If this team makes half of their three-pointers all year, they might just be tough to beat.
The Sixers led wire to wire, beating the Orlando Magic 136-124 Monday night. They are now 3-0. They did not win
their third game last season until Nov. 22, improving to 3-12.
VJ Edgecombe had another performance well beyond his ears, going for 26 points on 10-of-17 shooing along with three rebounds and seven assists. Tyrese Maxey had another monster fourth quarter to once again lead all scorers with 43 points. He did it on 15-of-32 shooting along with eight assists.
Kelly Oubre Jr. continued his strong start to the season, finishing with 25 points and 1o boards. Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 32.
Being the first leg of a back to back, Philadelphia was without Joel Embiid due to injury management, as well as Dominick Barlow as he recovers from procedure to fix an elbow laceration.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- A problem Edgecombe kept running into against the Hornets was that he was taking off from too far away to the hoop for his dunks or even layups. That wasn’t the case on his first two drives as he drew a foul trying to dunk on Desmond Bane. On the following possession he beautifully glided to the hoop for a transition layup. That was amidst a sequence that saw Adem Bona block a shot on three straight possessions. If that wasn’t evidence enough of how physical this game was early, there were two infectious disease control timeouts in the first four minutes.
- For as active as Bona was at the rim early, Orlando was able to draw fouls on him quickly. He was subbed out less than five minutes after picking up a two. Andre Drummond checked in and was able to carry over his energy from the Hornets game with a block of his own and a couple of offensive rebounds.
- The biggest reason Edgecombe has been so exciting is he’s looked so much more polished offensively than anyone could have expected to start his career. After another layup in which he floated to the basket, he hit a crossover on his defender to set up a three off the dribble which he buried. That led the way for another high scoring first for the Sixers, and they led by five after shooting 48% from the field.
Second Quarter
- Another Sixer who has come out of the gates pretty hot is Quentin Grimes, who made three of his first four shots to start the game, all of those makes from behind the arc. After he buried another one to extend the lead, the game came to a screeching halt as the Sixers put the Magic in the bonus two minutes into the quarter. The refs then decided to slow things down even more by hitting Bona and Goga Bitadze with double technicals.
- Kelly Oubre Jr. has also shot it pretty well to start the season, and that’s something this thin wing rotation has needed. The adjustment he made as a driver last year to time his jumps differently has made his excursions into the paint a lot more controlled. He made a couple nice dump off passes out of those as well, dishing out four assists in the half.
- There weren’t many Sixers that got off to a cold start, but Maxey opening the game up 3-of-10 certainly was one of them. He got going as the second wore on, finding his jumper off the dribble to put up 17 in the quarter. He had quite a lot on his plate with the shorthanded roster, he played 20 out of the first 21 minutes of this game.
- Nick Nurse went all the way to end of the bench to get Maxey some rest. Not only did Eric Gordon check in for his first minutes of the season, but so did rookie two-way guard Hunter Sallis. You could hardly call it an NBA debut though as Sallis saw the court for about 50 seconds before Maxey checked back in, then got to close out the final 30 seconds of the half. Gordon was able to get all the way to the basket for a layup on his first touch of the game. The Sixers took a 12-point lead into the half.
Third Quarter
- Despite some choppiness between Maxey and Bane that resulted in another round of double technicals, the Sixers’ offense quickly got back in a rhythm to start the second half. Much like the quarter, the offense was cooking with Bona starting a block party on the other end. It certainly felt like he had more than the x he was given in the box score. He also had a really nice put-back dunk during this stretch as this was easily the best he’s looked so far this year.
- The Sixers had a handle on the Magic, but their best players were doing as much as they could to keep them in this game. Banchero and Franz Wagner were a combined 14-of-23 from the floor through three quarters for 42 points as the Sixers still haven’t found much of answer to basic dribble penetration so far. After a slower start, Bane got going as well, putting up nine points in the quarter.
- The Magic actually took a page out of the Sixers’ book to close the gap a bit, turning a steal and a missed basket into transition opportunities. The Sixers were able to respond and push the lead to double digits momentarily, but Anthony Black swished an insane three-quarters-court shot with one second left in the quarter to cut the lead to seven.
Fourth Quarter
- That Bahamian connection was on display as Edgecombe started the quarter with a floater, and Gordon knocked down a pair of threes moments later. Edgecombe wasn’t attacking quite as frequently as the start of the game, but it felt like he was picking his spots better than vs. Charlotte. It took both Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. ripping the ball from him to give him his first true rookie moment of the game. He made that easy to forget though when he saved a fast break that was nearly ruined by a bad pass on the following possession.
- The thin Sixers’ depth was put to the test when Grimes picked up his fifth foul with over seven minutes in the game and the Magic chipping away. After sitting for a few minutes, he drew a big foul to earn three free throws that gave the Sixers their first points in a few minutes. He got his hands caught in the cookie jar a couple of possessions later though and fouled out with four minutes to go. Luckily for the Sixers, Bane was in foul trouble as well, and Maxey was able to foul him out a minute and a half later.
- That aggressive drive that got him to the line was the start of another great close out job by Maxey. He got all the way to the basket on the next trip, and helped Edgecombe out of a double team by knocking down an open three. The floater he hit on the following possession forced a Magic timeout and gave the Sixers a 12-point lead again, one they wouldn’t look back from.
- The Sixers are back at it tomorrow night in D.C. to take on the Wizards.
