News 76ers Team Notes

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers Bell Ringer: Sixers fall into early tryptophan coma, pummeled by Magic

2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer Standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 7
Andre Drummond – 2
VJ Edgecombe – 2
Dominick Barlow – 1
Adem Bona – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Quentin Grimes – 1
Kelly Oubre Jr – 1
Trendon Watford – 1

---

At least we didn’t have to worry about Tyrese Maxey playing another 40-plus minutes (although even 32 minutes was far too many in this one). That’s about the only positive takeaway from Philadelphia’s 144-103 nationally-televised loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.

With the Sixers missing Joel Embiid, Paul George, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Adem Bona (and also appearing to lose Trendon Watford during the game due to injury), they fell behind Orlando by 26 points at halftime, and 38 points entering the fourth quarter, which set the stage for benches to empty across the entirety of the final period. The Magic kept pouring it on in search of smashing The Cup point differential tiebreaker.

Unlike what has been a dramatic and exciting start to the 2025-26 regular season for the now 9-8 Sixers, it was a sad reminder of how things had been so often last season when it was “Maxey and…who exactly?” and things fell apart completely. Not much to go with here for Bell Ringer, but let’s have it.

Jared McCain: 15 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 0 turnovers

If nothing else, at least second-year guard Jared McCain is getting back into the swing of things on the offensive end. Coming back from both meniscus and thumb surgeries, McCain looked like a shell of his former self to start the season, going scoreless in four straight limited appearances to begin the campaign. However, Tuesday night marked his second straight game with 15 points, as he hit a couple threes as part of an overall 6-of-13 evening from the field. Both triples came in the first quarter when the outcome of the game was actually still in contention, and it’s good to see him finding the range again and making some plays with the ball in his hands.

All smiles after this triple in transition for Jared McCain pic.twitter.com/QE53d2KVHl

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 26, 2025

Eric Gordon: 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover

Unlike pseudo-assistant coach Kyle Lowry (who didn’t even get into the game with the Sixers losing by 40-plus points), I’m of the opinion that there’s still a little bit of juice left in the lemon to squeeze out from Eric Gordon. The 36-year-old veteran can still nail shots from a few feet behind the arc, as we saw in his perfect shooting performance against the Magic (4-of-4 from the floor, 2-of-2 from three). There was a brief period last season when both he and Maxey were healthy, and you could see how much his shooting gravity opened things up for Tyrese. I think there’s still a little bit left (like, a very small dose) the Sixers could use in that department this season, especially on nights like Tuesday when they’re missing some perimeter options, even if everyone was making the “Gordon cuts the Magic lead to 37 points” jokes after this one.

The Open 15th Roster Spot: $$$ saved

It was a great night for the Sixers’ open 15th roster spot, who despite not taking the floor, managed to save ownership money by virtue of not counting against the salary cap, with potential luxury tax savings later on. While the team’s on-court product was a rare dud this season against the Magic, we can always take solace in knowing the organization is making thrifty decisions on the margins to save ownership some dough.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...-into-early-tryptophan-coma-pummeled-by-magic

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers get steamrolled by Magic, crushing what little NBA Cups hopes were left

Good lord, they need to flush this one as quickly as fans will.

The Sixers turned in their worst performance of the year, falling to the Orlando Magic 1444-103 in an effort that looked like it belonged to the 2024-25 squad.

Tyrese Maxey once again led the Sixers in scoring, though this time it felt like by default. He went for 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting as well as four rebounds and an assist. Easily the best news of the night was Jared McCain building on a good performance, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Anthony Black led all scorers with 31.

Despite being originally listed as questionable, Joel Embiid missed his eighth straight game with a knee injury. Paul George was also a late scratch with an ankle sprain. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Adem Bona remained out. Orlando was most notably without Paolo Banchero, who suffered a groin injury last week.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter​

• It was a slow start both ways — the Sixers missed five of their first six shots to start the night with a few turnovers mixed in. They were able to make up for that by getting to the line a couple of times, as well as Orlando starting similarly as slow. The first possession the Sixers moved the ball they were able to swing to an open McCain, who buried a three upon immediately checking into the game.

Good ball movement leads to a Jared McCain triple! pic.twitter.com/AJwp5o2e5q

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 26, 2025

• This was a tough matchup height-wise for the Sixers, even if they weren’t shorthanded, but they weren’t overwhelmed by it early. Andre Drummond won his early box-outs, grabbing five rebounds in the quarter and blocking two shots on the other end as well.
• Drummond’s rebounding looked more like a necessity when he subbed out of the game as the Sixers immediately surrounded a couple offensive rebounds to Goga Bitadze. They didn’t meet that resistance on the other end though — both Maxey and Justin Edwards were able to get into the paint with relative ease. They shook off that slow start to shoot 57.9% in the quarter, Orlando bounced back just as quickly though to have the game tied up at 35 after one.

Second Quarter​

• It was a sound defensive start for the Sixers, but that slipped away very quickly. They played bigger personnel to start the second, but still got beat in the paint every time down the floor. After surrendering a few layups the Magic’s drive-and-kick game was opened up for easier three-pointers. They lost a handle on Black altogether, who scored 20 in the second. Despite how hot he was, it took the Sixers multiple possessions to stop sagging off of him on the three-point line.
• Things only got worse for the Sixers as they struggled to contain Black. It wasn’t just that they were struggling to stop one player, Desmond Bane also started to get whatever he wanted to off the dribble. The Sixers helped them out as well by turning it over eight times in the second. To make matters worse, Trendon Watford suffered a non-contact injury. He collapsed and was favoring his groin area after a drive, immediately checking out of the game and heading to the locker room. He was ruled out at halftime with a left adductor strain.
• The only positive that came from this quarter was McCain looking more like himself, especially getting shots inside the arc off the dribble. He finished with 13 points in the half. Drummond was seemingly able to get into the head of Jalen Suggs, getting him ejected after picking up a double technical with Wendell Carter Jr. That hardly slowed down the Magic at all though. Fittingly, they capped off the half with a lob to Black, giving them a 26-point lead at the half.

jmac to the hp. pic.twitter.com/VcKPowLVZR

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 26, 2025

Third Quarter​

• Nothing quite sums up the post-first quarter flow of this game better than Quentin Grimes getting himself a wide open reverse layup and smoking it. The Magic only continued to pick up where they left off, despite Drummond burying a corner three at the start of it.
• It is easy, especially in a season as long as 82 games, to recognize when you don’t have it in a certain night. That being said, it’s insane how much more intensity the Magic came out of the half with than the Sixers. The Magic continued to attack every ball on every possession as if they were the team in desperate need of a miraculous comeback.
• This game got out of hand so quickly that Johni Broome appearing as early as the third held no significance whatsoever. He scored his first points of the night finishing off a dump-pass from Jabari Walker, but his first three-point attempt of the quarter was way off and he missed a one-handed push shot he had to get up with the shot-clock winding down. The Magic led by 38 points after three but never fear, Maxey had still logged nearly 32 minutes — mercifully, he was done for the night.

Fourth Quarter​

• OK, it’s time to address the real concerns with this team. They have yet to make a significant playoff run, their two highest paid players hardly ever play, they are largely reliant on whatever Maxey is able to give them, yada yada yada. The real problem is this team cannot get up for the NBA Cup. Tonight’s loss drops them to 4-6 in Cup play. They’ve yet to sniff the knockout round. When will the real problems get addressed?
• How cute was the photo montage of Maxey and his dog and the dogshow? This has been a rough week for the Sixers, but at least they’ve given us some good dog content.

Jared McCain is sharing the podium with Andre Drummond and Bob Marley. He feels this was “definitely” the best he’s felt in terms of mobility during the season and that he’s felt better with each game. Felt especially good about his burst/first step. pic.twitter.com/bJRFcWCyHu

— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) November 23, 2025

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...-maxey-trendon-watford-injury-dominick-barlow

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Tyrese Maxey’s minutes continue to be a problem

My apologies to the sanctity of the NBA Cup, but watching the Sixers trot out Tyrese Maxey for 30-plus minutes in a 41-point loss on Tuesday evening is not sitting well with me. The Sixers were down their four non-Maxey starters against Orlando and this bad boy was over at halftime. Despite it all, there was Maxey in the second half continuously trying to carry the entire roster on his back, as he’s done successfully throughout this young season.

This is nothing new this season. It’s become the norm. It needs to change.

Maxey is leading the league in total minutes played and minutes per game, almost at 40 minutes per night. Nick Nurse and the Sixers are going to run this dude into the ground early in a season where winning a championship is completely off the table.

This isn’t to say that Maxey should be shut down or switched to load management mode given the overall state of the team. I’d be wholly against that. I love that Maxey can be a reliable player nearly every night to entertain fans from the comfort of their couches or at the arena in South Philadelphia. In an era where Joel Embiid’s health status felt like it determined whether the Sixers would win or lose before tipoff even happened, it’s refreshing to see a point guard primed to make his first All-NBA appearance this season be The Guy the city can latch onto come gameday. What worries me is that his current usage is going to prevent that from regularly being the case the season or, frighteningly, beyond.

