Sixers Bell Ringer Season Standings:
Tyrese Maxey - 16
Joel Embiid - 8
Jared McCain - 8
Paul George - 7
Kelly Oubre Jr. - 5
Guerschon Yabusele - 4
Quentin Grimes - 4
Adem Bona - 2
Ricky Council IV - 2
Justin Edwards - 2
KJ Martin - 2
Jared Butler - 1
Andre Drummond - 1
No One - 1
The Philadelphia 76ers found themselves back in the loss column on Monday night, falling 132-123 to the hosting Atlanta Hawks less than 24 hours after defeating the Utah Jazz back in South Philly.
With just nine players available and slogging through the second leg of a back-to-back, the Sixers looked gassed and outmatched relatively quickly by the Hawks. After a back-and-forth first period had the teams close to level after one, the fatigue and shorthandedness of the Sixers seemingly kicked in and Atlanta began to build their lead — up to 16 at one point in the second period before it was trimmed to nine by halftime, though the game hardly felt that close.
The Sixers continued to struggle and lag behind the Hawks, allowing Atlanta to extend their lead to 17 points by the end of the third and over 20 early in the fourth. Quentin Grimes tried to single-handedly pull the Sixers back in this one with 17 points in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough. Philadelphia falls 132-123 to Atlanta.
Eighteen games to go. The Sixers are now 22-42. Next up, the team heads north to visit the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer. We know these games can be tough to watch overall and feel like there’s not much to celebrate, but we’re still going to shoutout the individual players on the floor that do well through these last weeks of Sixers’ games.
Quentin Grimes: 35 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
Philadelphia 76ers v Atlanta Hawks Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images
Quentin Grimes was just about the only Sixer to look decent throughout this one — scoring 25 points last night against the Utah Jazz clearly didn’t tire him too much. It’s been hard to judge performances of Sixers players recently because they haven’t been playing against full-strength teams, but it certainly seems like Grimes is the real deal. In its current state, the Sixers’ offense is operating through Grimes when he’s on the floor, and he is finding ways to create good opportunities for himself and his teammates to produce, notching six assists to go with his 35 points.
He is also showing his ability to completely take over a game all by himself, as evidenced by his 17-point fourth period. Grimes shot 6-for-8 from the floor and was 3-for-4 from three in the final frame in which he nearly single-handedly pulled the Sixers back into the game. If you’re a pro-tanking Philly fan, you probably hate this guy because he never gives up.
Grimes finished Monday night with 35 points on 14-for-25 field goal shooting and sinking 5-of-11 from long range along with seven rebounds and six assists. Oh, he also had three steals and one block on defense.
Jeff Dowtin Jr.: 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
With the Sixers’ situation being... well, a mess... Jeff Dowtin Jr. has started to get some opportunities on the floor these past few games and has been productive throughout. Against Utah on Sunday, Dowtin put up 10 points on 4-for-5 field goal shooting in a five and a half minute stint during the second frame. Against the Hawks tonight, the third quarter provided his biggest burst — nine points on 3-for-4 three-point shooting. Dowtin shot well from long range throughout this contest, hitting 4 of 6 attempts Monday night after going 2-for-3 from three-point territory on Sunday. He still has a long way to go in terms of overall development, but the last two nights have been good ones from Dowtin.
Dowtin ended Monday night with 17 points on 6-for-9 field goal shooting with three rebounds, three assists and one steal.
As impressive as Grimes? No, not realistically. But worthy of a shoutout nonetheless.
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Who was the Sixers’ Bell Ringer vs. the Atlanta Hawks?
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Quentin Grimes
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Jeff Dowtin Jr.
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