Believe it or not, this season will be over sooner rather than later.
The Sixers lost their fourth in a row when they fell 132-119 to the Atlanta Hawks Sunday night.
Quentin Grimes once again led the Sixers with 26, but wasn’t nearly as efficient as he shot 7-of-18 from the field along with seven assists. Justin Edwards had another hot start to finish with 22 on 8-of-18 shooting.
Trae Young led all scorers with 28.
Lonnie Walker IV was once again inactive due to a concussion. Jalen Hood-Schifino didn’t dress but Jeff Dowtin Jr. did, giving the Sixers nine available players.
Here are some grades at the buzzer.
Before we get to the grades, if the Sixers somehow get lucky and end up with V.J. Edgecombe in the draft, nobody can show him this game’s tape. It was hard to focus on the game with Alaa constantly bringing up Baylor’s loss to Duke in the NCAA tournament.
Quentin Grimes
He had plenty of time to make his stat sheet and the game’s score look respectable, but Grimes certainly did not have the offensive explosion Sixers’ fans have gotten used to. Atlanta’s length, specifically Dyson Daniels, gave him trouble all game. He finished with four turnovers and could have had more as he had it poked away from him often.
On top of that, he was just having an off night, smoking a couple open layups. He’s still good for one baseline cut for a dunk per game, which could be so useful when he’s playing on a real time again. Georges Niang might not feel the same though.
Georges Niang being Georges Niang and chirping with Quentin Grimes in Q3.
"If Joel was here, your ass would be in the corner. Joel here, you're in the corner. Tyrese [Maxey] here, you're in the corner." pic.twitter.com/r8zEu2Zg7X
— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) March 23, 2025
Grade: C-
Justin Edwards
What got Edwards heaps of praise from the coaching staff earlier in the year was his feel for the game despite his experience. That has remained the case even as he’s taken on a bigger role. He just quietly stacks up points without having to command the offense. Now, for much of the night, the Sixers didn't really have anything else going on offensively besides him, but that’s by design for the moment. Once again his offensive production trailed off a bit towards the end of the game, but it’s hard to blame him given the state of things.
He opened with the Trae Young assignment, which was a bit much for him given his foot speed, but the team as whole had a very “end of a long road trip” type of defensive effort.
Grade: A-
Guerschon Yabusele
A sign that his sore knee is feeling better is that he was looking to post-up more. After a quick five points in the first quarter, those touches became harder to come by as the Sixers just didn’t have anyone who could throw a safe post-entry pass.
Once again, the Sixers were horribly mismatched down low without a traditional center. That was especially the case when Yabu wasn’t on the floor in this one. Chuma Okeke gave good effort on the offensive glass, but that was far from enough.
The big depth took another hit as Oshae Brissett was unable to finish the game due to right knee swelling. That’s especially rotten timing for him as his 10-day contract is about to expire.
Oshae Brissett (right knee swelling) will not return.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) March 24, 2025
Grade: B+
Jeff Dowtin Jr.
It’s understandable that Dowtin needed to find his rhythm after a couple nights off — he only took one shot until the final minutes of the first half. After hitting a midrange to close the half. He got another one at the start of the third, and shortly knocked down a three. His aggression stopped there though as he only got to 17 points with the game well in hand.
His defense does not get brought up much, but he had a couple impressive blocks to end the first half. One was a strong-side rotation to deny a layup and the other he closed out to the perimeter to block a Caris Lavert three-point attempt.
Grade: C+
This road trip finally concludes Monday as the Sixers head back to take on the New Orleans Pelicans at 8 p.m. ET.