The Sixers’ roster construction has been a major problem and contributes heavily to this. Embiid and Paul George are making over $100 million combined this season and are rarely in the lineup. The team’s resources are poured into two name-brand players who have histories as elite scorers. When their spots are filled by cheap bench players who could never sniff their peak scoring touch, Maxey is playing with worse talent around him and necessitating him to essentially do everything for the Sixers’ offense.

The guard depth and back end of the roster are no help to Maxey in their own right.

37-year-old Eric Gordon has played 44 minutes total this season. 39-year-old Kyle Lowry has played three. Those are just complete wastes of roster spots when the team is burning out their brightest star on a nightly basis.

This is a front office issue as much as it is a coaching issue!

I want a full season of Maxey leading the Sixers on a path to compelling basketball. I want him leading a young Sixers core deep into a first-round series against a clear-cut better playoff opponent, willing them to the possibility of advancing come April. What I don’t want is it to be January and we’re all receiving a horrific push notification on our phones about a Maxey injury due to him being overworked.

Sixers, please, let Maxey loose and help him find his way to superstardom, but do it smartly.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76ers-analysis/81562/tyrese-maxeys-minutes-continue-to-be-a-problem

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

It’s beginning to look like last season for the Sixers

The Sixers got off to a promising 5-1 start this season, but they’ve come crashing back to earth over the past few weeks. The bottom fell out Tuesday night against the Orlando Magic, as their injury-depleted husk of a roster got annihilated, 144-103, in by far the worst loss of the season.

After the game, head coach Nick Nurse told reporters that the Sixers “didn’t play well enough or hard enough or get back enough.” What was left unsaid: They were woefully undermanned, which has this starting to feel just like last season all over again.

Nick Nurse was asked if he thought the fans left the game feeling like the team worked hard tonight:

— Austin Krell (@austinkrell.bsky.social) 2025-11-26T04:02:58.031Z

Joel Embiid (knee) and Paul George (ankle) both missed Tuesday’s loss, as did VJ Edgecombe (calf), Adem Bona (ankle) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee). George was initially listed as probable before getting downgraded to out, which raises questions about what exactly is going on with him health-wise.

“[George] reported soreness in the ankle after the game the other night,” Nurse told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s game. “Has not been in anything since then, and we’re just trying to keep following up on that and seeing where he is.” Nurse added that the Sixers are “in the process of checking to see what exactly is wrong and what the extent of it is.” Nothing to see here, move along!

Meanwhile, Nurse said Embiid practiced fully Monday and participated in at least part of shootaround on Tuesday, but “he’s just not quite there.” He was “trending toward” playing, which is why the Sixers originally listed him as questionable, but they decided to play it safe with him. It’s still unclear what’s causing his right knee soreness, but nothing to see here, move along!

Edgecombe has missed the past two games with a calf strain after averaging 37.3 minutes across his first 15 appearances. Nurse said it’s a “fair assumption” that the Sixers are being cautious with him because of the Achilles tears that both Damian Lillard and Tyrese Haliburton suffered last season while trying to play through calf injuries. He did add there’s “nothing on the imaging, and it’s a calf strain, and he’s also improving as well,” although it’s unclear when to expect him back on the floor.

The Sixers have at least been transparent about Oubre, who suffered a sprained LCL in his left knee and is set to be re-evaluated next week, and Bona, who has missed the past five games with a right ankle sprain. Neither of those figure to be long-term issues, but their absences are compounding the strain being placed on the rest of the roster with Embiid and George sidelined.

Tyrese Maxey is currently leading the league in both minutes per game (39.9) and miles run per game (2.8). With stars across the NBA going down left and right with soft-tissue injuries—which Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr at least partially attributes to the increased pace of the game—the Sixers are playing with fire by overtaxing Maxey to this extent early on. He had a similar workload early last season before suffering a hamstring injury that sidelined him two weeks, which would effectively be a death knell for this iteration of the team.

The Sixers might need to lean even further on whatever depth they still have upright, as Trendon Watford suffered a non-contact injury against the Magic on Tuesday. He was later ruled out for the game with a left adductor strain. The Sixers revealed Wednesday that he’ll be out for at least the next two weeks. Justin Edwards also got banged up against Orlando, although he did later return to the game.

Perhaps some combination of Embiid, George, Oubre, Edgecombe and Bona will return soon and this concern-trolling will all be much ado about nothing. But even if Embiid and George are both back on Friday, their inconsistent appearances early in the year raise questions about how long either of them will stay on the floor before missing more time. Their absences have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the roster, particularly with a few other rotation players nursing injuries.

As LB’s Erin Grugan noted Wednesday, this is the downside of devoting two roster spots to Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry, neither of whom appear capable of scaling up into larger roles now that they’re in the twilight of their NBA careers. As is tradition under Daryl Morey, the Sixers also left their 15th roster spot open heading into the year to give themselves more in-season optionality. That will make it easier for them to convert Dominick Barlow or Jabari Walker from a two-way deal to a standard contract, but it also leaves them down one ambulatory body who could help steal a few minutes of rest for another rotation player.

If nothing else, at least we’ll always have the first few weeks of this season.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Salary Swish and salary-cap information via RealGM.

Follow Bryan on Bluesky.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...nning-to-look-like-last-season-for-the-sixers

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

The Sixers have a major roster construction problem (again)

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Well, it’s Groundhog Day again. Or, at least, it certainly feels like it.

The Philadelphia 76ers suffered their worst defeat of the early season on Tuesday night in front of a home crowd, falling 144-103 to the Orlando Magic in an NBA Cup game. Honestly, the score makes it sound somehow closer than it actually was. It was just a massacre — a morally debilitating one, at that.

The Sixers were without Joel Embiid (right knee), Paul George (ankle), VJ Edgecombe (calf soreness), Adem Bona (ankle), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee). They lost Trendon Watford to a left adductor strain that forced him to exit the contest in the second period.

It was ugly early and somehow only got uglier as the night went on. It was just one game, yes, but it was symptomatic of larger issues for the Sixers. With full quarters worth of slaughter to have to sit and watch, it was impossible to not ponder what got the team to this point. If you ask me, a large part of the problem is the construction of the roster itself — a familiar issue for the Sixers organization and Daryl Morey.

Now, we have to be realistic: in defense of the Sixers, there is probably not a team in the league that is prepared to play well or very efficiently with six rotation players unavailable. Having that many injuries hit at once is plainly unlucky, and not being ready to excel under those circumstances is totally fair.

However, I’d be willing to argue there are teams at least a bit more prepared than the Sixers are for when crap hits the fan — something this organization should be planning ahead for at this point.

The NBA allows teams 15 standard roster spots and three two-way slots. Two-way slots are occupied by players with four or fewer years of experience to split their time between the NBA and G League. They are limited to participating in a maximum of 50 NBA contests under such contracts. Let’s keep that in mind as we go through this.

The Sixers have two players, Joel Embiid and Paul George, on massive contracts with the basic knowledge that they will not be playing every game this season. In the case of Embiid, it would be considered pretty damn optimistic to expect for him to even play half of the games. Because of those contracts, though, there’s really nothing that could be done here, so let’s put them aside for now.

Kyle Lowry, now just four months removed from his 40th birthday, was widely assumed to be taking on more of a player-coach role when he was signed to come back to Philadelphia for his 20th season in the NBA. For the veteran leadership and coaching for the younger guys on the squad alone, his presence is certainly not a negative by any means.

I think most, however, might have assumed there would be at least a little bit of the “player” part of player-coach too! In Tuesday night’s slaughtering of the Sixers, Lowry never touched the floor. Down 40 points with Philadelphia down to it’s last few healthy legs, Lowry was never subbed in. Do I think Lowry playing would have at all changed the outcome to the game? No. Let me be very clear on that. However, I think it was the exact situation you would expect to see the veteran sub in and play a few minutes just to get the team to the final buzzer. Him not even taking the floor under those circumstances says to me that Lowry will not be playing really at all.

Another standard roster spot is occupied by Eric Gordon, another league veteran that is approaching his 37th birthday in December. Gordon has been used extremely sparsely so far and with widely varying results, mostly in the negative.

So, factoring in Lowry and Gordon leaves the Sixers with just 13 standard spots to field a sustainable team. Two of those spots are occupied by the unreliable availability of Embiid and George, which we touched on earlier. Down to 11 spots.

The Sixers also currently have an open roster spot. Yes, they have just 14 of 15 filled. Why would they do that, you might ask? Well, not filling that final roster spot means one less player contract hitting the cap, saving the team money and ultimately making it easier to duck the luxury tax at the trade deadline, something they also did last season. The organization could try to argue that leaving that spot open is in the interest of flexibility to eventually convert the two-way contract of Dominick Barlow or Jabari Walker to a standard one without having to make a corresponding cut somewhere. I would personally be a bit skeptical of that explanation, though, due in part to the Sixers making the effort to dodge the luxury tax last season and in part because I’d argue it’s undeniable that the worth of having someone available to play in that spot now would be worth more than any perceived future flexibility.

