Well, they should have been able to put this one away quick and get ready for tomorrow, but a win is a win.
The Sixers avoided a complete meltdown in the second half, blowing a 24-point lead but coming
up with a buzzer-beater to beat the Golden State Warriors 99-98 Thursday night.
Tyrese Maxey, as was the theme of the night, was brilliant to lead all scorers with 35 points shooting 13-of-27 from the floor.
VJ Edgecombe scored the first eight of his points in the first half, going 4-of-8 from the floor along with seven rebounds, five assists, and one huge steal and putback.
After a one-game absence, Joel Embiid played a little over 25 minutes, going for 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting. He was out of minutes and did not play in the fourth quarter. Quentin Grimes was the only other Sixer to reach double figures with 12. Pat Spencer led the Warriors with 16.
Paul George missed this one for the Sixers with knee injury management, he was out along with Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford. Golden State was without Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- It was actually kind of weird to see Embiid go up against Al Horford while not playing the Celtics. That matchup has been the heart of the rivalry the last couple years, and Horford’s defection here in 2019 was a big part of that. The crowd at the
FargX-Mo still showered him in boos upon hitting the Warriors’ first jumper of the game, but it did feel strange to see him do it for a random Western Conference team. Speaking of old friends though, De’Anthony Melton got a nice golf clap from the crowd when he checked in for the first time for the Warriors. He hadn’t played since November of 2024 after tearing his ACL. - Those things were easy to notice since it was a pretty slow start for both teams. After making his first midrange jumper, Embiid had a couple looks rim out on him. After Edgecombe and Horford knocked down threes the two teams combined to miss the next 17. The Sixers got ahead early in this stretch thanks to some transition opportunities. Edgecombe blew up a dribble hand-off for a wide open fast break, and Maxey picked off a pass to get himself a pick-6 layup.
- The Warriors’ struggles on offense were much more than three-point shooting though. On top of just not hitting shots, they couldn’t get by anyone and struggled to get good shots up. They went scoreless for over seven minutes, barely hitting double digits. On the other end Maxey started to dazzle with some pull-ups, Embiid returned, knocked down another jumper, and found an open three-point shooter on the perimeter as the Sixers cruised to a 20-point lead.
Second Quarter
- It’s good to see Edgecombe get to operate lineups with Maxey on the bench. Even with Embiid on the floor, it was on Edgecombe to initiate sets and direct traffic. There were some growing pains, mostly in the form of two turnovers as the Warriors matched their first quarter point total with a 10-0 run. The Edgecombe backcourt with Jared McCain has shown some flashes though in the time they’ve gotten this week and it’s more than worth playing through those pains.
- There’s no better way to alleviate those pains then by burying a grenade three fading away with a defender in your face, which is how Edgecombe ended the Warriors’ run. The offense didn’t get going again just yet when Maxey returned, but once again the valiant efforts of Dominick Barlow kept them afloat. On one possession not only did he block Moses Moody’s layup attempt, but he got all the way down the floor to put back Grimes’ layup, dunking it over Edgecombe no less.
- The Sixers’ offense would start to look pretty again when Maxey returned to the midrange clinic he was putting on. He used his screens well to get to his spots and make the process look easy as he had 18 in the half. Everything continued to go their way as a McCain three bounced all around the rim before falling, giving the Sixers a 22-point lead at halftime.
Third Quarter
- Out of the half the Sixers continued to cruise and that’s mostly because they just continued to create easy shots for themselves. Once they got the Warriors to commit to something they were happy to swing it around until it found the open shooter. With a lot of actions being run for Embiid, that somehow ended up being Maxey more often than not.
- Even in this game, they were not immune to some third quarter trouble. Turnovers on three out of four straight possessions helped the Warriors cobble together some baskets. Edgecombe continued to make rookie mistakes but Maxey threw some rushed passes as well.
- The rut the first unit got into was hard for the second unit plus Maxey to get out of. They only recorded two field goals over the final 6:37 of the quarter as their shooting came down to earth. They also continued having a problem taking care of the ball, turning it over seven times in the third. Even this banged-up Warriors team was able to make a dent, cutting the lead to 14.
Fourth Quarter
- Starting the quarter with Maxey and Embiid both on the bench was suddenly a big task as their other sources of scoring were vanishing. They were able to run their way into a couple layups to start the fourth before coming up empty on their next nine possessions.
- That streak continued well after Maxey checked back into the game. Embiid’s night appeared to be done. Once they found some success with it the Warriors heavily pressured the ball handler coming up the court and the Sixers couldn’t have handled it worse. This franchise has a unique quality of not just getting beat by defenses, but looking like they’ve never seen it before.
- Embiid’s night was indeed done as Adem Bona relieved Drummond. It was Bona who finally ended the run by grabbing a putback. Even with Grimes and McCain finally pitching in with some pull-ups, they couldn’t keep pace with the Warriors. All of the sudden Spencer and Quinten Post couldn’t miss from downtown. They couldn’t keep Buddy Hield of all people off the offensive glass.
- The Warriors took their first lead since the opening minutes with 2:39 to go with a Gui Santos layup. After they stretched their lead to four the Sixers got a much needed and-1 from Grimes. After forcing their first stop in what felt like years, Maxey missed his floater but Bona was fouled on the rebound. Not only did Bona miss both, but the Warriors won the jump ball after Edgecombe struggled to corral the offensive rebound.
- The Sixers were able to get one more stop and the ball fell out of bounds. It was initially ruled their ball but a challenge showed it went off of Edgecombe’s hand with 14 seconds remaining. They had a foul to give, and needing that many tries to get the Warriors to the line paid off as Edgecombe was able to steal an in-bound, giving them a chance down one with eight seconds left. They got it to Maxey for a tough shot that airmailed but Edgecombe miraculously caught it and put it back. Maxey and Barlow sprinted back to block Melton’s layup attempt at the buzzer, securing victory from the jaws of defeat.
