PHILADELPHIA – On the heels of Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe scoring 34 points in an electric NBA debut in Boston on Wednesday night, there was some extra juice at Xfinity Mobile Arena as the Sixers played host to the Charlotte Hornets in their 2025-26 home opener.
After a brutal season debut, Joel Embiid looked substantially better against Charlotte and its makeshift center rotation, playing with considerably better energy and finding ways to consistently leave his mark on the action. He was aided by more tremendous guard play – Tyrese Maxey remained red-hot from three-point range and Quentin Grimes engaged in a heater of his own, while Edgecombe did a stellar job of filling in the gaps – but the Sixers’ lackluster defense and inability to find quality minutes from role players at both forward spots allowed a young Hornets team to remain in the game.
Those defensive issues only got worse in the third quarter, as a 38-25 frame in Charlotte’s favor put the Sixers in a 10-point hole entering the final frame. The Sixers quickly made a push, but every time it felt as if they were closing in on mounting a comeback the Hornets responded with a timely basket. Finally, the major run came, and it was sparked by Andre Drummond of all people, whose rebounding and interior scoring made a massive difference. The Sixers and Hornets found themselves on a seesaw in the final minutes of the game, but Grimes – the Sixers’ best all-around player in this game – gave them the lead with a three. One stop later, the Sixers were 2-0.
Everything that stood out from a 125-121 Sixers win that, while encouraging in some respects, probably could have been easier:
Joel Embiid’s different demeanor, and perhaps a new focus
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said before the game that Embiid’s minutes restriction and plan would be “similar” to the one used in Boston, but the former NBA MVP’s early aggression was a whole lot different this time around. For the entirety of Embiid’s 20 minutes on opening night, he almost appeared shellshocked by the speed of the game and his inability to keep up. At first he was somewhat of an offensive decoy, but eventually even that title would have been a stretch.
On the Sixers’ very first possession of Wednesday’s game, Dominick Barlow rebounded an Edgecombe miss and the ball swung to Embiid, who confidently stepped into a triple and knocked it down:
Nobody has advocated for Embiid to notch his three-point volume up more than Nurse, and perhaps it is becoming more of a focus. Embiid quickly connected on another triple, then knocked one down from the top of the key early in the second quarter. He is a tremendous shooter for his size, and more reliance on perimeter shooting could help Embiid preserve his energy and avoid taking as many hits. It is also a hedge against Embiid’s limited mobility; he does not have to move all that well to get three-point shots up.
“Just the simple fact that he’s such a good three-point shooter,” Nurse said after the game. “You want the guy that’s that good a shooter to get some volume attempts.”
But, to be clear, Embiid was moving a whole lot better on Saturday than he did on Wednesday. It felt as if instead of trying to let the game come to him and instead watching it fly by, he was ensuring he had avenues to assert control over the action from the start. Embiid has often struggled to set the tone early in games in recent years, but many of his best performances have come after strong starts.
Embiid’s stint in the second quarter included a scary fall, but Embiid got up relatively quickly and appeared unscathed. Now that he had asserted himself as a scoring threat, he become a much more successful playmaker. He helped Quentin Grimes drill back-to-back triples; the first came on a two-man action and the second was an and-one spot-up jumper generated by Embiid playing with legitimate force inside:
Embiid played 15 minutes in the first half, which immediately indicated that either Nurse was not being entirely truthful about how many minutes his center could play or that the Sixers had decided to use more of Embiid’s minutes early in the game. It turned out to be the latter, as Embiid’s five-minute stint to open the third quarter ended up being his only playing time in the second half.
If there is one word to describe the difference in Embiid’s play from opening night to the home opener, it would be that he was more forceful. It is obviously to his own benefit in an enormous way, but also does a whole lot for everybody else. The Sixers, clearly, are going to need more of it.
