The Sixers got huge outings from Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe to earn a much-needed 135-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, snapping a losing streak and restoring order. Maxey led all scorers with 39 points, with Edgecombe setting a new career high with six threes on the evening.
Here’s what I saw.
That’s more like it!
The reason it has been hard to accept a blanket injury excuse for the Sixers’ poor play is that they’ve hardly shown up enough over the last five games to know if they’re good enough to win. They sat down on the court and quit against the Blazers, Knicks, and Pelicans, not giving themselves a chance to compete. I would apply similar logic to the premise that Tyrese Maxey hasn’t had enough help to win games. Maybe that is the case, but he hasn’t played well enough individually to absolve him for playing and/or shooting poorly. On both fronts, the Sixers broke out against Minnesota.
It helped that the Wolves’ only available big man was rookie Joan Beringer, who got whistled for three early fouls and left Minnesota in small-ball looks for most of the night. Credit to Andre Drummond for working the offensive glass early, VJ Edgecombe for attacking the rim with gusto after that, and the Sixers for hammering the Wolves inside once they tried to play in switchable lineups with no true center on the backline. They have not played with that type of ruthlessness against a clear opponent weakness in a while, and it was nice to see that from a group struggling mightily.
Their energy was markedly better than the night prior against New Orleans. They put together some high effort transition possessions that broke up run outs for the Wolves, including one where Cam Payne nearly stole a pass and made an extra effort to try to dig the play out as he fell out of bounds. When they trapped Anthony Edwards later in the first half, they got into Minnesota’s star man, hedging aggressively and forcing a turnover or two by hedging with speed and purpose. It’s the age-old story of execution, where “what” you’re scheming isn’t always as important as “how” you’re playing it.
Everything gets easier, of course, when Maxey plays like a star on offense rather than a guy masquerading as one because the real alpha is in street clothes. Aided by some more offense-heavy lineups from Nick Nurse — they played a lot of three-guard looks and even Kelly Oubre at power forward to open the floor up —Maxey was able to get downhill and score quite a bit against Minnesota, shaking off a 1/3 start to head into halftime sitting on 19 points and five assists.
(One sour sidebar here: I’m not entirely sure if Nurse wanted to do this or if he’ll explain after the game that he was simply matching how Minnesota set up. I hope it was more about what his team needed to do, because winning games in the weeks ahead probably depends on juicing the offense enough to overcome a limited defensive group.)
In any case, Maxey brought an excellent blend of perimeter shotmaking (2/5 from three) and inside-the-arc punishment to the table, dialing his speed down just enough to finish around the basket. On an Andre Drummond offensive rebound that was recycled into a potential corner three, Maxey hit a one-dribble two from the midrange that I’d be happy to see him take more, as it’s the sort of shot he makes with ease that can catalyze a bigger scoring run. He is at his best when the defense has to play to stop him at all three levels, and he was able to mix speeds and shot attempts nicely against Minnesota.
His vertical explosiveness also feels better than it has ever been, with Maxey a bigger threat to throw down on teams than ever before. After a wild loose-ball sequence that eventually tilted Philadelphia’s way, Maxey rose up and banged on both Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, shifting the momentum back in the Sixers’ direction after a troubling start to the third:
Just as important: Maxey was leading on the other end, trading some apathetic defense against New Orleans for more engagement against the Wolves. When the guy carrying your offense is making the extra rotation, running back in transition, and battling guys chest to chest in the post, it’s only natural that everyone else will follow. He had an outstanding play late in the third as the Sixers tried to see out their stinker period, blocking Bones Hyland on a baseline jumper before Cam Payne saved the ball and forced a Minnesota frustration foul. And Maxey never took his foot off the gas, padding Philadelphia’s lead in the fourth quarter with two-point finishes that were immediately followed by backcourt steals.
The Sixers found themselves on the right end of the effort battle, and they were rewarded for respecting the game (not to mention making a lot of threes). Kudos to Maxey for delivering an A+ superstar performance, and to the rest of the group for matching his desire. Respect the game, and it will give back to you.
Guards, guards, guards
Quentin Grimes’ dynamite start to the season was a big part of Philadelphia surprising people in the opening weeks, and his fall off was equally huge as they came back to Earth. The Sixers’ bench has offered no scoring punch for most of the last two months, putting immense pressure on Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid to carry the team on offense. He has come alive in their games after the All-Star break, playing well in two out of three to jumpstart the second unit.
Grimes can be an all-or-nothing type of guy on offense, where he’s knocking down jumpers and playing setup man for others or missing open looks while tossing bozo turnovers into the waiting arms of the opponent. Sunday night opened with Grimes knocking down a pair of first-half threes, parlaying attention on the perimeter into a nasty drive-and-dish game. Adem Bona was the main beneficiary, scoring a series of drop-off dunks as Grimes hit the paint on drives and left him with little work to do, but Grimes had one of his best overall decisionmaking games of the year against Minny.
But there was a more blinding backcourt outing, and it came from VJ Edgecombe, who lit the Wolves up from deep despite struggling mightily on his inside-the-arc adventures. Mired in a shooting slump for most of the last two months, Edgecombe has never stopped shooting, and his confidence finally paid off in a 6/7 outing from deep on the road. He hit threes of all types against Minnesota, from relocation jumpers to standstill threes to the more difficult pull-up stuff, bailing the Sixers out of brutal halfcourt possessions on a few occasions.
For anyone who didn’t watch Edgecombe at Baylor, I can’t express enough surprise at how confident he has been as a pull-up shotmaker, even when the percentages on those shots have said to give the ball up. This is a kid who largely avoided pull-up jumpers altogether, serving as a downhill and stationary threat more than anything else. But we’ve seen a different side of Edgecombe in Philadelphia, his bravery backed by his work and on-court progress.
Leading the second unit without Maxey to open the fourth quarter, Edgecombe was apparently of the belief that any jumper he took was going in, knocking down this outrageous three as he crashed to the court and drew groans of disbelief from the frigid Midwesterners packed into Target Center.
Edgecombe’s secret weapon in recent weeks has been his rebounding ability, with their starting two guard chipping away at a big Sixers problem with a nose for the ball and otherworldly athleticism. The rookie has found ways to help them win even when his shooting hasn’t been there, and when it all comes together the way it did on Sunday, you’re reminded that this kid has the potential to be special in just a year or two from now.
Other notes
— Kelly Oubre helping off of Anthony Edwards one pass away while Edwards was 7/9 from the field and burning hot is a decision that nearly caused me to turn the game off despite the fact that Edwards missed the ensuing open three.
— The crazy thing about this offensive performance is that I don’t think the Sixers’ offensive process was particularly good. It was a lot of isolation play and screen slipping, mixed in with some Spain pick-and-rolls (good!) and the occasional double drag. Maybe not a recipe for sustainable success, but I’ll take any success for one night only.