Regardless, the spot remains unfilled as of now… so we’re down to 10 spots — just two-thirds of the standard roster spots left to put a team on the floor with some consistency in what we all know is a long 82-game season. Is there any wonder why, prior to Oubre suffering his knee injury, the Sixers had three players in the top four for average minutes per night in the league? Tyrese Maxey (39.9 minutes/game) and VJ Edgecombe (37.3) are still first and second, respectively, in the Association in such category.

This is only going to compound to make the situation even worse. When you hamstring yourself to having just two-thirds of a roster worth of players to depend on to be available every night, you are going to have those guys playing a lot of minutes. The more minutes they play, the more likely they themselves will fall victim to issues that will affect their availability, hamstringing the team even further. It all builds on itself into the perfect (shit)storm.

This organization cannot completely blame bad luck or plead ignorance like they couldn’t have seen this coming. Not after last year. My personal beliefs going into this season for the Sixers organization were that they weren’t going to be necessarily contenders in any serious way, but instead truly needed to use the year to find a way to play sustainable basketball. It wasn’t likely going to always be stellar or title-contending ball, but it had to start to become sustainable basketball that could put up some resistance and resilience, even in the face of bad luck. You know, the opposite of last season.

Tuesday night felt like… well, last season. It was nearly impossible to deny that sick feeling of “damn, here we really go again.”

With this roster construction, though, maybe it’s what we should have expected all along.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...aryl-morey-nick-nurse-joel-embiid-paul-george

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers look to bounce back against Brooklyn Nets on the road

The Sixers are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Orlando Magic, getting blown out by 41 points on their own floor. The good news is that they now face arguably the worst team in the NBA this season, the Brooklyn Nets, which should give them a golden opportunity to get back in the win column and move past an absolute stinker. What could go wrong?

So, are the Nets really as bad as their 3-14 record suggests? In short, yes. Brooklyn brought in five first-round picks from the most recent draft, most of them late in the round. As you’d expect, they’re raw and still developing, and together they make up about a third of the roster. Beyond that group, the Nets don’t have much in the way of win-now talent.

Adding to those struggles, Michael Porter Jr. will be out for this matchup. Acquired in a trade with the Denver Nuggets, he’s been the lone bright spot in what’s shaping up to be a full rebuild. Through 16 games he’s posting career numbers across the board, averaging 24.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3 assists on 48.3 percent shooting from the field and 36.2 percent from three. He’s taking more shots than ever without a significant drop in efficiency. The other notable contributor is Nic Claxton— best known to Sixers fans as the draft pick involved in the Trevor Booker deal — who is coming off his first career triple-double.

Claxton is averaging 14.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 56 percent from the field. Depending on who starts and who’s available, his speed and mobility could give the Sixers’ centers real problems.

Availability is once again a major talking point for the Sixers, and this matchup is no exception. Philadelphia has ruled out Joel Embiid (injury management), VJ Edgecombe (injury management), Kelly Oubre (knee sprain), and Trendon Watford (adductor strain). Paul George is questionable with an ankle sprain, while Adem Bona is expected to return and is listed as probable.

For Brooklyn, in addition to Porter, Haywood Highsmith and Cam Thomas are out. Ben Saraf is questionable with an ankle sprain.

There wasn’t much positive to take from the Sixers’ last game, aside from Jared McCain. He’s scored 15 points in each of the team’s last two outings and is starting to look more like the player we saw last season. He’ll try to keep that momentum going off the bench.

Beyond that, the goal for this game is straightforward: win convincingly and wash out the taste of the previous performance.

For those tracking offensive and defensive rankings, the Sixers’ offense has slipped to 15th in the league, while their defense sits at 19th. The Nets, meanwhile, have the sixth-worst offense and the league’s worst defense, ranking dead last at 30th.

It’s also worth noting that this is almost certainly the Sixers’ final NBA Cup game. On the bright side, the Nets’ alternate court is one of the best in the league, thanks to its mostly gray-black color scheme, so at least your eyes won’t suffer while watching.

As for the Sixers’ cup hopes, they’re essentially finished. They’re sitting at 0–3 with a brutal point differential of –51. Only Utah has been worse, posting a staggering –94.

The NBA Cup implications don’t really matter tonight, but the game itself does. The Sixers have been handed a perfect setup for a bounce-back performance: multiple days of rest and a matchup with one of the league’s worst teams. That should add up to a much-needed win, regardless of who’s in or out of the lineup. Now we’ll see if they can actually get things back on track.

Game Details

When: Tuesday, November 28, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...bounce-back-against-brooklyn-nets-on-the-road

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers Bell Ringer: Philadelphia halts two-game slide with win over Nets

2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer Standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 7
Andre Drummond – 2
VJ Edgecombe – 2
Dominick Barlow – 1
Adem Bona – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Quentin Grimes – 1
Kelly Oubre Jr – 1
Trendon Watford – 1
15th Roster Spot – 1

---

When things are trending in the wrong direction, as they have been lately for the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s a perfect time to come across this year’s edition of the Brooklyn Nets. The Sixers never trailed in Friday night’s contest, building a 21-point lead in the second quarter and maintaining a double-digit lead for the majority of the rest of the way in the 115-103 win. The only downside in the victory was yet another injury, with the Sixers losing Andre Drummond to a sprained knee. Let’s focus on the positives for now with Philadelphia staying above .500 and moving to 10-8, and move on to Bell Ringer.

Jared McCain: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals, 0 turnovers

With each passing game, McCain is looking more and more comfortable in his return, this time dropping a season-high 20 points to go along with a career-high five steals. He drained four triples, knocking down a couple spot-ups, doing a nice job relocating into open space, and even hitting a pull-up in transition. Jared looked spry in beating his defender off the dribble, and used quick hands to knock the ball away from opposing ballhandlers from behind. McCain talked about how much the knee brace originally bothered him, and he’s feeling less bothered by the new, smaller sleeve. Going forward, we may have transitioned back wondering if McCain is in enough of a rhythm to be seeing consistent minutes, to seeing him as a true difference maker once again.

Jared McCain hits his 4th triple of the night for his first 20-piece of the season! pic.twitter.com/rrQbwWjJGo

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

Tyrese Maxey: 22 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover

The game in Brooklyn won’t make a ton of headlines like his dropping 54 points did last week, but Maxey was incredibly impactful in the win, having all eyes of the Nets upon him and facing plenty of traps. He handled the pressure with aplomb, making the right reads and taking care of the ball, as the 7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio would attest. Of course, he still got his own points on the board too, leading the team in scoring. Maxey went a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line, and also continued to flash his improved left hand in the open court. It’s crazy that we’ve reached the point with Tyrese where he’s nearing a 20-point triple-double and it’s not even close to one of his most memorable performances of the season.

Tyrese Maxey reads the Nets like a book for the steal and slam pic.twitter.com/YRt7q0RrFp

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

Adem Bona: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 turnovers

With the Sixers’ depleted frontcourt further decimated by Drummond’s injury, the Sixers needed Bona to step up. When he wasn’t dealing with foul trouble, he played very well, even cashing his first career three-pointer in the closing minutes. Late-game outliers aside, Bona earned his bacon as he usually does, fighting on the offensive glass, finishing through traffic around the rim, and rejecting everything in sight on the defensive end. Adem skied for a block from the weak side to deny a Noah Clowney layup attempt, and stayed in front of a driving Terance Mann to send his shot in the other direction. We’ll see in the coming games whether Bona can keep the fouls to a minimum to ramp up the minutes workload.

Back-to-back-to-back Sixers buckets from Adem Bona! pic.twitter.com/XA17eT7JZ2

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...lphia-halts-two-game-slide-with-win-over-nets

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Shorthanded Sixers get more banged up, but take care of lowly Nets

The injury bug even bites hard in a much-needed win.

The Sixers snapped a two-game skid, taking down the Brooklyn Nets 115-103 Friday night. This also mercifully put an end to the Sixers 2025 Emirates NBA Cup play.

Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with a modest 22 points, shooting 7-of-16 from the floor with nine rebounds and seven assists. Jared McCain had his first 20-point game of the season, doing so on 7-of-16 shooting as well.

Paul George returned to shoot 6-of-10 from the floor to go for 14 points, three rebounds and two steals in 21:21 of play. Quentin Grimes had 19 points and nine assists. Egor Demin led all scorers with 23.

Andre Drummond left the game after suffering a knee sprain in the second quarter, adding to an injured list that also includes Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre Jr., VJ Edgecombe and Trendon Watford.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter​

• Neither team could buy a jumper to start the night, combining to go 4-of-15 from the field to open things up. It’s funny that Drummond has been the best three-point shooter from the backup center position. His 10 made threes aren’t just a career-best, but they lead the front-court so far (with one obvious availability asterisk).
• That remained the case from outside but both teams started getting to the basket easier. George’s first shift was his longest so far, playing over nine minutes. He got to the basket a couple times himself to start, and the three he buried just before subbing out was the team’s second of the night.