Questionable frontcourt depth on display, but Andre Drummond swings the game
Barlow has been a massive revelation so far, but the 22-year-old athletic big missed the second half of Saturday’s game due to an elbow laceration. And the Sixers’ clear reliance on a two-way player was jarring. Fellow two-way forward Jabari Walker started the second half in Barlow’s place, and while Walker had an impressive block to go with a few good defensive plays with his hands on the perimeter, he missed three wide open triples, with the first two misfires coming from the corner. Walker is a terrific rebounder and works tirelessly on defense, but much of his fate with the Sixers is going to come down to those open shots.
Elsewhere, Adem Bona had his second consecutive game with a muted line in the box score. His effort remains there, but Bona will need to clean up some misses and finish plays on offense every now and then. With Embiid’s minutes limited, Drummond found himself being asked to play one short burst for the second game in a row. Drummond’s rebounding prowess turned out to be useful, and Nurse ended up riding him because it was more useful than anything Bona had provided. To his credit, Drummond was outstanding down the stretch of this game. He dominated the glass, finished a few shots inside and knocked down a critical free throw. Drummond had a nightmarish season last year, and the moment was clearly important for him, and the Sixers would not have won the game without his efforts.
“My number was called, I was prepared, and we did great,” Drummond said. “…It was pretty cool to be a part of.”
Even if Drummond is not seen as a regular rotation option, he will be an important piece of this when Embiid is sidelined.
The other struggles, though, underscore the importance of getting nine-time All-Star Paul George back on the floor and keeping him there. George may never pay off the $200 million-plus investment the Sixers made in him, and he may not even look appreciably better than he did in a disappointing debut campaign with the team last year. But he is a multi-positional forward with defensive chops and excellent shot-making skill. His mere presence will provide some much-needed stability on both ends of the floor.
Odds and ends
A pair of additional notes:
• Second-year wing Justin Edwards only played for a few seconds in Boston, logging one defensive possession and sitting for the remainder of the game. Edwards had an underwhelming Summer League and disappointing preseason, but Nurse reaffirmed his faith in the hometown product before Saturday’s game and said he was very much in play for rotation minutes.
“I probably did not expect to not use him the other night, but just felt like as the game was going on and we were rotating guys around, we just didn’t quite get to him, so we shall see how it rolls out tonight,” Nurse said. “I like him. I think you guys know how much I like him. I really believe in him. I think that we need a player like him out there. And I can’t wait to give him that opportunity.”
Ultimately, though, Nurse stuck with the same eight rotation regulars that he had in Boston. Edwards, who was listed as probable before the game due to rib soreness but got upgraded to available early in the afternoon, ended up watching this game from the bench. An opportunity is surely coming for him – and Nurse’s affection for Edwards’ game is genuine – but his preseason struggles have cost him, and it will only be tougher to crack the rotation once George is back in action. However, when Barlow missed the second half, it was only natural for Edwards to slide into the frontcourt mix, and that is exactly what happened. After a few timid minutes, Edwards knocked down an important three-point shot for his own confidence, then followed it up with another. Minutes later, a third triple went down for Edwards. It is a potential launching point.
“That’s what they expect from me,” Edwards said, “and I was ready to go.”
• As good as the Sixers’ assortment of young guards looks on paper, it has been even better in practice through a pair of games. On Wednesday, it was Maxey and Edgecombe going nuclear as scorers with Grimes scoring a few timely baskets and filling in a bunch of gaps. On Monday, Maxey and Grimes both knocked down four threes prior to intermission, while Edgecombe scored nine points and collected four assists as he focused more on playmaking. Grimes was their best guard on Saturday, and through two games his ability to adjust his role during each stint he plays is quite impressive.
“It’s ideal if he can continue to do that,” Nurse said. “I see him as – I try to get him starter minutes off the bench… He was playing well and I know he had to get back in there at some point.”
Up next: The Sixers will be back in action on Monday, when they play host to a strong Orlando Magic team. That game is the front end of their first back-to-back of the season.
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