Sixers Bell Ringer: Blazing hot first half carries Sixers to win over Raptors

The Sixers dropped 80 points in the first half to avoid getting swept across the back-to-back by Toronto.

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2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 16
VJ Edgecombe – 5
Paul George – 4
Joel Embiid – 3
Andre Drummond – 2
Dominick Barlow – 1
Adem Bona – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Quentin Grimes – 1
Jared McCain – 1
Kelly Oubre Jr. – 1
Trendon Watford – 1
15th roster spot – 1

After losing in overtime to these same Toronto Raptors one night earlier, the Philadelphia 76ers came out looking bound and determined not to let things come down to the final moments for a second night in a row.

The Sixers barely

missed in the first quarter, finishing with 45 points across the first 12 minutes. They led by as many as 31 points in the first half, and led 80-51 at the break. While they didn’t quite go for the throat in the second half to allow the benches to empty very early, they did enough to earn themselves a comfortable 115-102 win and get Raptors legend Kyle Lowry a fun standing ovation towards the end of the game. Philadelphia tied the season series with Toronto, 2-2, something that could potentially end up mattering at the end of the regulation. In the present, though, let’s talk Bell Ringer.

Tyrese Maxey: 33 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover

Less than 24 hours after wrapping up a game where he played well over 40 minutes, you would have forgiven Tyrese Maxey for not having an extra pep in his step. Instead, he looked shot of a cannon from the opening tip. Maxey went 6-of-7 from the field in the opening frame on his way to 18 first-quarter points. While he did get a couple of open looks courtesy of Joel Embiid screens, Tyrese also hit a handful of supremely difficult shots. He nailed a spinning fadeaway jumper on the baseline, a crazy up-and-under lay-in through traffic for an and-one, and a put-you-on-skates stepback three-pointer. Through it all, Tyrese talked a dump’s worth of trash to the opposition. Right away, Maxey had set the agenda for the evening, which was, we are not losing to the Raptors for a second straight night.

VJ Edgecombe: 15 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers

Coming out of college, probably the two biggest question marks surrounding Edgecombe as a prospect were ‘can he be a consistent outside shooter?’ and ‘what’s the ceiling for him as a playmaker?‘ Well, Monday night we saw him go 5-of-6 from behind the arc (tying a season-high for made triples), and tally eight assists (one shy of a season-high). All the reps Edgecombe has gotten on the ball this season are paying off, as we saw him facilitate and allow Maxey to savage the defense in an off-ball role. We’ve not quite at the point where VJ’s overall three-point sample size is at a point where it has stabilized, but it’s getting there, and every ebb continues to be followed by a flow. So if perceived weaknesses are not what they were thought to be, what are we left with? A darn bright future.

Joel Embiid: 27 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 7 turnovers

You could see the offense opening up with Joel Embiid (and Paul George) back on the court after the previous night off. Whether he was setting screens or simply commanding eyes from the defense by his presence, Embiid opened lanes up for his teammates. I mentioned this a few nights ago, but Joel just looks so much better physically; at this point, it’s like one notch up every time he plays. Imagine seeing the version of Embiid we saw on the court back in October and telling someone he would be tomahawk dunking down the lane amidst a swarm of bodies. The seven turnovers were a bit unseemly, but let’s chalk that up to Joel feeling good and feeling himself a little too much, and be glad they came in a game the Sixers had well in hand.