Welcome back, big fella.
In the finale, the Sixers got their first win of the preseason, knocking off the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-110 Friday night.
Playing in his first game since February, Joel Embiid
went for 14 points shooting 5-of-10 from the floor along with eight assists, seven rebounds and three rebounds. Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 27 points along with seven assists.
VJ Edgecombe did not disappoint in his home debut, going for 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Making an impact just about everywhere, he also had six rebounds, three assists and five steals. Making his preseason debut was Quentin Grimes, and he kicked off the rust for 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- For his first game back in nearly 10 months, Embiid didn’t look half bad at all. He had a reasonable amount of rust to shake off but didn’t look uncomfortable starting with another center in Adem Bona and got to some comfort zones early. He got on the board with a midrange jumper and got all the way to the hoop after a big pump fake on the three-point line. His activity in the paint defensively was deflecting passes for steals rather than blocked shots. He turned those into quick transition points as well, picking up a couple of assists off of long outlet passes.
- The first assist of the night for Embiid came from a nice out-of-bounds play. Edgecombe was able to run his defender around for a wide open dunk.
- Edgecombe started off again with a lot of exciting plays that have become typical for him so far in the preseason. Before that dunk he was able to get on the board flying up to putback a missed Kelly Oubre Jr. three-pointer. He looked really good defensively as well. Nick Nurse has talked about his ability to get over screens and that has stood out.
- Quentin Grimes also made his preseason debut and he definitely looked like someone who missed training camp. He got up for an exciting potential put-back dunk, but took out a teammate or two in the process and missed. His only three of the quarter was well off, but he did throw a really nice underneath pass to Dominick Barlow in the dunker, who wasn’t able to convert. Still, most of the Sixers’ regulars were more than enough to get out to a six-point lead against Minnesota’s C-team.
Second Quarter
- Embiid did start the second with a much briefer shift, and a quieter one as well. He only added a steal to his tally, but picked up an offensive foul on the other end. He’d finish out the half as well, returning to hit the team’s second three of the night with only three minutes remaining in the half. He even pushed the pace a bit to hit a big Euro step and finish with a left handed layup.
- The Sixers’ lead was able to grow and stay into double digits because of their consistent transition opportunities — and Edgecombe was a big driver of those. He created both by creating steals, swiping three in the half, as well as just beating the defense down the floor for easy baskets. Between his speed and Maxey’s that could be a big part of this team’s identity moving forward.
- Maxey also happened to be the only Sixer other than Embiid to hit a three in the half as shooting was once again their biggest woe. For as good as Edgecombe looked, all of his made field goals not only came from inside the paint, but inside the restricted area. With that and 10 turnovers of their own, they took a seven-point lead into the half.
Third Quarter
- Embiid started the second half just as the first with another six minute shift. He created a couple of baskets with Maxey in their two-man game, before taking a classic Embiid scary fall on another ambitious layup drive. For someone just trying to get his legs under him he sure was testing out his full range of mobility in a game setting.
- Understandably so, the offense does look a lot smoother with Maxey running the show as opposed to a rookie. He played and was initiating for most of the quarter and was just having a really balanced night. He might not even get a hockey assist on this one, but this type of around the horn movement out of an action with Embiid is nice to see.
- Someone who was able to get going thanks to Maxey was Grimes, who went for 11 points in the quarter. He hit a pair of threes coming off the catch after which the Wolves would go on an 11-0 run. He put an end to that by getting to the basket off the dribble, then hitting a contested stepback three the next time down the floor. A floater from Edgecombe beat the buzzer to put the Sixers lead back up to 11 as the quarter closed.
Fourth Quarter
- Edgecombe got the first few minutes of the fourth to finish the night and boy did he put on an encore. For all the jumpers he missed in the first half, he made plenty in the second to make up. He ran down an offensive board and knocked down a three in the corner to start it. Then he continued his steal party which led to some exciting dunks and near dunks. He drew a foul on one attempt that he got his head up to the top of the backboard on, but had the ball slip out in the process. He had to wait until the ensuing possession for another steal and slam.
- When Edgecombe checked out that really seemed to indicate the end of the night for what will be the rotation on opening night. Interestingly enough, that may not include a ton of Justin Edwards. Nurse said he’d like to get an extended look at the regulars, and Edwards only played three minutes through the first three quarters of the night. Removing him though, it would only be three guys off the bench in Grimes, Bona and Jabari Walker, so tonight may not be the best indication.
- And that’s it for the preseason! The next time the Sixers take the court it will be for real, and it will be against the Boston Celtics on Oct. 22, available on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
