Bell Ringer Standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 3.5
Jaylen Brown – 2.5
VJ Edgecombe – 2
Joel Embiid – 1
LeBron James – 1
Anfernee Simons – 1
Dean Wade – 1
The Philadelphia 76ers started slow but roared back for a 123-112 win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night.
LeBron James sat this one out for the Sixers for sciatica management, joining Adem Bona (cervical spine sprain) and Dominick Barlow (back) on the injury report. Joel Embiid was able to play after spending the day questionable for plantar fasciitis
management. The Raptors had some notable injuries of their own with Kawhi Leonard and Scotti Barnes both sidelined, as well as Trayce Jackson-Davis and Nate Bittle.
It was a brutally rough start for the Sixers, with Philadelphia letting Toronto — on the second leg of a back-to-back — build a 16-point lead at one point in the first frame. Thankfully, someone finally told them the game had started and they came out of the gate much tighter in the second, quickly battling back to tie things up and entering the halftime break knotted at 60 a piece. The Sixers finally took control of the game in the third, with the Raptors trailing right around the double-digit mark into the final frame.
The Raptors continued to battle just within striking distance of the Sixers, but Philadelphia was able to hold on to take the double-digit victory at home thanks to six Sixers scoring in double-digits Thursday night.
The Sixers get back in the win column and are now 10-3 to start the season. They will now get a few days off before a Sunday afternoon matinee hosting the Indiana Pacers.
Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer. We have quite a few candidates tonight…
VJ Edgecombe: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
With LeBron James out, VJ Edgecombe was tasked with commanding the Sixers’ offense — and the sophomore was up for the challenge. This was another great example of Edgecombe doing what he can do well and not worrying about forcing things that aren’t working. Edgecombe was careful and protective with the ball but didn’t hesitate to whip quick passes in and out of the paint for assists, while utilizing his own lightning-fast speed and athleticism to get out ahead for easy buckets for himself when the chances arose. He was aggressive grabbing the boards and wasn’t afraid to get involved on defense, even if it meant picking up a few more fouls then he probably wants to on a normal basis.
We mentioned the increased responsibility for VJ with LeBron out, and, frankly, this was a great example of Edgecome doing a LeBron impression: doing all the little things (and some of the big things) right on both ends of the floor, making an impact absolutely everywhere. It all resulted in another all-around great performance from the young guard.
Edgecombe finished with 15 points on 7-for-12 field goal shooting with eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals and a block. Yep, that close to a triple-double. Like I said, not a bad LeBron impersonation.
Joel Embiid: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks
From spending all day as questionable to play, to finally being ruled available, to knocking knees in the first period and looking like his night was done… to multiple dunks and a solid overall performance. The Joel Embiid experience!
Seriously, I thought Embiid’s night was likely over after the amount of pain he seemed to be in after knocking knees setting a screen. After a quick trip to the locker room, however, the big fella returned to the game and somehow looked better than he did before the knee knock. He didn’t miss an opportunity to get up for a block or a dunk, kept setting screens for his teammates and simply got a lot more aggressive and efficient offensively — whether that meant knocking down a bucket, earning a trip to the free throw line, or both. There were moments where, as has been the case many times before, it didn’t seem to matter what the opposing defense tried to do with Embiid. He was simply too big, too strong, or too smart. Guess the knee was OK.
The only downside to his performance was that the jumper wasn’t falling tonight, as evidenced by his 7-for-17 field goal shooting, but even those were just rimming out. That’s the sort of thing you just hope is early-season rust and will only get a little better — or even a little luckier — with time.
Embiid finished with 20 points, four rebounds, three assists, a steal and two blocks.
Tyrese Maxey: 27 points (8-for-13 FG), 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
It’s pretty impressive that this sort of performance is considered just a usual night at the office for Tyrese Maxey at this point, but that’s how it feels. It’s the same way that sometimes Jaylen Brown can put up an excellent, consistent performance throughout an entire game but almost without anyone noticing. A bucket here, a steal there, an assist when the opportunity presents… Maxey is just ol’ reliable at times for the Sixers. Tonight, it didn’t come in the form of a complete Maxey takeover we see sometimes, but the guard just kept chipping in on both ends of the floor throughout this one with impressive efficiency.
Maxey finished this one with 27 points on 8-for-13 field goal shooting. He also had two rebounds, eight assists (including a LeBron-esque cross-court lob to Jaylen Brown), two steals and a block.
Jaylen Brown: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
The start of this one was not good for Jaylen Brown. It wasn’t great for a number of Sixers early, but it really wasn’t good for Brown. He couldn’t seem to score and struggled with sloppy turnovers in the first. It was looking like it might be another rough night for JB, who had a rough outing last game against his former team.
But, like the Sixers did overall, Brown turned it around. He kept rebounding. He kept up his solid defense. And, as more offensive opportunities presented themselves, Brown started knocking down shots and, other than having a few lay-ups blocked later on, put together a decent overall performance.
A rough start after a tough overall game the other night could have been enough to mess with the mental of any player, but Brown didn’t seem to let it stymie him. He turned a bad opening into an excellent 18-point performance on 8-for-15 field goal shooting, filling the stat sheet also with six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
Anfernee Simons: 17 points (6-for-9 FG, 5-for-6 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists
When Anfernee Simons is on, boy is he on. An incredible scorer off the bench, this was one of those nights that any shot coming off of Simons’ hand you knew had a good chance of going in. Simons chipped in 17 points off the bench on 6-for-9 field goal shooting and sinking 5-of-6 from long range. For a team that can go completely stagnant at times when the subs come in, having someone like Simons ready and willing to knock down the big buckets is huge for keeping momentum on the Sixers’ side in games like tonight.
(Frankly, with how badly this team shoots from beyond the arc at times, shooting this well from three-point range in it of itself will always earn a Bell Ringer nomination from me at least…)
