Kelly Oubre scored 22 first-quarter points in a dominant Sixers win over the Brooklyn Nets, leading the charge in a 129-105 victory that moves Philadelphia to 5-1. Quentin Grimes added a career-best 13 assists off the bench, and the 76ers keep on rolling

Here’s what I saw.

Kelly Oubre leads the charge

What in the heck got into Kelly Oubre this offseason? Even with the return of Joel Embiid and the arrival of a No. 3 overall pick, Oubre has managed to keep himself at the forefront for the Sixers to kick off the new year. And with the way he is playing, he will continue to be a critical piece for Philly months from now, when Daryl Morey will have to make important decisions about his future ahead of the trade deadline.

Oubre has been off to a terrific start on offense, but Sunday evening’s game managed to move into career-best territory for the veteran wing. Frequently matched up with Nets guard Cam Thomas — an apathetic defender on his best day — Oubre went right to work attacking Brooklyn’s weak link in isolation. In the opening minutes of the first quarter, most of Oubre’s work was on drives that ended around 10-12 feet out, as he rose into stop-and-pop jumpers and shielded Thomas with his body. These shots have been money for Oubre all year, and the Sixers just kept getting him the rock to let him work. “Hunt Cam Thomas” is a pretty viable offensive strategy.

Although he would cool off as a jumpshooter later in the game, Oubre parlayed those early midrange makes into a pair of threes late in the first quarter, the Sixers recognizing the hot hand and defaulting to any action that got Oubre the ball. Often, they didn’t have to do the work of finding him because Oubre created his own offense with effort and attentiveness on defense. In one particularly memorable sequence, Oubre played pressure defense on Noah Clowney on a potential Nets fast break, bullying Clowney into a turnover that he picked up and took to the rim for two.

That is a snapshot of Oubre’s season, but also a response to a challenge from the coaching staff following their loss to the Celtics. The Sixers were unhappy with their defensive pick-up points early in the Boston game, and Oubre made an effort to slow Brooklyn in early offense, applying some lessons from Nick Nurse in the very next game.

Oubre has done an outstanding job starring in his role to open this season. Sunday night was mostly just the starring part. But his night ended with a bummer, as Oubre exited the game at the end of the third quarter with an injury.

The difference a year makes

Ho hum, a quietly dominant game for Tyrese Maxey. The standard he has set is so high that I went into halftime feeling like he hadn’t shot the ball terribly well, then I checked the box score and he was 3/6 from three and 5/10 from the field. As Oubre loudly dominated the Nets, Maxey was basically keeping pace with him while facing much more pressure and playing table setter for the rest of the team.

That last part has been a huge piece of Maxey’s dominant opening stretch. He bounced back from a rare high-turnover game against the Celtics with an excellent ball-control game against Brooklyn, spreading the ball around effectively. But part of Maxey’s success as a playmaker isn’t seen in the stats, or even really about his play — he finally has a supporting cast who can take pressure off of his shoulders when opponents stack their coverage against him. When Maxey is forced off the ball, he has at least two (and often three) self-creation options to pass to at any given time.

His old friend, Trendon Watford, is quickly becoming one of those preferred options. The Sixers are using Watford in actions all over the floor, even showcasing him on both halves of a look. Each time down, you can’t be sure whether he’ll be the screener or the ballhandler in a pick-and-roll, and if it’s the former, a high trap of Maxey will give a smart, skilled player a four-on-three to attack. Watford had an incredible sequence early in the fourth quarter, canning a corner three before blocking a Nets player on the other end, before using the next possession to drop off a pass for two more Andre Drummond points at the rim.

Quentin Grimes got off to a slow start shooting the basketball, but in every quarter other than the third, I thought he had a very good floor game. Early on, he hit Maxey on a beautiful cut to score two points, made smart reads on when to attack closeouts, and played helpful facilitator while waiting for his scoring to catch up. He would eventually inch his way to double-digit assists, and with each assist, he appeared to put 10 percent more sauce on his passes. The effective closing highlight for the game was a behind-the-back drop off to Watford on the break, with his running mate scoring an and-one layup to push the lead into embarrassing territory.

Grimes, despite a rough moment in the final possession of Friday’s loss to Boston, has been a huge positive for the Sixers to open the year. Although there have been some wild swings in effectiveness at times, he has struck the right balance between last year’s on-ball scoring and the role-player traits that made him a productive role player for previous teams. Right about now, the Sixers have to be kicking themselves for not getting a deal done in the offseason, because he is certainly worth more than the paltry raise they offered in the summer.

For the first time in years, the Sixers are a team that can put teams in rotation with little more than one downhill attack and a quick swing. As recently as last season, it was as simple for an opposing defense as throwing a double team or collapsing on a drive to the basket to bring the offense to a screeching halt. A kick out to Caleb Martin with moderate pressure on him? Forget about it. But the ball is now pinging from Maxey to Grimes to Edgecombe to Watford and Oubre, and they’re about to add McCain and George to that group

Finding the balance for VJ Edgecombe

The angel and the devil on either shoulder are yelling two different things at me about VJ Edgecombe. One reminds me that it’s great for a rookie to understand offensive flow and not try to look for his own shot at the expense of everyone else on the floor. The other is screaming internally (and a little externally) that Edgecombe has the right to be more selfish, more aggressive, and less concerned with getting anybody else involved. Maybe both are a little bit right.

With Kelly Oubre cooking in the first quarter, Edgecombe didn’t have a whole lot to do in the opening 12 minutes. He also wasn’t doing much to help himself — Edgecombe had a sloppy turnover running a pick-and-roll look with Trendon Watford, and he had two cheap first-half fouls on jumpshooters that he’d like to have back. But one thing we’re learning quickly with Edgecombe is his steady approach to the game. The rookie didn’t suddenly change his offensive process because results weren’t there, and he bided his time until the moment came.

Midway through the second quarter, he essentially took over the game as the lead ballooned for Philadelphia. After Edgecombe put a few points on the board with athleticism around the basket, he deposited two different catch-and-shoot threes, drawing big celebrations from the bench. After the second jumper fell, Tyrese Maxey made a point to find Edgecombe for a transition heat check on the wing, a shot I loved seeing Edgecombe launch with confidence. And though that shot did not go down, Trendon Watford’s offensive rebound set Edgecombe up for the ensuing highlight:

The crazy part is that Edgecombe had probably three different opportunities for highlight dunks in the first half. He was fouled on one and sank two free throws, and just missed a potential dunk of the year candidate when he clanged a dunk off of the rim while skying over Nic Claxton. In any case, you looked up and it was a 14-point first half, a flash of brilliance where previously there had been nothing. This is how he has gotten off to the best start of any rookie in his class, powering Philadelphia to a 5-1 record.

It was a quiet second half for the rookie, but a 16-2-3-3 line and a lower minutes count may be a blessing in disguise. They have been pushing him into the red on workload to open the season, and I’m sure he appreciated an “old school load management” game.

Other notes

Jabari Walker has been rough to start his Sixers tenure. Sunday night, he committed some silly/lazy fouls, struggled to score around the basket, and continued to offer nothing from the perimeter. He has just looked off the pace during his minutes across the first six games, and Nurse is giving him starting opportunities, so he isn’t exactly facing the most pressure during his minutes. Nurse doesn’t have a ton of options in the frontcourt rotation right now, but they need more from Walker.

— Coach Lowry made a bucket! What a story.