants), as well as other games vs. the Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Houston Texans.
Besides their three NFC East road games, the Eagles also travel to play the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans.
It remains to be seen if the Eagles will get an international game.
The schedule is due out in May, but international dates will likely be released prior to that.
