By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Charlotte Hornets in their home opener tonight. Both teams traded blows in this game but thanks to a game winning three-pointer by Quentin Grimes, the Sixers were able to overcome a 10-point lead to beat the Hornets 125-121.

For the second straight game the Sixers found their offense early in this contest. They were able to knock down their first seven three-pointers in the first quarter to put the Hornets on their toes. Joel Embiid found his offense as he scored 20 points in this contest and was a monster throughout this game and Charlotte did not have an answer for him. He is still working his way back into form, but the Sixers must increase his minutes restriction from 20 to 25.

Once again, the Sixers struggled defensively without him on the floor and Philly needs to find that balance between keeping him healthy and letting him stay on the floor to be an anchor on both sides of the floor.

Despite the offensive explosion from Embiid, the Hornets were able to regain the lead in this contest, thanks to a Miles Bridges offensive explosion. He scored 18 points in this contest but hit some pivotal three-pointers to put his team ahead in this contest by 10 points at the end of the third quarter. The Hornets took full advantage of Joel Embiid not being on the floor and were able to get multiple offensive rebounds to allow them to hit their shots. The Sixers were able to increase the defensive pressure on Charlotte and that forced them into some turnovers and bad shots.

That late game power outage from Charlotte allowed Tyrese Maxey (28 points) and Quentin Grimes (24 points) to find their offensive rhythm, they combined for 52 of the Sixers 125 points. Maxey hit a couple of pivotal shots to help the Sixers regain the lead and Grimes was able to hit a wide-open dagger three-pointer to win this game. For the second straight game Philly stole a game after being dominated in the third quarter and Andre Drummond (grabbed 13 rebounds in the contest)and Justin Edwards (9 points and made 3/5 of his three-pointers in this contest) also hit pivotal shots to keep the Sixers in the contest as well.

Despite winning this game the Sixers must fix their third quarter struggles, they continue to come out of half-time and fall apart on the defensive side of the ball which have allowed teams to come back on them and have a double-digit lead at the end of that period. Philly must communicate on the defensive end, rebound the ball, and not let teams get easy opportunities to put points on the board. Philly’s talent has won them their first two games of the season, but they must fix their third quarter struggles if they want to be a championship contender this season.

The Sixers now will prepare to face the Orlando Magic on Monday night; they will need to continue to limit their turnovers and find the best available shot against Orlando’s athletic defensive wings. Making their shots will allow them to set their defensive perimeter and limit Orlando’s explosive offense, implementing these things into their game plan on Monday should put Philly in great position to get their third victory of the season.