Dec 6, 2025, 3:29 AM UTC
A nice stress free 2-0 back-to-back, as everyone predicted.
The Sixers won their third in a row, knocking down the Milwaukee Bucks 116-101 Friday night.
Quentin Grimes led the Sixers with 22 points shooting a blistering 7-of-9 from the field along with four rebounds and five assists.
Tyrese Maxey only had 12 points and four assists on 5-of-14 shooting while VJ Edgecombe only had 10 going 4-of-8 from the field.
Staggering Paul George turned out just the way they wanted to — he went for 20 points, five boards and five assists, shooting 7-of-15 from the floor. Jabari Walker had 18 points off the bench while Bobby Portis led Milwaukee with 22.
Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford were out for the Sixers while the Bucks were without Giannis Antetekoumnpo, who suffered a calf injury earlier this week.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
* Maxey started the game as quick as he could, taking the opening tip into the paint for a floater. Dominick Barlow was rewarded for a backdoor cut with a lob and Edgecombe made somewhat of a grenade three. That was also quickly negated by a 3-of-4 Bucks’ start from three. Speaking of threes, Andre Drummond has now missed his last two by about five feet, which isn’t great.
* The second unit did give a shot in the arm thanks to Adem Bona and Jared McCain. Bona took advantage of being left alone for a couple of baskets, and McCain nailed his first two long range attempts to give the Sixers an early double-digit lead.
* Jabari Walker has also been shooting it pretty well lately, and he continued to do so knocking down his first triple of the night as well. They were playing so well that Grimes’ three turnovers hardly slowed them down as they held a 13-point lead after one.
* Walker didn’t just keep that rolling over quarters, it’s fair to say he lit the court up to start the second. Not only did he continue to drain threes, but he flew over a defender to save a possession with an offense rebound. George made his first impact of the game during this stretch as well knocking down a couple of long jumpers.
* This start only improved the season lineup metrics for Kyle Lowry, who got his first minutes this season outside of the Barclays Center. In classic form, he immediately drew a loose ball foul in transition after securing a rebound. His perfect shooting percentage is no more as he missed his first attempt of the night, but was able to get on the board on his second. He had a really solid shift, picking up a steal to cap it off. The Sixers were great on the perimeter as a unit with eight steals in the half, Maxey with three himself.
* For the second night in the row the Sixers had jumped all the way out to a 24-point lead. They do seem to ease up a bit as quarters end when they go up this much. Here they only allowed a couple easy layups in this stretch but they did throw their challenge away on rather meaningless out of bounds call. Grimes had turned things around though — an and-1 from him and a trip to the line from Walker gave the Sixers a 20-point lead at the half.
* More reason for concern about how flat they began to look as it took them three and a half minutes to record their first field goal of the second half. Not long after that, they put the Bucks in the bonus with Edgecombe and Drummond each picking up a pair of fouls.
* The contested runner in transition from Edgecombe was impressive, but it was a George three that settled things down for the Sixers a bit. Defensively, they had done a good job of limiting Milwaukee to what they were able to get at the line.
* The bench once again gave the Sixers a much needed surge. Walker tacked on another bucket and McCain got to the hoop after struggling to do so in the second, but it was Grimes’ heater that led the way. He was hardly touching the net coming off screens and knocked one down off the dribble as well. McCain’s three at the buzzer hit the front of the rim, making it just a 16-point Sixers lead
* That stagnation continued to linger in the Sixers offense. They got Bona open rolling for a dunk, but otherwise couldn’t score as the Bucks continued to eat into the lead. Fatigue did look to be setting in for some, but they also had George on the court who didn’t play the night before.
* To be fair, George’s gravity did allow him to kick to some pretty open shooters but those shooters were losing their legs to make those shots. He did eventually take things into his own hands, burying midrange pull-ups on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to 14 and prompt a Bucks timeout.
* George was great on defense all night, and the Sixers needed it no more than when he caused two Portis misses with the Bucks swinging momentum back their way. He hustled back to contest a missed layup in transition and blocked a three on the following possession.
* The Bucks double teams turned their way to George, and the Sixers needed someone else to make a shot. Edgecombe did when he was swung to. Ill-advisedly, George tried to power through the double on the following possession and airballed, but Drummond was there to scoop it up and lay it in. They struggled to beat the press the next trip up the floor, but Grimes buried a three and was fouled for his troubles to put a cap on things.
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