PG for 3! pic.twitter.com/2RU7HI1EwB

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

• Also making his return was Adem Bona after missing the last five with an ankle sprain. He didn’t get up to much early, save for some ball-pressure on Day’ron Sharpe that led to a Maxey pick-six. Jared McCain buried a corner three on a two-for-one opportunity, but his no-dip attempt the next time down the floor didn’t fall, so the Sixers had to settle for an eight-point lead after one.

Second Quarter​

• If there’s a team to do it against, it’s probably this one. Kyle Lowry got his first real minutes of the season, out there to start the quarter. There wasn’t much K-Lo needed to do with George taking care of things on both ends of the floor. The deflections he’s able to cause are a big help when he’s available, and his jumper continued to fall for him early.
• Bona was able to finish up a good shift himself despite picking up two unnecessary fouls. He scored six quick points finishing off dump offs and putbacks. As soon he was back though the front court took another blow. Drummond went down with an injury. It wasn’t quite clear on the replays if he hyperextended his knee or just banged it running into Lowry. He was in a lot of pain though and needed help going back to the locker room and was ruled out at halftime.

Back-to-back-to-back Sixers buckets from Adem Bona! pic.twitter.com/XA17eT7JZ2

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

• The scramble to replace Drummond became even more immediate when Bona picked up his third foul. Nick Nurse was already breaking out everything, giving Johni Broome a chance along with Jabari Walker. They picked up three fouls quickly as well, as had Dominick Barlow. The Sixers’ inability to stop fouling inside became Brooklyn’s only source of offens e— they shot 15 free throws in the quarter after taking one in the first. They trailed by as many points though, giving the Sixers a comfortable lead at the half.

Third Quarter​

• That issue persisted to start the second half with Barlow quickly picking up his fourth as well. The same nearly happened for Bona, but Nurse was able to get that one overturned with a challenge. It was a lingering problem, but one that wasn’t harming the Sixers’ lead. Maxey had a quick burst after not having to do nearly as much in the first half.

Tyrese Maxey hits from long range here early in the second half.

Sixers holding a comfortable (for now) lead over Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/lC5eOggGdb

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

• That changed in the third, as nearly seven minutes went by without a Sixer not named Maxey scoring. The Nets slowly and briefly were able to cut the lead to single digits. Grimes had looked fairly out of control for most of the night, but he strung together some solid drives that stopped the bleeding.
• To the point about Lowry earlier, it did not look like you could get away with playing Broome against this team. Even here he just looked too slow and small to get anything done. The front court situation remained precarious as Walker picked up his fourth and fifth fouls. The Nets also joined what is now a growing list of teams to bury heaves against them at the end of quarters as well. This time, it only cut the Sixers’ lead to 12.

Fourth Quarter​

• Something else that prevented the Sixers from pulling away was that they were just as cold from deep as Brooklyn. That Maxey three from the corner early in the third was the only three of their first nine attempts to fall in the second half.
• That helped Brooklyn hang around longer than anyone would have liked. Despite McCain chipping in the first time since early in the second, the Nets were again able to get the lead down to single digits. It was McCain though who made that brief when he hit the Sixers’ first three of the quarter.
• An open three by McCain was also hit coming right out of the immediate timeout. Shortly after, Bona hit his first three-pointer of his career. It was still much needed after Demin was single-handedly trying to give the Nets a miraculous comeback. Demin, like many, had a slow start but really got going once he saw a three go down.

Jared McCain hits his 4th triple of the night for his first 20-piece of the season! pic.twitter.com/rrQbwWjJGo

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...aul-george-jared-mccain-andre-drummond-injury

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers-Nets: Game Discussion Thread

Game Details​

When: Friday, November 28, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76ers-discussion-threads/81604/sixers-nets-game-discussion-thread-nba

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers look to rebuild some momentum vs. Hawks, with fun matchups in store

The season has taken a turn for the worse since the opening couple of weeks in a typically Sixersy way, with more injuries, star absences, and losses. But they got themselves another victory on Friday after defeating the Nets, 115-103, in their latest NBA Cup game.

The Sixers never trailed. Adem Bona stepped up all around as Andre Drummond went down with a sprained knee, Tyrese Maxey was rock solid with a near triple-double as he faced most of Brooklyn’s defensive attention, and Jared McCain continued looking more dynamic and comfortable with a season-high 20 points and career-high five steals. Yes, the Nets may stink this season, but you’ve got to take what you can get for these depleted Sixers right now. At least this performance gives them slightly more positive vibes heading into their next contest, as they take on the 12-8 Atlanta Hawks.

The injury report is still long, though. For Sunday, Joel Embiid (right knee injury management), Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) all remain out. However, Drummond is only listed as questionable, reassuring news that he could return soon even if it doesn’t happen against the Hawks. VJ Edgecombe (left calf injury management) has also been upgraded to questionable, and McCain is still available.

For the Hawks, the big name on the injury report is the continued absence of Trae Young, who’s due to be reevaluated soon but has been sidelined for the last month with a knee injury. Kristaps Porzingis also remains out with illness, meaning Onyeka Okongwu will be continuing as Atlanta’s starting center.

Okongwu may not have the track record of Porzingis’s scoring and three-point shooting, but he’s clearly developed this season. Okongwu has upped his scoring to 16.5 points per game and he’s jumped up to 4.8 three-point attempts a night, all while making them at a 41.3 percent clip. Even though it’s early days in the season, his comfort from range is good enough for him to even be coming off screens, popping beyond the arc, and utilizing a pretty neat (and quick) release.

Earlier this month he even made eight triples (yes, EIGHT) in a single game against the Jazz! Okongwu vs. Bona should make for a fun matchup.

The Hawks should give these shorthanded Sixers a challenge. Atlanta has put together a solid season so far, sitting fifth in the East, a 7-3 record over their last 10 games with middle-of-the-pack performance at both ends of the floor (15th in offensive rating and 13th in defense). And they’ve done it without Young.

Jalen Johnson in particular has stepped up to carry a larger load. He’s putting together an All-Star season with the way he’s upped his usage, showcased even more poise as playmaker, and simply done a bit of everything. Johnson’s just passed Young in all-time triple-doubles for the Hawks, and now boasts impressive averages of 21.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game with a terrific 63.0 true shooting percentage.

The Sixers could definitely use Paul George to help keep the 6-foot-8 Johnson in check with how well he’s driving, attacking the glass, and leading fast breaks right now. Watching how Dominick Barlow fares against Johnson whenever they’re matched up will be interesting to follow as well.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been key for the Hawks in Young’s absence, too. He’s stepped into the starting lineup to average 32.0 minutes a night and has scored 30+ twice in his last five outings, taking him to a major new career-high of 19.3 points per game. He’s firing away from three (6.8 attempts at a 36.1 percent clip), finishing pretty well in the paint, and staying more efficient than ever with a career-best 59.5 true shooting percentage. Maxey’s been defending well this year, so he and Quentin Grimes will need to focus their efforts on keeping Alexander-Walker in check.

If Maxey keeps cooking, McCain continues his steady improvement, and George has a good shooting night to go along with role players like Bona delivering again, maybe that can give the Sixers enough to beat this Hawks team. But it won’t be easy on Sunday night.

Game Details​

When: Sunday, November 30, 6:00 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...-momentum-vs-hawks-with-fun-matchups-in-store

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers Bell Ringer: Despite Big 3 intact, Philly falls to Hawks in double OT

2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 7
VJ Edgecombe – 2
Andre Drummond – 2
Dom 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

---

Your 10-8 Philadelphia 76ers welcomed Eastern Conference foe the Atlanta Hawks to Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday night. The Sixers entered this contest sitting in eighth place in the East. This would be the first meeting of four between the two teams this season. The Sixers welcomed Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe back to the lineup, marking the first time this season the Sixers had their Big 3 of Tyrese Maxey, Embiid and Paul George on the floor.

tonight’s starting lineup:

@TyreseMaxey
@vj_edgecombe
@Yg_Trece
@Dominickbarlow_
@JoelEmbiid pic.twitter.com/ZsN3OkWpWY

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 30, 2025

Let’s get to the game.

The first quarter was hotly contested, which would become a theme for the first half as a whole. The Sixers and Hawks traded baskets and mini-runs throughout. Balanced scoring from Maxey, Embiid and Quentin Grimes paced the Sixers to an early 29-25 lead at the end of period one.

start us off, @JoelEmbiid! pic.twitter.com/aEWont4lUL

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 30, 2025

after Q1.@cryptocom pic.twitter.com/4EoNcLskvG

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 30, 2025

The Hawks punched back to win the second quarter by a 32-29 margin cutting the Sixers halftime lead to just one at 58-57. The Hawks were carried by stellar play from their rising star forward Jalen Johnson, who led all scorers with 16 first-half points. Eleven points off the bench courtesy of Mouhamed Gueye helped lead the way for the Hawks as well.

at the break. @cryptocom pic.twitter.com/9bxmnhNSyV

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 1, 2025

McCain from the mid-range. pic.twitter.com/I73dVwPMFd

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 30, 2025

Both teams failed to get any notable separation from each other throughout the third. A sweet step-back three from Grimes at the horn of the third quarter gave the Sixers an 89-83 lead headed into the fourth quarter. Grimes scored 11 points in the period and would take a game-high 23 points into the final period.

