NEW YORK — The Sixers reached double-digit victories on Black Friday in Brooklyn.
With a 115-103 win over the Nets, they improved to 10-8 on the season. Brooklyn fell to 3-15.
Friday’s game was the Sixers’ final NBA Cup contest of 2025. They went 1-3 in East Group B and did not advance to knockout play.
Tyrese Maxey had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Quentin Grimes scored 19 points and dished out nine assists. Jared McCain added 20 points and five steals.
Nets rookie Egor Demin posted 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
The Sixers began the night down Joel Embiid (right knee injury management), Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain), VJ Edgecombe (left calf tightness) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain).
“They’ve been thinking he’s been trending toward getting there and he just isn’t yet,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said of Embiid, who’s missed nine straight games. “They just haven’t cleared him to go. That’s all it is.”
Edgecombe ran through a pregame workout with Sixers assistant coaches.
“He is on court and getting some workouts individually,” Nurse said. “He hasn’t done any team stuff yet. I’ll get a report here in a little bit, but I think he’s doing OK with his on-court workouts and hopefully trending upward quickly.”
Andre Drummond also exited Tuesday’s game with a right knee injury. More on that below.
Brooklyn’s injuries included Cam Thomas (left hamstring strain) and Michael Porter Jr. (lower back tightness).
The Sixers will host the Hawks on Sunday night. Here are observations on their win over the Nets:
George and Bona back
Paul George returned after missing the Sixers’ loss Tuesday to the Magic with a right ankle sprain. Adem Bona also came back from a sprained right ankle that had sidelined him the past five games.
The Sixers immediately established superiority over the young, lowly Nets. Their first three hoops were all layups, including a lefty George bucket in transition. The Sixers’ first made jumper was a Drummond corner three-pointer. Drummond did a little bit of everything in his first stint, posting seven points, four rebounds, a block and an assist.
George had a nice start as well.
He played over nine minutes in his first run, hit a top-of-the-key three-pointer and scored seven points on 3-for-4 shooting in the opening period. The opposition was obviously not elite, but George was a smooth, self-assured shotmaker in the first half Friday.
He said his ankle “feels good again” after he jammed it in the Sixers’ loss Sunday to the Heat. George is also pleased with his current pregame approach for his left knee, which he underwent arthroscopic surgery on this offseason.
“It’s just staying on top of the treatment afterwards, icing down,” he said. “More than anything, it’s just activating the knee. Going into games, we’ve kind of found something that works with how my body responds, so I think that’s a good thing. We’ve been trying some stuff.
“How I got prepared for today, it felt amazing. How I got prepared for practices the past couple days, it’s been amazing. … I think now it’s building through the games and reps. I think my body will respond well to it.”
Drummond goes down, Sixers patch things together at center
Bona helped the Sixers grow their lead early in the second quarter, scoring inside on three occasions. He continued swatting shots in high-flying fashion, too. The 22-year-old had 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks in his 23 minutes.
The Sixers started the second with an extremely surprising substitution. Kyle Lowry came in to spell Maxey.
Lowry’s only two appearances this season have come in Brooklyn. His first was a garbage-time stint in the Sixers’ blowout win on Nov. 2. Lowry wasn’t in the middle of much action, but he did his job. The 39-year-old dished to George for a three that gave the Sixers a 49-31 advantage. They led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter.
“It was great,” Maxey said with a grin. “I love playing with Kyle. He’s like a coach on the court. I think that was the first time I played with Coach Kyle this year, so that was really fun.”
The Sixers were struck by more injury misfortune in the second.
Drummond leapt for a rebound, landed awkwardly and stayed down on the baseline grabbing his right leg. He was assisted back to the locker room with 6:52 to go in the first half.
At halftime, the Sixers ruled Drummond out with a right knee sprain. We’ll see how long he’s out, but the injury is clearly a bummer for Drummond, who’d been a substantially better (and healthier) player than last season. Entering Friday, Drummond had played 16 games, averaged 24.2 minutes and recorded 8.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest.
“I feel like Dre has been awesome this year,” George said. “He’s been consistent. “Where we struggle at rebounding, he’s been a big boost there. And stretching the floor out with his corner threes.
“I know that injury very well. Same one for (Oubre). … It’s a tough rehab. I don’t know the severity of it. Hopefully, it wasn’t the (degree) that mine was, because it’s a challenge. The hyperextension is a challenge.”
Once Drummond left, Nurse turned to everyone he had available in the frontcourt. Jabari Walker and Johni Broome shared the floor in a zone defense. Though the Sixers maintained a comfortable lead, Walker, Broome, Bona and Dominick Barlow all committed at least two fouls in the first half.
Grimes, McCain with big buckets in 2nd half
The Nets stayed competitive early in the third quarter and cut into their deficit. The Sixers’ offense was a bit less crisp and featured more rushed, contested jumpers. A Demin three trimmed the Sixers’ lead to 74-65.
George had no points on 0-for-2 shooting in the third quarter and didn’t appear in the fourth. He played 21 minutes and ended with 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Through four games this season, the most minutes he’s played is 25.
In contrast to Maxey, who generally let the defense and flow of the game dictate his decision-making, Grimes was ultra-aggressive in the second half. He made several timely driving layups and constantly attacked the rim.
“I think he’s kind of picked up from where he left off last year,” Nurse said of Grimes. “I really like the combination of what he can do. He can really drive the basketball, he can really get up in the air on the finishes, but he also can shoot the threes if they’re available.
“His driving tonight was obviously critical, just with the way the game was. He got a few in transition, he got a few off Tyrese double teams, he got a few late clock when we really needed them. … We’ve played 18 games. He had a real tough one the other night, along with a lot of people, but other than that one, most of his games have been pretty good.”
McCain helped the Sixers avoid any true late-game stress by canning two key threes. He had a quick, confident trigger all night.
Bona also knocked down an improbable corner three late in the shot clock for the first triple of his career.
As Bona noted, he’s drilled that shot many times with assistant coach Fabulous Flournoy.
“That’s a make for him after a lot of practice shots,” Nurse said. “I mean, a lot. It’s been a long time working with him on those. … Shot that confidently and looked good.”
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