PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers could easily have been written off in multiple forms. Their best players haven’t been able to stay healthy. They haven’t been a great team on their home floor. They have been one of the worst third-quarter teams in the NBA this season. And the fan base is still reeling from a trade deadline that saw shooting guard Jared McCain dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, this Philadelphia team is proving to be unique. It may well be a team whose best trait is the heart beating inside its collective chest. This Sixers team could have quit on the season weeks ago. And, it’s had every right to. Nonetheless, with Sunday night’s 109-103 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Sixers are 37-31 on the season and in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
The Sixers themselves are hoping to get into the top six. Yet, consider what the 76ers are working with. They played Sunday night without Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr. Those are four of their best five players. They played with Kyle Lowry in the rotation. (If you haven’t been following Philly this season, Lowry is essentially an extra assistant coach at this point.)
Maxey, Embiid and George normally lead them. On Sunday night, those names changed to Quentin Grimes, Justin Edwards and VJ Edgecombe. They are normally a veteran-laden team at the end of games they are trying to close out, but against Portland, it was the rookie Edgecombe who came up with the big shots to put the game out of reach.
Justin Edwards had 21 points for the Sixers on Sunday. (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
“It’s a confidence boost for all of us,” Edwards said. “It will mean a lot when we get our main guys back, and coach (Nick Nurse) can look down the bench and feel like he trusts the guys because they have been playing consistent minutes.”
A weekend that saw the Sixers rebound from a blowout loss to the Detroit Pistons with wins over the Blazers and Brooklyn Nets encapsulates some of the team’s ups and downs. If one chooses to criticize executive Daryl Morey for trading McCain to OKC, then Morey probably deserves some kudos for the yeoman’s work he’s done over the past two seasons at the edges of the roster.
For example, the three leading scorers on Sunday night were Grimes with 31 points, Edwards with 21 and Edgecombe with 18. Morey traded Caleb Martin for Grimes last February at the trade deadline. He drafted Edgecombe, which, to be fair, many general managers would have. He signed Edwards via a two-way contract when the Philadelphia native went undrafted out of Kentucky.
If Nurse is to be criticized for the Sixers’ poor performance this season in third quarters, the fact that this team hasn’t let go of the proverbial rope at any point this season should reflect well on him. Look no further than Sunday night for a team that should look rather defeated. Philadelphia and Portland came into Sunday night in similar situations, ninth and 10th in their respective conferences. However, it was the 76ers who played with spirit and spunk. It was Philadelphia digging for loose balls and playing harder than Portland. And it was the 76ers who made the right plays in the fourth quarter, the plays that determined why they eventually won the game.
“A lesson that we are taking as a team is to just stay positive,” Sixers center Andre Drummond said. “We know that we have to stay with it, even if things aren’t going our way. It’s a long (season) and anything can happen, and that’s what we have to remember. The way we played tonight points to that. And it shows that we are capable of playing good basketball, even if some of our main guys are out.”
Nurse had 11 guys at his disposal on Sunday night; he used them all. He subbed and searched for rotations and lineups until he found some that worked. Some of the things he found have occurred previously. Grimes is averaging 20.7 points per game over his last six games. He was a scoring star last March, even though many on the roster were injured. This March, however, the games count for much more.
What makes this weekend important is that Philadelphia was teetering. The 76ers were on the brink of falling almost completely out of the race for a top-six spot in the Eastern Conference. The top six finishers are guaranteed a playoff spot. Two wins didn’t bring the Sixers back to the top six, but they stopped the free fall. They spruced up a locker room that felt in the past few days like it needed something to go right. And they’ve given Philadelphia some newfound hope.
Maxey will be out for at least the next two weeks due to the finger injury on his right hand. Yet, Edgecombe and Grimes are fast proving they can create offense in his stead. More importantly, with Maxey on the shelf, these games are important for Edgecombe to gain reps as the top guy. And the results have been mixed. He didn’t play well against Detroit. He played better against Brooklyn. However, he looked far more comfortable in the role against Portland.
“I was being double-teamed against Brooklyn,” Edgecombe said. “I had never been doubled in my life. I guess I just have to go back and look at the film.”
The hope for the Sixers is that guys start to get healthy. That hope stems from a manageable schedule this week. Winning at the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night will be difficult. Then, there’s a matchup at the Sacramento Kings and at the Utah Jazz. Both games are winnable. If the Sixers win two games, that would be four wins in five contests.
Making the playoffs is no longer a given. The 76ers need to come to terms with that. Still, this is a team that’s continually dusted itself off and gotten back into the fight. The 76ers are optimistic Embiid will return during the Western Conference road trip this week. George will return from his NBA-mandated suspension on March 25.
This is a team that’s had precious few pockets of full health. It’s a team that’s gone just a few games over the season with a full roster. Yet, the 76ers are still fighting. As a result, the lack of health and availability among the best players has not equated to a death sentence.