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Oct 29, 2025, 1:54 AM UTC
WASHINGTON, D.C. — My does this team have a lot of fight in them.
The Sixers erased a 19-point second-half deficit to knock off the Washington Wizards 139-134 in overtime on the second night of a back-to-back. They have four wins before Halloween. They had three wins at Thanksgiving last season.
Tyrese Maxey used a hot first and fourth quarter to lead the Sixers with 39 points and 10 assists, doing so on 11-of-25 shooting. Adem Bona had five blocks and only two points, but those were the go-ahead points off a putback dunk in overtime.
VJ Edgecombe had the quietest night of his young career, finishing with 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Quentin Grimes went for 23 while Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Returning and once again on a minutes restriction, Joel Embiid turned in another solid offensive performance in 23 minutes of action, finishing with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting, also grabbing seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
Trendon Watford also made his Sixers’ debut after being sidelined for the beginning of the season with a hamstring issue.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
* So far this season the Sixers have had another guy out to do a lot of the traditional big man stuff alongside Embiid. With Dominick Barlow sidelined to injury, that wasn’t the case for this one with Justin Edwards getting the start. Embiid had probably his most impressive defensively play so far this year stuffing Alex Sarr at the rim, even if the rebound was scooped up for a basket. The Wizards plan seemed to be going right at the basket as nine of their first 14 shots came in the paint.
* Offensively the Sixers started in another groove and it was thanks to another heater to start the game from Maxey. Making four of his first five shots, he was able to get wherever he wanted to early. The offense mainly ran through himself and Embiid, who looked solid again on that end. He was able to draw a couple of early fouls and knock down a three of his own.
* It’s not like the Sixers’ defense looked any better without Embiid on the floor. Washington ripped off a 13-2 run as they took their turn getting open however they wanted on the three-point line. Watford checked in for the first time and got his pass intercepted for a dunk, but he backed his defender down on the next play, getting his first points as a Sixer on a baby hook. The Sixers trailed by eight after giving up 40 points in the quarter.
* Desperately in need of any defense, it was Maxey who finally made a couple of plays on that end. He was able to front a pass headed towards to post and pick it off for a fast break. A few possessions later he locked up his man to force a shot clock violation. Sixers fans also got their first look at Watford’s passing ability during this stretch as he hit Jabari Walker with a couple of nice passes from the high to low post.
* He looked to be laboring a bit getting up and down the floor, but Embiid had also settled into a rhythm offensively. He found a nice blend of getting to the line vs. getting a quality shot. He had started to push the limit of those five minute shifts, before an inadvertent elbow to the face to Marvin Bagley was overturned to be his third foul, and he was subbed out.
* It’s still crazy that it took this long, but this was the longest stretch so far that Edgecombe looked like a rookie out there. He looked to second guess himself on a couple of passes getting up the court, and was lucky to get away with only one turnover in the half. He didn’t take his first shot until well into the second, and finally got on the board with just a minute to go. He still found a way to come up with some big contributions, knocking down a four-point play with just a second to go in the half.
* The Sixers are lucky Sarr did not check back in until that injury Bagley suffered, because they had absolutely no answers for him. Not being able to contain anyone off the dribble is a problem when there isn’t a world class rim protector backing them anymore. They also nearly had an insane buzzer beater go against them to end a quarter for the second night in a row. This time they were lucky that Kyshawn George’s heave was just a bit too late, but they still went into the break trailing by four.
* Not only did the second half start with the Sixers still not being able to force any misses, but they started committing a bunch of silly fouls to give the Wizards extra chances at the line —they took seven in the first four minutes of the half and were in position to turn this one into a laugher. It’s been one thing to see guards and wings pick on this defense with Embiid’s limited mobility, but seeing a big like Sarr cook felt like an even more troubling sign.
* All the Sixers really had going for them offensively to start the half was what they got out of Embiid. He knocked down a couple more threes and got himself a couple more baskets out of post ups, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Washington’s blistering pace. He checked out about midway through the quarter with only two minutes left on his 20-minute limit, with the Sixers down 15.
* For as many problems as the Sixers’ defense might have, some times the other team just gets really hot as well. As a team, the Wizards shot 60.9% as a team in the quarter. Edgecombe was able to give a brief glimpse of light with another four-point play. He seemed to be a bit shaken up from the hard close out by Corey Kispert, but didn’t leave the game or anything. Even with that, the Sixers trailed by 16 after three.
* Between the score, and the fact that he was already at 18 minutes, it did feel like a possibility that Embiid’s night was done, but he was back out there to start the fourth. The Sixers finally got a potential momentum-changing sequence when Cam Whitmore got himself T’d up right after another Edgecombe three. That didn’t start a run, but it did get the lead down to a more manageable number. Embiid’s night was finally done with seven minutes to go, but the Sixers had finally gotten the lead under double digits.
* It probably isn’t a coincidence that the Sixers who looked freshest on offense in the second half was one of the few who didn’t play last night in Embiid. After that flurry, they were held without a field goal for three minutes. Again, when the Wizards looked at the cusp of putting the game away, the Sixers got an and-1 from Oubre to keep themselves within striking distance.
* It was pretty impressive to see Maxey get bucket after bucket once again down the stretch after looking pretty gassed for most of the second half. He was able to get all the way to the hoop and to the line to make things interesting. He even had enough in him to hid a midrange stepback. The Sixers also played really good defense down the stretch to get stops to make things close. Maxey and Grimes were tough to get by on the perimeter, and Adem Bona was sorely providing rim protection.
* A quality of this team so far is that they’ve fought in every fourth quarter, no matter the score and no matter how hard they were playing. This has been evident in Grimes’ off nights so far this season. Like opening night, he didn’t really have a feel for much of the game, but hit some huge shots down the stretch, including three to tie the game with 39 seconds remaining.
* That rim protection from Bona included a block to keep the game tied with 22.5 seconds left, even if it was initially called a goaltend and needed video review to be overturned. The Wizards won the subsequent jump ball and held out for the final shot. It went to Khris Middleton, whose midrange jumper fell short, sending this game.
* Once again, the Sixers looked dead on arrival as OT started— the Wizards got a couple of quick baskets and it would take the Sixers three minutes to match as their attempts weren’t just missing, but missing badly. They finally scored when Maxey was able to get to the basket for a layup, and another drive got him a wide open dunk a few possessions later. Down one, they forced a CJ McCollum missed three. Maxey went fast and got a floater off, it didn’t fall put it gave the Sixers a one-point lead with 27.6 seconds left in the extra period.
* On the following possession George was able to get by Edgecombe but Bona stepped up at the rim for a strong contest to force another miss. It was Maxey able to draw the intentional foul, and he forced the lead to three. Bona picked up yet another block on McCollum, but Maxey splitting his next pair and a three from George meant things were far from over. Grimes was able to steal the inbound and push the lead back up to two scores, giving the Sixers the lead for good.
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