The 76ers are both fortunate and exciting.
Adem Bona is a defensive force when he’s not in foul trouble. And the Sixers need to keep Quentin Grimes as the sixth or seventh man.
Those three things stood out Monday night in the Sixers’ 136-124 victory over the Orlando Magic at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Excitement
Fortunate and exciting are the best ways to describe the Sixers. They know it. So do their first three opponents.
Yet that shouldn’t take away from the unexpected excitement surrounding the team.
After beating the Magic on Monday night, the Sixers are 3-0. It’s their best start since opening 5-0 during the 2019-20 season.
The Sixers are fortunate because they’ve had a favorable schedule to start the season, facing the Magic (1-3), Charlotte Hornets (2-1), and Boston Celtics (1-3). And they’ll travel to the 1-2 Washington Wizards on Tuesday to complete their first back-to-back of the season.
Yet, the undermanned squad is fun to watch thanks to having one of the league’s best young backcourts in Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe.
According to ESPN, the duo’s combined 186 points are the most by any team’s starting backcourt through the first three games of a season since starters were first tracked during the 1970-71 season.
“That’s a long time ago,” Maxey said with a chuckle when asked his thoughts. “Nineteen-seventy that was like … a long time ago. All I have to say is that was a long time ago.
“But I mean, listen, we are just trying to go out there and be aggressive to help us win. As long as we are doing that, then we are doing a good job. VJ is doing great.”
Several gritty, athletic, defensive-minded role players surround the duo.
As a result, this team has shown more heart than all of last season when they finished with a disheartening 24-58 record. And things should only get better once the team gets healthy.
Joel Embiid missed Monday’s game due to left knee injury management. Dominick Barlow was also sidelined while having a procedure for a left elbow laceration. Paul George (left knee surgery recovery), Jared McCain (right thumb surgery recovery), and Trendon Watford (left hamstring injury management) have yet to play this season.
On Monday, Jabari Walker (four points, five rebounds, one block) got his first start of the season. Eric Gordon (eight points, 2-for-3 on three-pointers) and Hunter Sallis made their season debuts.
“Last year, I think lineups changed a lot. Guys in and out,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said of the team’s ability to bring it together so quickly. “But this year, I think Tyrese has been hitting it on the head. It’s like no matter who’s out there, we have this constant that we won’t waiver from. That goes into our culture and the things that we do on a daily basis.
“It’s still early. But at the end of the day, man, if we can have the next man step up, or anybody come in there and be an impact to winning, I think that we’ll be better off than we were last year.”
But like they’ve done in their first two games, the Sixers came up with big fourth-quarter plays to pull out the victory.
On this night, Maxey scored 13 of his season-high 43 points in the final quarter to give the Sixers breathing room. He also finished with a game-high eight assists and four rebounds. The 2023 All-Star is averaging 37 points.
He received MVP chants during the game.
”I’m just trying to close games out,” said Maxey, who is in his sixth season. “Joel has been on me recently about that, probably since my fourth year, about how I can help close games out and have the ball in my hand and make decisions whether I’m shooting or whether I’m passing.”
Meanwhile, Edgecombe finished with 26 points, seven assists, four rebounds, one block, and a steal. He’s averaging 25 points. And the Sixers’ backcourt is a problem for teams to defend.
The team will be tough to beat if Oubre can duplicate Monday’s performance, finishing with 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting, along with 10 rebounds and two blocks.
The Magic didn’t help their case by taking too many poor shots and only playing hard in spurts. That’s where the Sixers were fortunate in this game.
But this team is exciting and has a refuse-to-lose attitude that could benefit them once the schedule toughens.
Bona’s impact, excessive fouling
Bona got the start at center for Embiid. The 6-foot-8, 235-pounder was flying around on the defensive end. That enabled him to sandwich two highlight blocks around one by Oubre on consecutive defensive possessions.
However, as Bona tends to do, he got caught for reaching and jumping into players he’s defending. Bona picked up his first foul with 8 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first quarter. Then the second-year player picked up his second foul 30 seconds later and was immediately subbed out by Andre Drummond.
“Like we all know that, like even from last year, try to avoid the early fouls to avoid going to the bench, you know?” Bona said. “Sometimes it happens. Sometimes, I just got to let some stuff go. It’s just not part of my mentality. My mentality is like no one scores on me, no one scores on the team while I’m on the floor.
“Sometimes I got to know when to switch it on, switch it off. … For me, I think that’s like the next step to know when to attack everybody and when to slow down.”
Bona returned to the game early in the second quarter.
The former UCLA standout was back to his aggressive self in the third quarter. He scored on two acrobatic alley-oop dunks, grabbed three rebounds, and blocked Desmond Bane’s layup before being subbed out with 5:50 left in the third.
“That’s huge, not just for me, but the whole team,” Bona said of highlight plays. “Not just for the whole team, but for the fans. It brings excitement. It brings juice.
“When you get the fans going, the fans are behind you and bring excitement to the team. We want to play harder. We want to play faster. So that’s really big, and that’s what I do, just bring that for the team and the fans.”
He finished with seven points and four rebounds to go with his three blocks.
Bona is a considerable asset for the Sixers. He brings unmatched energy, excitement, and rim protection. He needs to cut down on committing early fouls.
Grimes is thriving in a reserve role
After being acquired in a trade from the Dallas Mavericks in February, Grimes proved that he’s capable of starting for the Sixers.
The 6-5, 207-pounder with elite three-point shooting and solid defense would be a great compliment to Maxey in the backcourt. He would also stretch the floor to create space for Embiid and George.
But coming off the bench has enabled him to play more as a playmaker and less as a stander in the corner, waiting for catch-and-shoot opportunities.
It’s also better for him and the team in that role. There’s less competition if he’s playing for the second unit. And his impact has been felt in each of the last two games.
Grimes finished with 14 points on Monday while making 3-of-4 three-pointers, to go with five rebounds and three assists before fouling out. He made an impact shortly after checking into the game with 6:53 left in the first quarter.
He also buried three foul shots to give the Sixers an 118-113 lead with 4:52 remaining.
This comes after Grimes finished with 24 points in Saturday’s 125-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. In that win, Grimes gave the Sixers the lead for good on a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining.
“I know I’m going to get starters minutes and everything [despite coming off the bench],” Grimes said. “I’m going to do my thing. I just get the opportunity to go out there and play my game … go out there and help the team win.
“We got a lot of good guys on the team, a lot of versatility. So it’s all going to play itself out. It’s going to work out for sure.”
