PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are now 3-0 on the season following a 136-124 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. The Sixers appear to have completely turned the page on a miserable 2024-25 season and are moving full speed ahead at the moment.
The Sixers received a huge performance from Tyrese Maxey who had 43 points and eight assists while VJ Edgecombe had 26 points and seven assists. The dynamic backcourt duo continues to be a problem that teams have yet to solve at the moment. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 25 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists while Quentin Grimes had 14 points before fouling out.
Here are the three biggest takeaways following the win:
Maxey and Edgecombe making it look easy
The Sixers knew they were going to be focusing on the guards when they prepared for this season. Led by Maxey and Edgecombe, the Sixers have found a lot of success on offense, and it’s due to the fact that the two guards have been phenomenal on that end of the floor. With their performance on Monday, the two have now combined for 186 points through three games. That’s the most points by any team’s starting backcourt through the first three games of the season since the 1970-71 season. The two have made it look rather easy. Even against a team like the Magic.
“That’s a long time ago!” exclaimed Maxey when he heard the stat. “It’s good, though. I mean, listen, we’re just trying to go out there and be aggressive and help us win. As long as we’re doing that, then, we’re doing a good job. VJ’s doing great.”
Oubre does it all
The Sixers are playing small at the moment as the focus remains on the three guards. They were especially small against the Magic as Joel Embiid and Dominick Barlow were out for Philadelphia. Embiid is in the middle of load management while Barlow is dealing with a right elbow laceration that will hold him out for at least one more game. Therefore, Oubre had to make a big difference. While Maxey and Edgecombe will receive all the love–and rightfully, so–Oubre was a real X-Factor for them in this one. Not just with his 25 points, but with his rebounding and defense against Magic star Paolo Banchero.
“He’s been defensive rebounding really well this year and they’re pretty emphatic ones,” said coach Nick Nurse of Oubre. “He’s coming up and we’re trying to get him to come out and get over the top of the other team’s big guys and he’s been working on it and he’s been really doing it because he kinda springs up and snaps them down and we need it. Obviously, we’re playing three guards and a guy that has to help us defensive rebound.”
Sixers find plenty offensive success against Magic
The Magic have gotten off to a slow start, yes, but this is one of the best defensive teams in the league in recent seasons. Orlando was No. 2 in the league in defensive rating in the 2024-25 season and has a lot of proven defenders. Despite the pedigree, the Sixers were able to find a lot of success against that defense. Philadelphia played with pace, took advantage of Magic turnovers, and took advantage of the open 3s it got. It was an overall performance that the Sixers can hang their hat on which shows off how talented this group can be when everything comes together.
“We have a talented group,” Edgecombe said. “A bunch of versatile players. Reese was hot tonight. I think we played pretty well together. Kelly provided a lot of scoring tonight also. Credit to their defense. You can see why they have that high rating. We were able to execute down the stretch, which also helped us, and early in the game too. We came out pretty hot. We let our defense lead to offense, and that’s how we that’s how we got easy buckets.”