Q4 up next. @cryptocom pic.twitter.com/BujVqb1PBu

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 1, 2025

https://t.co/P7SXyYhHhP pic.twitter.com/NKFtq3BtKm

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 1, 2025

The Hawks jumped all over the Sixers to start the fourth. Atlanta started the period on an 18-4 run to take an eight-point lead at 101-93 with under six minutes to go. The Sixers appeared they would not be able to overcome that slow start. A George missed layup, a Grimes missed dunk, and a pair of missed George open corner three-pointers appeared to be the nail in the coffin for the Sixers. They were down 113-105 with just 43 seconds remaining in the contest when the comeback began with a Grimes three.

Sandwiched between two 1-of-2 trips from the line from Johnson and Dyson Daniels was an Embiid layup. Dominick Barlow was fouled with 12 seconds left and had an and-1 opportunity to cut the lead to just two points. Barlow missed the free throw, but Paul George was able to corral the rebound and fire it to Tyrese Maxey who drilled a long range three to tie the game at 115-115. OVERTIME!

pic.twitter.com/0PJdRPbPYq

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 1, 2025

https://t.co/uW3TaGZ7u5 pic.twitter.com/Jd9tfjMx9m

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 1, 2025

Big baskets by Grimes, Maxey and Jared McCain gave the Sixers the advantage for most of the overtime period. A missed pair of free throws from Maxey with 4.6 seconds on the clock with a two-point lead left the door cracked for the Hawks. Johnson drew a shooting foul on Barlow with 0.3 seconds left on the clock. Johnson knocked down the pair to tie the game at 126 apiece and force a second overtime.

JMAC! pic.twitter.com/RePsZ4juZD

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 1, 2025

around and in pic.twitter.com/0KkKDHG9xO

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 1, 2025

The Hawks took complete control as George and Embiid were unavailable due to minutes restriction. The Hawks would go onto win 142-134 behind a 41-point performance from Johnson.

final in double OT. @cryptocom pic.twitter.com/CEI7Ut88NM

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 1, 2025

Now for the Bell Ringer.

Tyrese Maxey: 44 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 14-of-31 from field, 52 minutes played

Maxey just continues to stack monster performance after monster performance, carrying the Sixers on his back this season. Aside from missing a pair of free throws that would have iced the game at the end of the first overtime, Maxey was excellent. He was dominant scoring inside the arc with acrobatic layups and playing with tremendous pace. Maxey has been an ironman all season for the Sixers, ranking at the top of the NBA in minutes played.

Quentin Grimes: 28 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 8-of-15 from field, 4-of-8 from three, 47 minutes played

Grimes is making a strong Sixth Man of the Year case this season for the Sixers. He continues to display three-level scoring and sound man-to-man defense on the perimeter. Grimes efforts on the boards should not go unnoticed as well as he notched a double-digit rebounding performance.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...g-3-intact-philly-falls-to-hawks-in-double-ot

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Editor-in-chief mailbag: Another weird week for the Sixers … which felt normal?

A rash of injuries? Joel Embiid’s injury status flip-flopping? Super weird games?

It sure sounds like the Sixers are back!

We’re 19 games into the 2025-26 season and we have little clarity on this team. Embiid and Paul George are just now pushing the 30-minute threshold and have played a combined 12 games — and only one together. Outside of those two, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., Adem Bona, Dominick Barlow, Andre Drummond and Trendon Watford have all dealt with injuries. Plus, Jared McCain is just now finding his form after returning from meniscus and thumb surgeries. Until they’re relatively healthy, it’s hard to evaluate much.

Ironically, Tyrese Maxey, the league-leader in minutes, has not missed a game. Quentin Grimes is the only other regular to play in every game.

They’re 10-9, which feels pretty appropriate. Unless Embiid and George play consistently, this is probably a .500, even with Maxey playing like an MVP candidate. Of course, someone like Edgecombe or McCain could ascend and change things a bit, but we’ll have to wait and see if they do.

For now, let’s get to some of your most pressing Sixers questions.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...r-weird-week-for-the-sixers-which-felt-normal

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Allen Iverson is an all-time great, but could he have been even greater?

We are early in a Sixers season in which we are again reexamining the career of Allen Iverson, again reconsidering his legacy. The team has chosen to trot out the uniforms worn by the Iverson-led 2000-01 NBA finalist on occasion, and a recent book and docuseries allow us to revisit the life and career of the most compelling figure to ever don those duds.

As a result, the same questions that have been asked before can be asked again. As headstrong as he was, could he have accomplished more by toeing the line? As stubborn as he was, could he have risen even higher by playing along on occasion? And as great as he was, could he have been even greater?

All of that is food for thought. And there are some indications in both his memoir “Misunderstood” (written with New York attorney Ray Beauchamp) and the three-part Prime Video docuseries “Allen Iv3rson” that The Answer has considered those questions himself.

As an example, here is a passage from late in the book, which like the doc came out in October:

Me being stubborn, I dug deeper. You don’t like my style? Gonna do it more – let the joints sag further. You don’t like my friends? I’m gonna hold those dudes closer. You think my family should be in jail? I’m gonna be there in court for them. You don’t like my partying? I’m gonna stay out later, party harder. It ain’t a strategy for life I recommend. It’s just how I did it. The loyalty, stubbornness, got me in trouble, got me criticized, and sometimes brought pain, but it wasn’t stopping me from racing for greatness and making my mark in the NBA.

(Emphasis mine.)

There is no argument about his talents, his role as a culture-changer or (for better or worse) his loyalty to those with whom he grew up in tidewater Virginia. But that sentence I bold-faced above at least hints at some reflection on the part of Iverson, who is now 50 – that a less-is-more approach might have served him even better, that meeting people halfway on occasion might have allowed him to soar even higher.

That was all crystallized in one of the signature moments of his career, the infamous press conference after the 2001-02 season in which he bristled at questions about his practice habits. Iverson mentions in the book’s preface that his emotions were jumbled going into that presser – that he was still coming to grips with the murder of his close friend Rahsaan Langford months earlier (“That shit broke me,” he writes), while at the same time believing he was in a good place with Sixers management, which quelled any rumors that he was about to be traded.

He adds later in the book that in his mind, the media focus was all wrong that day: What about the games? What about my friends and family? What about me, the human being?

Point taken, and it underscores why he and Beauchamp titled the book as they did. Misunderstood? Yeah, there’s no doubt some of that on the part of a media corps that is largely from an entirely different background than his.

At the same time, it seems fair to ask if Iverson ever fully understood his responsibilities as a franchise player. Yes, he played hard. But could he have played harder if he wasn’t such a “nightcrawler,” as Stephen A. Smith calls him in the docuseries? And yes, he was incredibly productive. But could he have done even more if he hadn’t butted heads so often with his coaches, Larry Brown in particular?

Put simply: Would we hold him in even greater regard if he had just taken care of his body and agreed to go along to get along?

Consider, if you will, the example of Ray Allen. Allen, known for his work habits, entered the NBA the same year as Iverson – 1996 – but played four seasons longer and made $30 million more in salary. He also won championship rings in Boston and Miami.

The question is not whether Allen is a greater player than Iverson. That debate was settled long ago. Rather, the question is whether Iverson could have followed a similar career arc. Would he have agreed to be a co-star in Boston, with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce? A role player on the LeBron James-led Heat? Not likely. He was a solo act, a guy who did his best work when surrounded by the lunchpail-carriers who comprised the 2000-01 team. It was great for one season, but only one season.

The off-the-court stuff is no less fascinating, and best examined in the docuseries. He has always been loyal to his Virginia friends, which to some extent is laudable; how often have athletes been criticized for “not remembering their roots”? But the question that is raised is whether those friends have brought him down, while he has tried to raise them up. And the views of Iverson’s ex-wife Tawanna, as well as Stephen A., are telling.

“Allen will tell you I’m not fond of too many of his friends,” Tawanna says in the doc, adding that her ex-husband “felt pressure to take care of his friends” to the point that it “caused issues” for the couple. (They were married in 2001 and divorced in 2013, though the doc indicates that they have since reconciled.)

Smith covered Iverson as a beat writer for the Inquirer. And in the doc he comes off not as the grating presence he is on ESPN, but rather as thoughtful and incisive.

“I personally know of several friends that Allen Iverson lied for,” Smith tells the cameras, “and acted like he did stuff they did, just to cover for them.”

Iverson’s response?

“I’m gonna hang around who I choose to be around,” he says in the doc.

Iverson’s decade-plus stay in Philadelphia ended with a 2006 trade to Denver. He would drift from there to Detroit and Memphis before briefly returning to the Sixers in 2009. Then he played a short time in Turkey, and that was that. He has since made the Hall of Fame, had his number retired by the Sixers and seen a statue in his likeness erected outside the team’s practice facility, the ultimate irony.

All of that is well-deserved. He was a great, great player, and a fascinating figure. But as the book and the docuseries indicate, you can’t help but wonder if he left some meat on the bone, if there wasn’t more he could have accomplished. And you can’t help but wonder if deep down, he doesn’t wonder about that, too.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...ime-great-but-could-he-have-been-even-greater

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Maxey vs. Daniels was a war of attrition

Dyson Daniels is an NBA player with a burgeoning resume, a cool nickname and worries so profound that he finds himself constantly looking over his shoulder.

