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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — As long as everyone gets out of there in one piece, it’s a good win.
The Sixers picked up their first comfortable win of the season, rolling over the Brooklyn Nets 129-105 Sunday night.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had the first quarter of his life as he went for a game-high 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting, but he did not return after appearing to roll his ankle in the third quarter. Quentin Grimes had a career-high 13 assists while also putting up 22 points.
Tyrese Maxey had a quiet 26 points on
9-of-19 shooting. VJ Edgecombe tried to dunk the Nets out of existence, and finished with 16 points as a result.
Joel Embiid missed the game due to left knee injury management. Paul George, Jared McCain and Dominick Barlow remained out.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- Brooklyn opened the game with a good amount of pressure on the Sixers’ guards, which resulted in an early Edgecombe turnover. He didn’t seem too phased by it as he nearly dunked Nic Claxton through the earth’s core a few moments later. That attempt clanked off the rim though and he had to settle for a layup to get on the board. The Nets’ offense was off to a quick start led by seven early points by Thomas.
- Oubre missed his first two threes of the night, but he had everything going right for him inside the arc early on. He filled the lane well a couple of times for wide open dump offs, and was comfortably getting to his spot in the middle of the paint off the dribble. He had 22 in the opening quarter, making his first seven two-pointers of the game.
- The Sixers’ defense continued to be a weak point. They still couldn’t contain much off the dribble, and committed a couple of pretty silly fouls towards the end of the quarter. Luckily, they were in the midst of one of the biggest heaters of Oubre’s career, so much so that he was the one drawing double teams by the end of the quarter. Philly held a three-point lead after one.
Second Quarter
- After stringing together a couple stops, the Sixers were able to give themselves the slightest bit of breathing room early in the quarter. Aside from a couple of deflections caused by Edgecombe, they really didn’t change much, but were able to take advantage of a sloppy Nets team, who turned it over four times in the first four minutes of the quarter.
- Without Embiid, the Sixers were probably going to need at least a passable game from Andre Drummond, and he looked alright backing up Adem Bona early. His only involvement offensively was catching a lob, but he pulled down five much needed rebounds as well. This might be the first time all year their drop coverage with him wasn’t shredded.
- It seemed like it could have been another passive game from Edgecombe until the flurry he went on at the end of the half. He ripped off a quick 12 points with a nice blend of threes off the catch and slashes to the hoop. After trying for a good chunk of the night he finally hit a big dunk in traffic. His teammates helped him polish off a good half and went into the break with an 18-point lead.
Third Quarter
- The lone Sixer who couldn’t seem to shake his struggles was Jabari Walker, who struggled with Brooklyn’s size. He just hasn’t shown a ton of vertical ability so far and has been fairly non-existent offensively. No matter where he is on the court he’s just never looked super comfortable putting it up.
- In fairness to Walker, most of the team came out flat for yet another third quarter, allowing the Nets to get the lead close to single digits. This is something that’s happened in nearly every game so far — the only game that they didn’t get slaughtered in the quarter was in the loss to Boston.
- They were able to stabilize a bit thanks to Oubre getting back to what was working for him at the beginning of the game, but he looked to tweak his ankle late in the quarter and did not return. Quentin Grimes didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half, but got a couple to fall late in the quarter. Against most other teams, they might have been in trouble, but they were able to take a 10-point lead into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- The Sixers were able to breathe a bit, and that was thanks to Trendon Watford exacting some revenge on his old team. He has a baby hook he likes to get to a lot, and did so a few times early in the fourth. He also knocked down his first three of the season.
- This was a solid scoring night for Grimes, but it was his passing that made him stand out in this one. His 11th assist of the night, which set a new career high, was a slick behind-the-back bounce pass in transition to Watford.
- The good news is that because the game got so out of hand the Sixers were able to get more of an extended look at Hunter Sallis. Johni Broome played his first minutes of the season, as did Kyle Lowry thanks to some peer pressure from Sixers fans behind their bench. The one negative was Maxey played well into the fourth quarter, nearly crossing the 40-minute mark again for no real reason.
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