In need of their first momentum-shifting victory of the 2025-26 season, the Sixers whipped out their throwback black jerseys for the first time on Saturday night. Some good fortune came in tow.
The Sixers defeated the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, 130-120, to improve to 6-3 on the season and avoid a three-game losing streak. While the stars were star-like – Tyrese Maxey managed 31 points to lead all scorers while Joel Embiid had the easiest 29 points of his season on 16 shots in 26 minutes – the story was Trendon Watford, who received his first start of the season and responded with a 20-17-10 line to mark the first triple-double by a Sixers player this season.
With those three stellar showings, another strong performance from Kelly Oubre Jr. and helpful efforts from VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes, the Sixers had enough to overcome their disastrous defensive start, take control of the game and eventually land the knockout blow in the fourth quarter.
Everything that stood out from a night that most will remember for the jerseys, the court and the return of an old friend:
Trendon Watford keeps on getting better
As if a three-game stretch averaging 13.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists off the bench was not enough of a statement for Watford, the soon-to-be 25-year-old had the best game of his NBA career on Saturday in his first start as a member of the Sixers.
Inserted into the starting five ahead of Jabari Walker, Watford had his fingerprints all over this game from the start. He followed up a surprisingly strong scoring performance on Wednesday night in Cleveland with an even better one on Saturday; 11 of his 20 points came in the opening frame. Watford knocked down an early triple once again. He is shooting accurately and confidently from beyond the arc, and even on low volume that will be a major help.
“I’ve been putting in work all summer, all year on it,” Watford said after the Sixers held a practice on Friday morning. “…Obviously being able to do a lot of things on the court, I think that me shooting the ball at a high level can play to my advantage a lot. But I’ve got all the confidence in my shot, all the confidence in my game.”
But even at 6-foot-9, everyone has learned that with Watford it is the passing and playmaking to really watch out for. He collected a career-high 10 assists; a staggering six of them went to his close friend Maxey. The two of them predictably have already put together some stellar two-man work:
After a hamstring injury forced Watford to miss training camp and preseason, Watford has found a way to seamlessly fit into his new team's offense despite a lack of familiarity and an unconventional style.
Watford looks like a significant weapon moving forward, especially enticing on top of the Sixers’ terrific group of young guards. On Saturday, what was just as notable as Watford’s scoring and facilitating was another career-high: 17 rebounds, rounding out the first triple-double of his NBA career.
Watford is generally not considered a particularly strong rebounder for a player of his size, but he certainly is one for a player with his level of ball skills. And time and time again, as he snares a defensive rebound and leads his team into transition offense, the value of having a jumbo-sized ball-handler is on display.
The Sixers might have a new backup center
It certainly feels like Andre Drummond has officially taken the Sixers’ primary backup center job from Adem Bona. Drummond has just been better early on in 2025-26; the veteran’s rebounding has been a stabilizing force for a team struggling to string together stops. On Friday, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse more or less acknowledged that things could be headed in this direction.
“Yeah, I think so,” Nurse said. “…I think it’s always something we’re looking at. More than anything, I’m trying to put the guys on the floor than can best help us, period. If that moves around a little bit, it moves around, and it’ll probably move around again and all that kind of stuff. Ride the guys who are playing well, ride the better matchups.”
Exhibit A: Saturday’s game. Bona checked in for Embiid halfway through the first quarter and the Sixers allowed Toronto to score 28 points in six minutes. Trailing 43-33 after one quarter, Nurse decided that once Embiid needed more rest it would become Drummond’s game. Drummond paid it off by going +8 in 18 minutes the rest of the way while Bona sat for the remainder of the action.
Given Embiid’s constant availability issues, Drummond and Bona are both crucial pieces to this puzzle. And if Bona is demoted to the third-string center spot, it will still be the most important third-string center spot in the NBA. Embiid will sit on Sunday night against the Detroit Pistons, and Bona very well may start. But it is hard to imagine that Drummond has not clearly separated himself from the player he has taken under his wing.
The Sixers have been better with Drummond manning the middle than Bona. It is not an inherent statement about their individual abilities; it is clear that Bona can hang in plenty of matchups in which Drummond’s lack of mobility makes him unplayable. But when Nurse has a chance to roll with his bruising big off the bench, for now that looks like the plan.
Odds and ends
Some additional notes:
• Jared McCain was listed as available for the Sixers on Saturday, but ended up not playing. The guess here: Nurse planned on using McCain at the start of the second quarter, but after his team opened the game with a horrid defensive frame he opted to keep McCain on the bench in hopes of turning things around defensively and saving the 21-year-old guard for the second leg of this weekend's back-to-back.
• Drummond's quality minutes were especially important because with McCain not in the mix, the Sixers were awfully thin. Drummond (16 minutes) and Grimes (28 minutes) were Nurse's only reserves to reach double-digit minute totals. Justin Edwards played seven minutes and Jabari Walker logged five minutes in addition to Bona only playing eight minutes. That forced Maxey into a 43-minute night, with Watford, Edgecombe and Oubre all surpassing 36 minutes.
• Edgecombe did not have a good scoring night; he is in a bit of a slump on that front. Edgecombe only made five of his 15 shot attempts in this game, but once again found other ways to leave his mark. Edgecombe grabbed seven rebounds, dished out four assists and nabbed three steals. Plus, he helped put the game away by finally finding some scoring juice and getting three consecutive buckets down the stretch.
• Embiid's scoring outburst felt casual in a familiar way. To be fair, perhaps Embiid should be expected to have a relatively easy time against a team like this one: Toronto started wing Scottie Barnes at center; their only true big in the rotation was Sandro Mamukelashvili, who logged 17 minutes off the bench. Embiid made the most of his size advantage on many occasions.
Up next: The Sixers will get right back to work on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons – once again wearing their throwback jerseys. Embiid will be out of action, but McCain should be available.
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