That was evident Sunday night, when he represented the first line of the Atlanta Hawks’ defense against Tyrese Maxey. Daniels, 6-foot-7 and stringy, would assume his stance as Maxey, 6-foot-2 and speedy, advanced the ball upcourt, then begin glancing this way and that: Now where is the screen coming from? And sure enough, one of the Sixers’ big men, be it Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond or Adem Bona, or maybe even one of their guards, usually Jared McCain or Quentin Grimes, would arrive to set a pick on Daniels.

That is standard operating procedure for every team, especially when a perimeter scorer of Maxey’s talent faces a defender of Daniels’ pedigree. The idea is to put that defender and his teammates on the horns of a dilemma, to make them mull whether they should trap or hedge or, as is often the case, switch. This puts a lesser defender at Maxey’s mercy, allows him to do his best work.

And indeed the Hawks prefer to switch, coach Quin Snyder said before the game.

“But,” he added, “Dyson won’t, because he cares so much about the guy he’s guarding.”

Not that Snyder minds. Daniels, 22 and in his fourth season, has earned some degree of trust, having been named a first-team All-NBA defender for the first time in 2024-25, when he led the league in steals. (He’s tied for the lead this season.) Such is his larcenous knack that the native Australian, also the league’s Most Improved Player last year, has been dubbed “The Great Barrier Thief,” according to basketball-reference.com.

So yeah, he would rather work alone, more or less. And never mind how many of those dastardly screens come his way. As Daniels put it before Sunday’s game, “I would love to keep my matchup as much as I can. I like taking that challenge.”

It’s a considerable one, especially against a force of nature like Maxey, who put up 44 points Sunday. It was, however, a flawed masterpiece, one that saw the league’s third-leading scorer (at just over 32 points a night) miss 11 of his 13 three-point attempts but hit the one triple his club really needed, in the dying seconds of regulation. That tied a game the Sixers had trailed by eight with 49.8 seconds left and sent it to overtime, where Maxey was again great until he wasn’t. His two missed two free throws with 4.6 seconds remaining left the door open for Atlanta, and the Hawks’ Jalen Johnson, who scored 41, connected twice at the line with less than a second left to knot matters once again.

Johnson went on to bury a pair of three-balls in the second OT, helping secure a 142-134 victory for Atlanta, which was without Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis.

Daniels’ exact contribution was difficult to quantify, as is usually the case with defenders facing a top scorer. The boxscore showed him with respectable totals of 17 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Of far greater importance was the manner in which he fought over as many of those screens as possible, attempting to stay in front of Maxey, attempting to make his life as difficult as he could.

And still Maxey scored 44. Because here’s the thing: Nobody actually stops anybody in the NBA. Not individually, anyway.

“Good offense beats good defense any time,” Daniels said. “People make tough shots. It’s just, how tough can you make the shots?”

Maxey, who because of his struggles from deep regularly attacked the rim as the game wore on, finished 14-for-31 from the floor. He was also 14-for-17 from the foul line, and saw his nine assists offset by six turnovers.

Afterward, he was only too happy to give his counterpart his flowers.

“Dyson’s really good,” he said. “He’s really good.”

Easy to see why. He’s rangy, with arms for days.

And, Grimes said, “He’s just solid. He just moves his feet really well, he’s got great hands and he gets his hands on a lot of steals, (in) a lot of passing lanes. He’s a great on-ball defender and team defender. Usually you see either one or the other.”

Funny thing, once you earn a reputation as a good defender.

“Some people go at you a little harder and try to prove a point,” Daniels said. “That’s fun. That’s what it’s about.”

And Snyder and Co. have reminded him that he has to be equal to the challenge – and reminded him in no uncertain terms, apparently.

“Some of the coaches,” Daniels said, “have been on my ass: People have been scoring too much, so time for me to pick it up.”

He did not face Maxey last season, as the Sixers star missed all three meetings with the Hawks because of injury. And Daniels, true to form, said before Sunday’s game that he relished the opportunity.

“Obviously very, very quick,” he said of Maxey. “Very talented. Can do it all. So it’s about trying to be physical with him, keeping him in front.”

That’s a possession-by-possession chore, and Daniels had some wins. In one second-quarter stretch, for example, he fought over Embiid screens on three straight Philadelphia trips, two of which ended with turnovers.

Through three quarters, Maxey was 4-for-12 from the floor and 1-for-7 from the arc while scoring 20 points. That wasn’t all the result of good defense, as Nick Nurse observed.

“It felt like he had a ton of great looks that he wasn’t hitting,” the Sixers coach said.

Maxey had another miss, as well as a turnover, in the first 2:42 of the fourth quarter, when the Sixers were outscored 13-0 and saw a six-point lead turn into a seven-point deficit.

But this would turn into a 58-minute joust, the irresistible force meeting the necessarily movable object. And goodness knows the Sixers erected the necessary obstacles to impede Daniels and aid Maxey.

“We try to make it easy for him to get a lane to the basket, get an iso, a stepback three, something like that,” Grimes said of his teammate.

In the last 5:35 of regulation Maxey barged to the bucket for three conventional three-point plays, then hit his clutch triple. He would add 12 points in the two overtimes.

Twenty-four points. In 15:35.

“He hung in there,” Nurse said. “I thought he did a heckuva job of navigating their length down the lane in the fourth and the overtime. Those are some long athletes.”

No wonder Daniels, like so many other defenders, was left looking over his shoulder. You just never know where the trouble’s coming from, or when it might arrive. But with a guy like Maxey, it always seems imminent. It’s just a matter of hanging on for dear life, and hoping for a miss or two. And in the end, that’s exactly what happened.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...awks-was-an-epic-battle-in-a-war-of-attrition

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers Bell Ringer: Maxey magic subdues Wizards

2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 8
VJ Edgecombe – 2
Andre Drummond – 2
Dom 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

---

The Philadelphia 76ers took care of business against the Wizards on Tuesday in a 121-101 victory.

The Sixers entered the game without the services of Joel Embiid (knee), Quentin Grimes (calf), Trendon Watford (adductor) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee). They would still have a favorable matchup considering the slew of Washington injuries.

Injury report ahead of tonight's game in Philadelphia.#ForTheDistrict | @ChasenBoscolo pic.twitter.com/54nWm7HU7d

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 2, 2025

Kyshawn George would end up playing, but it would not make a difference, as the Sixers needed just three quarters to put the Wizards away.

The Sixers dominated the second and third quarters, combining to outscore Washington 67-43. They had their second-best performance on the season from deep (17-of-40, 43%), and their second-highest steals mark on the season with 12.

The Sixers talent flexed its muscle over the undermanned Wizards, receiving strong play up and down the bench. A couple guys who did not make Bell Ringer nominees yet deserve recognition include Jabari Walker and VJ Edgecombe.

Walker aided the Sixers’ run in the second with back-to-back corner threes from almost exactly the same spot, followed up with a gritty offensive rebound drawing a foul.

Edgecombe electrified the crowd before halftime with this electric jam.

pic.twitter.com/JPDw9sH1jK

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 3, 2025

He would also help fuel the run in the third with some strong defense and hustle leading to easy points.

The rook has been everywhere to start the third. pic.twitter.com/ZUH7YEeOqm

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 3, 2025

The Sixers entered the fourth with a 24-point lead, earning well deserved and long overdue rest for Tyrese Maxey and the rest of the starters.

If only the Sixers could play Washington every night. For now, lets get to Bell Ringer.

Tyrese Maxey: 35 points, 29 minutes, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block

File this Maxey performance in his MVP campaign folder, as he effectively enforced himself as the best player on the court for every single minute he played. Even when the deep ball was not falling in the first half, he was using his speed and dribble to consistently get downhill and finish at the rim.

off the glass. pic.twitter.com/inYpAVh5B4

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 3, 2025

The Wizards had no one rostered who could defend Maxey tonight.

That point was exaggerated in the third quarter when Maxey’s shot began to fall, and he began tearing through the Wizards’ defense. He scored 20 of his 35 points in the third quarter, shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep.

As we’ve seen so far from him this year, an aggressive defender is easy prey, opening up the drive and opportunities at the rim. Soft or disorganized defenses provide him easy three-point opportunities.

VJ Rese pic.twitter.com/yvSu2dEIRn

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 3, 2025

He has become automatic in transition over the years, so how about when a defender is playing him to his left side?

'Rese putting on a damn show pic.twitter.com/JO2kRcDZ4x

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 3, 2025

How about one going right for good measure?

And another one pic.twitter.com/wAqxXNUdbY

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 3, 2025

Washington had no answers, leading to Maxey’s best third quarter of the season, and him playing the least amount of minutes all season.

His defense also played a key role in putting the Wizards away in the third quarter, nabbing a couple lazy passes, one of which he converted with a dunk. He had a couple steals in the Sixers’ dominant second quarter.

