2025-2026 Sixers Bell Ringer Season Standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 3
VJ Edgecombe – 1
Adem Bona – 1
The Philadelphia 76ers improved to 5-1 to begin their season on Sunday evening with a dominant 129-105 victory
visiting the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are 0-6 to begin their campaign.
The Sixers were without Joel Embiid (injury management) with Jared McCain (thumb), Paul George (knee) and Dominick Barlow (elbow) still sidelined as well. It didn’t matter much tonight, fortunately. Stellar performances from the likes of Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes with the usual contributions from Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe combined for a commanding win over Brooklyn to start this three-game road trip for the Sixers.
If you’re looking for a game recap, you can check that out at this link. Here, we have a lot of Bell Ringer candidates to go through, so let’s dive right in. One of the names here might even surprise you, if you didn’t get to watch the game…
Let’s get to the Bell Ringer.
Kelly Oubre Jr.: 29 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block
Oubre has been fantastic to start this season, averaging 17.6 points per game going into Sunday’s contest against the Nets. He’s not trying to do more than he can, but he’s simply doing everything he can at an extremely-high level.
Tonight, especially in the first period, he was at his absolute best. Oubre had a career-best opening frame with 22 points, shooting 9-for-12 from the floor with two triples. He was also looking like a monster defensively, disrupting the Nets’ offense without committing fouls. Don’t take my word for it, though, just watch below.
Oubre headed to the locker room at the end of the third period after appearing to roll his right ankle, limping afterwards. Fortunately, Oubre was seen back out on the bench shortly after, and his services on the court were no longer needed at that point with the Sixers up 20+ points.
Oubre finished the evening leading Philadelphia with 29 points on 12-for-21 (57.1%) field goal shooting, hitting 3-of-9 (33.3%) from long range. He went 2-for-2 from the foul line, had three rebounds and added a block and a steal in his 33:17 on the floor.
That’ll do.
VJ Edgecombe: 16 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
I know it’s only been six games… but I cannot believe the Sixers got this kid. The 2025 No. 3 overall pick has been living up to the hype (and more, if you ask me) and that didn’t stop on Sunday.
After a relatively quiet first period in Brooklyn, Edgecombe got into the groove with a dozen points in the second. Despite starting a little cold from beyond the arc, Edgecombe kept shooting, sinking back-to-back triples and expanding the Sixers’ lead as the game approached halftime. He actually attempted a third three after those two, hitting off back iron — Trendon Watford was there for the offensive board and set VJ up to make up for it immediately with an aggressive slam.
Goodness, this kid is fun to watch.
Edgecombe continues to have the awareness of when to utilize his speed and athleticism to blow by competitors that, like the Nets tonight, really don’t stand a chance keeping up with him (especially in transition). He also continues to be an absolute menace on defense, with lockdown defensive skills and just overall game awareness seemingly far beyond his years already.
The rookie finished Sunday’s contest with 16 points (6-for-12 field goal shooting, 2-for-6 from long range) with two rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Tyrese Maxey: 26 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal
It’s funny, but this felt like a “quiet” night from Maxey. I say that because the contest simply didn’t call for him to have to put the team completely on his back or having to hit a bunch of circus shots — it must have been a nice break for him! Even still, it was a great night from Maxey, who was contributing all over the floor but especially on the offensive end, per usual, with 26 points tonight. Only Oubre, with 29, scored more for Philadelphia tonight.
Maxey continued to shoot the ball well as he has every game to start this season, especially from the beyond the arc. He hit 4-of-9 from downtown against the Nets, meaning he’s now hit at least three triples in all six games to start the season. He’s had four or more in five of those contests.
Maxey continues to be the one to get and keep the Sixers’ offense in rhythm no matter who is on the floor alongside him. He is consistently scoring, grabbing boards, making plays for his teammates and has even been decent on defense. Not much more you can ask for!
Overall, Maxey put up 26 points on Sunday evening with six rebounds, seven assists and a steal.
Quentin Grimes: 22 points, 7 rebounds, 13 assists (career-high), 1 steal, 1 block
Quentin Grimes got a bit of (understandable) criticism for his poor decision making on the last play of the Sixers’ loss to the Boston Celtics last Friday. Just as he deserved some questioning then, Grimes equally deserves his flowers now for how he played Sunday evening.
Grimes put up a career-high 13 assists against the Nets, and a lot of them were absolutely beautiful finds that were just perfectly executed. Grimes had an amazing view of the floor and his teammates seemingly all night and it paid off time and time again. Here’s all 13 of his dimes.
Grimes also scored 22 points of his own, for good measure. He hit 7-for-13 (53.8%) from the floor and 4-for-8 (50.0%) from long range. We’ll always take that sort of scoring efficiency and burst off the bench, of course, but the real gem for Grimes tonight was his playmaking. I could continue yapping about it all, but I really think the video above speaks for itself.
Overall, this was just a stellar game from Grimes, especially after how the last one ended. To wrap it up in a nice statline bow, Grimes had 22 points, seven rebounds, 13 assists, a steal and a block — and he did it all in 31:42 off the bench.
Trendon Watford: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists
I think Trendon Watford enjoyed playing against his old team…
On Sunday evening, Watford showed glimpses of how he could end up being a very impactful member of the Sixers squad. With Philadelphia up big, Watford got some solid minutes of play in the fourth period and made the most of them, showing off how he can utilize his size and strength to get what he wants. In 9:18 during the final frame, the 6-foot-8 24-year-old went 4-for-5 from the floor for 10 points. He pulled a number of tricks out of his bag in this stint, from bully ball into a hook shot, to hitting a pull-up triple, to showing the ability to finish smoothly at the rim with momentum behind him.
He also grabbed five rebounds (two on the offensive end) and had three assists.
It’s a small sample size against a struggling team, but Watford showed off a lot of promising aspects to his game within this Sixers team on Sunday evening.
