The Philadelphia 76ers are 3-0 after taking down the Orlando Magic in South Philadelphia 136-124 on Monday night. It was another fun, highlight-packed game for the Sixers, especially for Tyrese Maxey and rookie
VJ Edgecombe (surprise, surprise). The dynamic backcourt duo combined with great performances from Kelly Oubre Jr., Quentin Grimes, Andre Drummond, Adem Bona and others to take down Orlando — even with Joel Embiid, Paul George, Jared McCain and Dominck Barlow all sidelined.
If you’re looking for a full game recap, you can check that out here.
Here, we’re just going to watch some highlights. There were a lot to choose from on Monday — let’s look at some of the best plays that led the Sixers to victory.
1. This entire early first quarter sequence
Wow, that was nice. Bona gets up for the block and Edgecombe shows off some excellent body control for the smooth finish down the other end. Oubre slaps a block of his own on the following Magic possession and Maxey turns it into three points. *chef’s kiss*
2. Andre Drummond with the muscle, VJ Edgecombe with the smooth finish
I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t super excited when I saw Andre Drummond coming into the game against the Charlotte Hornets this past Saturday night. Man, was I an idiot? After a stellar performance that was vital to the Sixers’ comeback win that evening, Drummond was back out on the floor Monday evening battling for boards again. In this clip, he wins the fight over two members of the Magic squad to grab the offensive rebound
In the extended possession, Edgecombe then hits a perfect step-back, creating space to hit the three over Paolo Banchero.
3. VJ Edgecombe. A rookie, apparently.
This one speaks for itself, really. There’s not many NBA rookies able to hit this footwork and finish like Edgecombe can.
4. This backcourt is SPECIAL.
Edgecombe hits a perfectly-timed leap to manage a huge trailing block on Banchero before Maxey somehow sinks an absolute circus shot finish down the offensive end. What a special backcourt this is already proving to be.
5. Adem Bona with back-to-back jams
Bona was a beast on defense on Monday night, popping up seemingly everywhere on that end of the floor and ending up with three blocks. On the offensive end, Bona had just seven points against the Magic, but he certainly had some fun ones. How about back-to-back dunks from the big man?
6. Kelly Oubre Jr. with a stellar night
You might think this is a “boring” highlight. Maybe it is. It’s not a high-flying dunk or a half-court shot, but Oubre didn’t need those on Monday night to be hugely impactful, and he deserves his kudos. All night, Oubre was driving into the arc to hit some silky smooth midrange jumpers or going right to the rim to finish (and often, drawing fouls in the process). Perhaps none of it was particularly flashy, especially when compared to some of the other plays we’re looking at here, but this was his best performance of the young season, for sure. Oubre finished the night with a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double.
7. Eric Gordon sinks one from Broad Street
Self-explanatory. Eric Gordon had eight points in 11 minutes off the bench shooting 3-for-4 from the floor and 2-for-3 from long range, including this one from long long range.
8. Turning defense into offense
With a Magic team bringing a decent size advantage into this contest due to the Sixers’ absences, it was vital that Philadelphia took advantage of turnovers and utilized speed in transition to snag points with Orlando trailing behind as often as possible.
It wasn’t the prettiest example here, but it doesn’t matter — it worked.
9. Tyrese Maxey. The Franchise.
Maxey really wanted to see the Sixers go 3-0, I guess. Late in the fourth with the battle between the Sixers and Magic raging closely, Maxey went on a 7-0 run all on his own to secure the win for Philadelphia, notching his second 40-point game of the young season in the process.
Which highlight was YOUR favorite? What did we miss? Let us know in the comments!