Jared McCain: 14 points, 6-of-11 FG, 2-of-6 3PT, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal

McCain’s performance against the Wizards marks his most efficient this season. He was pivotal in garnering a large lead in the second, looking like his old self in terms of shot-making and facilitating.

Strong first quarter from J-Mac and the Sixers are up 34-31. pic.twitter.com/GegopH5w0q

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 3, 2025

Additionally, he appears to be back to playing free and with less pressure following his slow start to the season. He was seen multiple times enjoying Maxey’s antics, sometimes in disbelief.

Dominick Barlow: 12 points, 4-of-6 FG, 2 steals, 1 rebound

Barlow’s impact does not show up in the box score, as he played shutdown defense all night against the undermanned Wizards. He continues to be a force during his time filling in for the injured Kelly Oubre Jr., fitting in perfectly with the fast and frequent offense the Sixers employed tonight. If one play encapsulates it all, let it be this one.

Barlow with the steal and the finish. Pirate-approved, apparently. pic.twitter.com/r0PhUTKmRi

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 3, 2025

May the Lower Merion pirate continue to bless us with more Barlow highlights.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...rds-tyrese-maxey-jared-mccain-dominick-barlow

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

The 2025-26 Sixers are who we thought they were

Philadelphia did exactly what it should do against one of the NBA’s poverty franchises on Tuesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Sixers dispatched of the Washington Wizards 121-102 in a game they led by double digits at halftime and by 24 after three quarters. More importantly, the significant margin of victory allowed for Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe to get much-needed rest time as the two young guards played just 29 and 24 minutes, respectively. Additionally, Jared McCain looked pretty comfortable in 25 minutes off the bench and Jabari Walker gave Philly a double-double in a reserve role.

The Sixers are now 11-9 at the quarter turn of the 2025-26 season. When you look back on the first 25% of the campaign, you won’t find a ton of surprises. On the good nights, Philadelphia is a fun team that gets on the backs of its two young guards in Maxey and Edgecombe and usually gets enough from 2-3 of its role players to win. On the bad nights, those two guards tend to get worn down, McCain still looks like someone working his way back from a major knee injury and not immediately up to speed, and the collection of role players perform a lot like they did during last year’s debacle. When it comes to Joel Embiid and Paul George, the two are blending in far more than their salaries would indicate they should be, but at this stage in their careers — and given their injury histories — that should come as no surprise to anyone.

So, how should we feel about this team? Truthfully, the answer should be no different than how you felt before the season started. For what it’s worth, I’m not sure anyone thought Maxey would be THIS good out of the gate. The 25-year-old looks like an MVP candidate and if he ends up missing 30 games like he did last season, you can kiss this season goodbye. Edgecombe has slowed down a little bit in recent games — a recent calf injury didn’t help — but he has still been fun to watch and seems to have been undoubtedly the right pick at third overall in this past summer’s draft. Between the additions of Edgecombe, Walker, Dominick Barlow, McCain continuing to work his way back and another year of Adem Bona, the Sixers are at least younger this season, which gives them a bit more intrigue on a nightly basis even if they’re not going to contend this year.

But it’s that C word that is understandably what a lot of fans are going to cling to. For more than a decade now, Sixers fans have been fixated on figuring out ways to build a championship-caliber team around Embiid. Several executives and head coaches have tried with a slew of different supporting casts placed around the big man, but we still haven’t seen the Sixers reach the Eastern Conference Finals since 2001. From that standpoint, this looks like just another season in Sixers country.

Even with Maxey being as elite as he’s been, Philadelphia is just two games over .500 nearly two months into the season. The doubts surrounding any sort of significant bounce back in both the health and performance of Embiid and George have proved to be warranted as both guys have blended in so far to start the season more than they’ve stood out. Most of the aforementioned young role players are just that — they are nice complementary pieces that can round out a rotation on a team that already has ample high-end talent.

So if star-level performances aren’t going to come from Embiid and George, and it doesn’t seem like anyone’s holding their breath at this point there, can Maxey get enough help? Could the Sixers be launched into contention thanks to Maxey’s ascent to superstardom and allow their other two max players to sit in the backseat of the car and see where the ride takes them? There are a couple of paths for that to happen. Either Edgecombe needs to play above his age and become a No. 2 option on a contending team right away or McCain needs to look like he did before his knee injury last season at the very least.

Is anyone super confident in either of those things happening? Edgecombe may well become a superstar, but remember you draft in the top five because you had a bad season and you don’t have a lot on your roster to begin with. I’m not suggesting this current roster for the Sixers is anywhere close to as bad as last year’s, but I do think it should provide proper context for why Edgecombe probably isn’t ready to immediately be Robin to Maxey’s Batman. As far as McCain goes, sure, maybe by January or February he’s looking more like the version of himself we saw early last season. But this season sure has the makings of an acclimating one for McCain, who not only needs to get up to speed, but is doing so while trying to handle the rigors of a full 82-game schedule for the first time in his NBA career.

The problems we’ve laid out here are hard ones to fix. Philadelphia looks like a team that will hover around .500 most of the year, probably end up in the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference, and the chances of a deep playoff run are slim. Questions will remain about how the franchise can support Maxey more, but it will be difficult to answer those questions for as long as Embiid and George’s contracts are weighing them down from a salary cap perspective.

So maybe Edgecombe or McCain can blossom enough for the final 62 games of the regular season to give the fanbase some more hope. Heck, perhaps we even get a tease along the way from Embiid or George. But this looks like a 45-win team at best right now, which isn’t going to get a lot of fans all that excited about the remainder of the season.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...se-maxey-joel-embiid-paul-george-vj-edgecombe

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Tyrese Maxey finally got some rest. Sixers need to make sure he gets more

The Washington Wizards came to town Tuesday night. They were fresh off a win Monday — their third win in 19 games, to be exact — against old friend Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Since Washington is a franchise more interested in ping-pong balls than victories, their injury list for a matchup against the Sixers was beefy. It was a ripe opportunity for the home team to get back on track, while perhaps also allowing their own lengthy list of injured players to get healthy.

Only two regulars had played in every game this season going into the matchup against the Wizards. One of them was Quentin Grimes, who was listed as probable, then questionable, before eventually being ruled out just before tip-off.

The other was Tyrese Maxey, who miraculously has not missed a game despite leading the NBA in minutes by a healthy margin. He was also coming off playing a season-high 52 minutes in a double overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks Sunday.

The stars finally aligned as the Sixers took down Washington in a laugher 121-102. The 25-year-old guard played 29 minutes, far below his average of over 40 a game and easily his lowest minutes total of the season, while sitting out the fourth quarter.

“Sure was,” Nick Nurse said when asked if it was good to get Maxey off his feet. “I think we had a good chance to kind of trim down everybody there a lot more than we probably anticipated, so good all around, but especially good for him.”

A lot has been made of Maxey’s minutes. As Joel Embiid, Paul George and a slew of other Sixers have missed time, it’s been on Maxey to carry a cumbersome load. The win Tuesday improved the team’s record to 11-9. It’s nothing to do cartwheels over, but the context matters.

Because of injuries and poor play, the Sixers were 5-15 at the 20-game mark last season. They didn’t win their 11th game in 2024-25 until Christmas Day. The biggest differences are the team’s emphasis on acquiring younger players and the MVP-caliber play of Maxey.

There’s an argument to be made that Nurse’s usage of Maxey has been necessary to keep the team above water. With that said, it feels like Nurse has had opportunities to give Maxey a bit more rest and has chosen not to. In any case, Tuesday represented a best-case scenario of securing an easy win while giving the star guard a respite.

And he helped make the drubbing possible by recording 35 points — 20 in the third quarter alone — six assists, four rebounds, four steals and a block in 29 minutes.

“I just wanted to be aggressive,” Maxey said, “give us a comfortable lead so we could be professional and try to finish that game out.”

The hope is Maxey’s Herculean efforts through the first quarter of the season won’t be in vain. He’s averaged 32.5 points per game, good for third in the NBA behind reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic. As mentioned, he’s played in every game while being asked to carry his team.

Something has to give if the Sixers hope to remain competitive and keep Maxey upright.

Will Embiid and George play consistently to lighten the burden? Will someone like VJ Edgecombe or Jared McCain ascend to relieve some pressure?

Both Edgecombe and McCain were solid Tuesday. Both guards have also missed time this season. Edgecombe appears fully recovered from the calf injury that cost him three games. McCain is looking more like himself after missing the first six games of the season while recovering from knee and thumb surgeries.

Maxey’s teammates know it’s up to them to keep their leader fresh.

“When we come out a lot of times it’s like, ‘Alright, let’s just get ‘Rese some rest, man,’” McCain said. “Even when he comes to the bench, he goes straight to sit down, give him time to breathe and rest. So, definitely a responsibility — me, VJ, all the guards take and something we’ve got to help him with.“

It’s important they do — the Sixers won’t play the Wizards again until 2026.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...d-mccain-vj-edgecombe-paul-george-joel-embiid

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers look to start win streak vs. equally depleted Warriors

It may only be from wins against the Nets and Wizards, but the Sixers have still won two of their last three games. It’s an improvement at least after the recent slump of losses and injury woes, and Tyrese Maxey even got to ease off from heavy minutes with only 28 in Tuesday’s win against Washington. That shouldn’t be the end of his increased rest either.

