By: Kylan Watson
After falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Memphis Grizzlies in South Philadelphia tonight. Despite the Grizzlies exploding in the second half, Philly was able to comeback in this game and beat Memphis 139-129.
The Sixers got VJ Edgecombe back in this game and having one of their top scorers back did wonders for Philly’s offense in tonight’s game. The ball movement really opened high-percentage scoring opportunities and the Sixers cashed in and made Memphis pay for every mistake they made in this game. Kelly Oubre Jr. (30 points), Quentin Grimes (23 points), and VJ Edgecombe (21 points) combined for 74 of the Sixers’ 139 points in this game. Oubre Jr especially powered the Sixers in this game and unlike last night he stayed out of foul trouble and was able to attack the basket and get Memphis’ defenders in foul trouble and that opened the paint for his teammates. In addition, the Grizzlies had no answers for what they were doing in this contest and late in the game the three of them made pivotal buckets to help Philly win this game.
Despite the offensive explosion from Oubre Jr, Grimes, and Edgecombe Memphis still had a massive lead in this game, and throughout the game Memphis continued to use their quickness and athleticism advantage to get as many possessions as possible and increase their lead. Ty Jerome scored 26 points in this game and made 4/10 of his three-point attempts in the contest. Philly just had no answers for what he was doing in this game, the ball would find him at the top of the key, and he was able to find the bottom of the basket. However, once the Sixers turned up the defensive pressure it forced Memphis into multiple turnovers which Philly turned into points and they were able to erase Memphis’ huge lead and take this game from the Grizzlies.
Cam Payne was the unsung hero in this game he scored 32 points off the bench, had 10 assists, and made 8/8 of his three-point attempts in this contest. Philly needed every point from him in their comeback attempt and every time they needed something he either scored or found his teammates for a high-percentage bucket. This was Payne’s best game in a Sixers uniform and it came at a very opportune time for the Sixers who are fighting to get out of the Play-In tournament and have to win many of their remaining games this season, if they want to make it back into sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Payne finding his offensive rhythm again is the best development to come out of this back-to-back stretch for them, they needed energy and he gave it to Philly. He and the rest of teammates must continue to play beyond their roles until either Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey (out the next three weeks) and Paul George (returns March 25th) can touch the floor again and keep their postseason hopes alive.
Philly will prepare to face the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night, and they will need to limit their turnovers, win, or keep the rebounding battle competitive, stay connected to their defensive matchup, and cash in on the high-percentage scoring opportunities created from their ball movement. Implementing these things into their game plan on Friday night will put them in great shape to win their 36th game of the season.
