2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer season standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 22.5
VJ Edgecombe – 13
Joel Embiid – 10.5
Paul George – 8
Kelly Oubre Jr. – 5
Justin Edwards – 4
Quentin Grimes – 3
Jared McCain :’( – 3
Dominick Barlow – 2
Andre Drummond – 2
MarJon Beauchamp – 2
Adem Bona – 1
Cam Payne – 1
Jabari Walker – 1
Trendon Watford – 1
15th roster spot – 1
The Philadelphia 76ers fell 115-102 to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
The Sixers were damn-near full strength for this one, with only Johni Broome (knee
surgery) and Cam Payne, who strained his hamstring in Saturday’s contest, sidelined. The Spurs were similarly healthy and led by current NBA MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama.
Both of the big men in this one suffered some early bumps and bruises, with Embiid missing part of the first following a hard fall from a collision with Wemby. The Frenchman had his own early trip off the floor as well after seemingly hurting his shoulder in a collision with Paul George. Both were back in the game looking strong by midway through the second quarter to give us the true Embiid vs. Wemby battle we were hoping for, and it was damn fun to watch. By halftime, Embiid had 20 points, Wemby had 17 and the Sixers trailed the Spurs by seven.
Wemby ended up leaving the contest at halftime due to a rib contusion. Even without the San Antonio leader, though, things stayed tough for the Sixers with the Spurs staying out in front throughout the third. When Embiid went to the bench for some rest to start the fourth (after playing the entire second and third quarters), it only got worse, with the Spurs’ lead extending to double digits. The teams continued to trade buckets, but, unfortunately for the Sixers, trading buckets doesn’t really work when you’re down about 10 points the entire time.
The Spurs, even without Wemby for the entire second half, simply outplayed the Sixers.
Just three games left. The Sixers will have a few days off before starting their 16th and final back-to-back of the season on Thursday visiting the Houston Rockets.
Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer.
Paul George: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
It’s amazing to watch how locked in Paul George has been since returning from his 25-game suspension. He has been shooting the absolute lights out, especially from long range, and tonight was no exception. With Tyrese Maxey struggling and Joel Embiid dealing with some pain from a hard fall early, having someone like PG able to tack on points pretty much whenever called upon right now is huge.
He got things started tonight, opening the game with a triple and ending up hitting two more from long range before the end of the first. He led the Sixers after one with 11 points on 4-for-6 FG, 3-for-3 3PT shooting. He cooled off a bit as Embiid took over the offense, but was ready to contribute again when called upon here and there in the second half (minus the end of the game when no one from the Sixers could seem to score a single point).
PG doing all that while continuing to play the solid defense we all know he’s capable of has been a huge boost to the Sixers as of late — hopefully he can keep it going.
Finishing with 16 points, PG’s shooting was actually quite cold from two-point range, going 1-for-10. That being said, he continues his streak of success from long range since returning from suspension going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc on Monday.
George also finished Monday with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Joel Embiid: 34 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 blocks
We had a little bit of a scare with Embiid early on in this one after he took a hard fall from a collision with Wemby. After a few minutes clearly in some pain and hitting the bench early in the first, Embiid returned to the game to close the opening frame. Still laboring in some pain, it took a little bit for him to look comfortable offensively, but he went right to work defensively, coming up with some great stops.
Then, as the second quarter got underway, Embiid basically took over the offense for the Sixers, and it certainly seemed like the pain was not bothering him as much anymore. The big fella started working his way into the paint and going to war (and a physical one) with Wembanyama, battling for any inch of space he could get to sink buckets around or over the Frenchman’s eight-foot wingspan. After scoring just four points in his disjointed first period stints, Embiid put up 16 on 5-for-6 field goal and 1-for-2 long range shooting in the second frame. He led the floor at halftime with 20 points as well as six rebounds and two blocks.
From there, especially without Wemby to counter him, Embiid continued to command the Sixers’ offensive production, whether scoring buckets, getting to the line, or setting screens for his teammates to score off of. He ended up playing the entirety of the second and third periods.
It’s not just the scoring, though. It’s the fact that the scoring is coming along with a major uptick in defensive impact and rebounding in performances the latter half of this season. It’s at a level we haven’t been able to see from Embiid in quite some time, and we can only hope it continues.
Embiid finished Monday with a 34-point, 12-rebound double-double (including five offensive boards) with an assist and four blocks.
VJ Edgecombe: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
The degree of difficulty of some of the buckets that VJ Edgecombe manages to sink continues to impress me. It’s not anything that will ever show on the stat sheet, but it absolutely should. Edgecombe continues to finish plays that very few players in the NBA could finish successfully, let alone a rookie.
Not only that, but he’s hitting these shots exactly when the Sixers need him to. It feels like whenever the Sixers are on the receiving end of an opponent’s scoring streak, it’s very frequently Edgecombe who stops the bleeding with a bucket.
The rookie finished Monday with 14 points, eight rebounds (two offensive), three assists, one steal and one block.
