By: Kylan Watson

After falling to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Brooklyn Nets in the last round of Group Play for the 2025 NBA Cup. The Sixers used a second half scoring explosion from Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain to beat Brooklyn 115-103, which earned them their first victory in group play and ended a two-game losing streak.

Philly found their offensive rhythm early in this game and were able to hit a few buckets early to put Brooklyn on their heels early in this contest. Paul George (14 points) returned in this contest and his presence stabilized Philly on the wings and gave them a dependable ball handler to help take Maxey off the ball. Since he returned last week George has moved well and if he can continue to be an impact player on both sides of the ball, the Sixers will be a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference.

During this game Andre Drummond suffered a knee sprain, just when the Sixers were starting to get healthy another injury occurred, he has found his form again and now he will miss some time. Luckily for the Sixers Adem Bona (13 points) returned from a sprained ankle and brought back key shot blocking (had four blocks in this contest) and gave Brooklyn something to think about when they decided to attack the rim. He was a key piece off the bench and until Joel Embiid or Andre Drummond get back, he will be the starting center for the Sixers moving forward. Philly should look at the waiver wire or at their G-League affiliate to see if they can find a big man to fill the role behind Bona.

Despite Drummond’s injury the Sixers were able to stay ahead of Brooklyn throughout this contest. However, Brooklyn did make a late run in this contest and erased a 21-point lead in the second half. Maxey (22 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and had 7 assists), McCain (20 points), and Quentin Grimes (19 points) combined for 61 of Philly’s 115 points to keep them ahead in this contest. Philly made a great move sending McCain down to Delaware to rediscover his form and it seems to have paid off. This was his third straight game scoring 10-plus points in a game, and he was able to get five steals in this contest.

McCain, becoming a key piece again will help keep Maxey fresh and gives Philly another dependable scorer that they can depend on off the bench. Sixers fans have been waiting for him to recover from his knee injury and finger injury, and it is happening right when his team needs it the most.

Brooklyn continued to fight in this contest thanks to Egor Demin who scored 23 points in this contest and made the Sixers pay for giving him room to put a shot up. Demin is still developing as a player, but he will be a key piece for a young up and coming Brooklyn squad. The Sixers were able to turn the defensive pressure up which caused Brooklyn to turn the ball over and take bad shots. This allowed them to pull away in this contest and stop the Nets from doing any more damage in this game.

Philly will now prepare to face the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday evening; they will need to use their ball movement to create high-percentage shooting opportunities and make the Hawks pay for their aggressive defensive play. Additionally, they will need to improve their perimeter defensive play to slow down Trae Young and the rest of the Hawks shooters. Implementing these things into their game plan for Sunday night should put them in great shape to win their 11^th game of the season.