Next up, the Sixers are taking on the 11-11 Warriors, currently sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture in eighth place.

It’s going to be a shorthanded affair all around on Thursday. Joel Embiid is listed as doubtful, with both left and right knee injury recovery. Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) are still out as well, while Paul George (left knee injury recovery) and Quentin Grimes (right calf tightness) are both questionable.

No opponent is exactly easy for these Sixers right now, although they have caught a big break with Steph Curry being sidelined. It seems he’ll be putting up 25 points a night on phenomenal efficiency until he chooses not to — he’s averaged 27.9 points with a 64.1 true shooting percentage (both numbers are his highest in three years) through the 16 games he’s played so far. But he’s out for Thursday with a right quad contusion.

Jimmy Butler is listed as questionable with left knee soreness after leaving the Warriors’ last game on Tuesday (a 124-112 loss to the Thunder). If he’s active and PG plays, we could be in for a fun matchup there, and how well PG can body up and defend Butler’s physical drives will be key to slowing down Golden State’s offense in Curry’s absence.

Along with Butler, Trayce Jackson-Davis (right knee patellar tendonitis), Quinten Post (left ankle sprain), Al Horford (right sciatic nerve irritation) and Jonathan Kuminga (right ankle soreness) are all questionable. Hopefully for the Sixers, they can take advantage of the Warriors’ diminished size and frontcourt depth to make life easier for Andre Drummond and Adem Bona, and give the team’s guards more opportunities to have their way attacking the paint. How they handle Draymond Green anchoring the defense will be interesting to see.

The Warriors are always a smart, cohesive defensive team, and yet again rank seventh in that department this season. But they won’t be the same without Butler and Kuminga on the wings, and Horford and sophomore big man Post (who’s been having a strong season despite not hitting many of his threes yet) potentially sidelined.

There are plenty of former Sixers to keep track of in this contest, including Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton and Seth Curry. The younger Curry brother just signed with the Warriors at the start of December and made his debut on Tuesday, scoring 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Melton is set to make his season debut on Thursday, after only getting to play six games for the Warriors last season.

Curry and Hield won’t be offering much resistance against the Sixers’ explosive backcourt, and Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jared McCain and (maybe) Grimes should find more opportunities to consistently attack the rim in this one.

The Warriors have been struggling on offense this year in general, currently sitting at just 23rd in offensive rating. With no Steph on Thursday, this should give the Sixers and the remarkably in-form Maxey a good chance to pull ahead. Nevertheless, the Warriors — from those mentioned, to others like Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski — will at least be ready to launch a healthy dose of threes without Curry (they rank second in attempts at 44.1 per game). The Sixers will still need to be switched on with their off-ball rotations and fight around screens to keep shooters in check.

Edgecombe may not have have been very efficient or productive as a scorer in his last two games since returning, but he’s been active and still flashing lots of exciting stuff. Hopefully for the Sixers his scoring can get going again vs. the Warriors’ weakened defense.

The rook has been everywhere to start the third. pic.twitter.com/ZUH7YEeOqm

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 3, 2025

The Sixers have a chance to take advantage of the Warriors’ own injuries and maybe grab their second straight win in this one. Especially as Maxey should be primed to continue his All-NBA First Team type form with the matchups he’ll have to face.

Game Details​

When: Thursday, December 4, 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...start-win-streak-vs-equally-depleted-warriors

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers Bell Ringer: Sixers barely survive epic late collapse to Warriors

2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 9
VJ Edgecombe – 2
Andre Drummond – 2
Dom 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

---

With both teams entering Thursday night with multiple starters and rotation players unavailable, the Sixers looked to deliver an early knockout blow on Golden State, jumping out to a 30-10 lead after the first quarter. Then, leading by 22 at halftime, Philadelphia began a truly horrendous second half of play.

A Warriors squad missing Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green (who exited the game in the second quarter) went on a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to close the gap, a period over which the Sixers went five and a half minutes without scoring. Golden State would later complete the comeback, fully erasing what was once a 24-point Philadelphia lead.

Down one in the final minute, the Sixers had three separate cracks at taking the lead, but couldn’t get it done. Finally, with eight seconds left, VJ Edgecombe stole the in-bounds pass and on the ensuing possession, collected an offensive rebound and converted the putback for the go-ahead points at 99-98. To cap off a truly wild Sixers win, the Warriors threw a full-length court pass with under a second left, and looked to have a lay-in at the buzzer, but Tyrese Maxey blocked it off the glass to preserve the victory. We may never see a final-second sequence like it again.

Let’s get to Bell Ringer.

VJ Edgecombe: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 5 turnovers

You couldn’t imagine two bigger plays on each end of the court with the game on the line. Edgecombe stayed right in Buddy Hield’s hip pocket on the out-of-bounds play, snagging the ball away and securing it with just enough time for Nick Nurse to call a timeout. Then, he stayed with the play on the offensive side, reading the ball beautifully and collecting it for his first career game-winner. We witnessed two incredible displays combining high basketball IQ and outstanding athleticism, all from an NBA rookie with fewer than 20 career games under his belt. Not that we were doubting it coming into Thursday night, but the Sixers got a keeper.

VJ EDGECOMBE. THE ROOKIE. A HERO. pic.twitter.com/6qWZ4Gfk0E

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 5, 2025

Tyrese Maxey: 35 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers

For a while, it looked like a somewhat familiar formula for Maxey and the Sixers. Tyrese dominated on the offensive end with a display of long-range bombs, stepback jumpers, and drives to the cup. Maxey had over 30 points after three quarters, and the Sixers could have just put the game to bed and maybe given their star point guard an early night in advance of tomorrow night’s back-to-back. Of course, everything absolutely went to pot and the Sixers watched everything fall to pieces, with even Maxey’s shot going cold down the stretch. Still, Tyrese didn’t take a single moment off, and as Edgecombe put the Sixers back in front and the Warriors chucked it downcourt, it was Maxey sprinting full speed to save the game with a block. Maybe only a few guys would have been fast enough to even make that play.

Just more back-to-back buckets from Tyrese Maxey. What else is new? pic.twitter.com/8LiflspfJ1

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) December 5, 2025

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...maxey-block-vj-edgecombe-game-winner-warriors

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

The Sixers cannot forget Big Shot in the middle of their nostalgia tour

You will believe a rabbit can fly.

From 1998 to 2011, Hip-Hop, an aerial slam-dunking rabbit mascot, patrolled the court at the Sixers’ arena. No matter what bank held the naming rights of the joint at the time, Hip-Hop was king, entertaining a generation of Philadelphians from the early Allen Iverson into the franchise’s pre-Process malaise.

The promise of Phil E. Moose, a moose-themed Sixers mascot, never formally materialized after Hip-Hop was cast aside, perhaps on some perilous journey of self-discovery. Eventually, the Sixers revealed Franklin the Dog as the team’s new official mascot in 2015. At the end of the day, mascots are simply to hype up kids at sporting events, but in a city that has the greatest mascot of all time in the Phanatic and would one day be the birthplace of Gritty, we could probably do a little bit better than something as nondescript as a blue dog, right?

Anyway, Franklin’s been out there tossing errant half-court shots as the mascot for a decade now, but over the course of this early season, Hip-Hop has been revived as the Sixers also brought back their beloved black jerseys as a part of the team’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Eastern Conference Champions team. It’s been glorious. Fans, both online and in the arena, have been amped to see him, perhaps for the 5oth time for older fans or the first for younger ones.

x pic.twitter.com/hBPww26qDC

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 8, 2025

Great stuff. He’ll be back throughout this season, too.

Hip-Hop shouldn’t go away after all of this. He should remain a part-time mascot alongside Franklin’s everyday whacky responsibilities. If anything, the Sixers should bring back another mascot too to add to the mix. I’m talking about Big Shot.

What is Big Shot? I don’t freaking know, but what I do know is that he’s the only Sixers mascot to be a part of a championship team, the legendary 1983 squad. Big Shot went away in 1996 and, now, nearly three decades later, it is time to bring things full circle.

Big Shot is the missing link in the DNA from the Phillie Phanatic taking the sports mascot world by storm in the late 1970s to Gritty doing the same for the Flyers in 2018. Big Shot is a weird, amorphous creature and Philly to the core. In today’s irony-poised landscape, I have no doubt that Big Shot would be a social media sensation in addition to captivating fans in South Philadelphia.

Sixers, please. Do not wait any longer for Big Shot’s return. Let’s ride this nostalgia tour for all its worth.

Or maybe Big Shot can at least be an all-Philly mascot. Phillies games? Big Shot is riding ATVs with the Phanatic. Eagles parades? Big Shot is out there on parade floats. Flyers games? Big Shot is brawling with Gritty as Tom and Jerry-like rivals.

The Sixers aren’t going to win the championship this year, but they are a whole lot of fun to watch on TV and in person. Why not get a little weird with it while we’re at it?

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...ddle-of-their-nostalgia-tour-hip-hop-franklin