Quentin Grimes thrives in 76ers' win over Magic

PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers are both fortunate and exciting.

Adem Bona is a defensive force when he’s not in foul trouble. And the Sixers need to keep Quentin Grimes as the sixth or seventh man.

Those three things stood out Monday night in the Sixers’ 136-124 victory over the Orlando Magic at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Excitement

Fortunate and exciting are the best ways to describe the Sixers. They know it. So do their first three opponents.

Yet that shouldn’t take away from the unexpected excitement surrounding the team.

After beating the Magic on Monday night, the Sixers are 3-0. It’s their best start since opening 5-0 during the 2019-20 season.

The Sixers are fortunate because they’ve had a favorable schedule to start the season, facing the Magic (1-3), Charlotte Hornets (2-1) and Boston Celtics (1-3). And they’ll travel to the 1-2 Washington Wizards on Tuesday to complete their first back-to-back of the season.

Yet, the undermanned squad is fun to watch thanks to having one of the league’s best young backcourts in Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe. Several gritty, athletic, defensive-minded role players surround the duo.

As a result, this team has shown more heart than all of last season when they finished with a disheartening 24-58 record. And things should only get better once the team gets healthy.

Joel Embiid missed Monday’s game due to left knee injury management. Dominick Barlow was also sidelined while having a procedure for a left elbow laceration. Paul George (left knee surgery recovery), Jared McCain (right thumb surgery recovery) and Trendon Watford (left hamstring injury management) have yet to play this season.

But like they’ve done in their first two games, the Sixers came up with big fourth-quarter plays to pull out the victory.

On this night, Maxey scored 13 of his season-high 43 points in the final quarter to give the Sixers breathing room. He also finished with a game-high eight assists and four rebounds. The 2023 All-Star is averaging 37 points.

Meanwhile, Edgecombe finished with 26 points, seven assists, four rebounds, one block and a steal. He’s averaging 25 points and the Sixers’ backcourt is a problem for teams to defend.

The team will be tough to beat if Kelly Oubre Jr. can duplicate Monday’s performance, finishing with 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting, along with 10 rebounds and two blocks.

The Magic didn’t help their case by taking too many poor shots and only playing hard in spurts. That’s where the Sixers were fortunate in this game.

But this team is exciting and has a refuse-to-lose attitude that could benefit them once the schedule toughens.

Bona’s impact, excessive fouling

Bona got the start at center for Embiid. The 6-foot-8, 235-pounder was flying around on the defensive end. That enabled him to sandwich two highlight blocks around one by Oubre Jr. on consecutive defensive possessions.

However, as Bona tends to do, he got caught for reaching and jumping into players he’s defending. Bona picked up his first foul with 8 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first quarter. Then the second-year player picked up his second foul 30 seconds later and was immediately subbed out by Andre Drummond.

Bona returned to the game early in the second quarter.

The former UCLA standout was back to his aggressive self in the third quarter. He scored on two acrobatic alley-oop dunks, grabbed three rebounds, and blocked Desmond Bane’s layup before being subbed out with 5:50 left in the third.

He finished with seven points and four rebounds to go with his three blocks.

Bona is a considerable asset for the Sixers. He brings unmatched energy, excitement and rim protection. He needs to cut down on committing early fouls.

Grimes is thriving in a reserve role

After being acquired in a trade from the Dallas Mavericks in February, Grimes proved that he’s capable of starting for the Sixers.

The 6-5, 207-pounder with elite 3-point shooting and solid defense would be a great compliment to Maxey in the backcourt. He would also stretch the floor to create space for Embiid and George.

But coming off the bench has enabled him to play more as a playmaker and less as a stander in the corner, waiting for catch-and-shoot opportunities.

It’s also better for him and the team in that role. There’s less competition if he’s playing for the second unit. And his impact has been felt in each of the last two games.

Grimes finished with 14 points on Monday while making 3 of 4 3-pointers, to go with five rebounds and three assists before fouling out. He made an impact shortly after checking into the game with 6:53 left in the first quarter.

He also buried three foul shots to give the Sixers an 118-113 lead with 4:52 remaining.

This comes after Grimes finished with 24 points in Saturday’s 125-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. In that win, Grimes gave the Sixers the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining.

“Just play my game,” Grimes said of the benefit of coming off the bench. “There’s no pressure as [it would be] as a starter. Coming off the bench, going out there and [play his game.]”

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