In the first of back-to-back games at home, the Philadelphia 76ers were brutally beaten in a 40-point loss to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Tyrese Maxey led the team in scoring with 21 points, but his co-star, VJ Edgecombe, left the game at halftime after suffering a back injury. The Spurs led by 23 at halftime and never looked back.
Here are the takeaways from the game:
No one expected Andre Drummond to repeat Joel Embiid’s 70-point performance against Wembanyama, but his time on the court felt like an eternity, despite playing only five minutes.
Drummond was incredibly overmatched on both ends and subbed out for Adem Bona after a quick pair of fouls and two missed shots.
Drummond checked back into the game in the second quarter, seemingly matching minutes with Wembanyama, who continued to dominate the matchup. In just over five minutes of action, Drummond’s night ended with two points on 1-7 shooting, three rebounds and three personal fouls.
The Sixers, left with no other option but to continue playing Drummond, need him to put in significantly more effort, especially in games without Embiid. There’s only so much that can be asked, especially in a matchup like this game, but if he continues to play at this level, the Sixers would be better off running Dominick Barlow or Jabari Walker at center — a truly damning statement.
As if the Sixers were not shorthanded enough without Embiid, Paul George and Kelly Oubre, the team lost exciting young starting guard VJ Edgecombe for the game with less than a second remaining in the half.
Edgecombe was fouled hard by Spurs rookie Carter Bryant on a last-second shot attempt and suffered an injury to his back in the rough landing.
Remaining in the game to attempt his free throws, Edgecombe was in clear discomfort from the moment he landed to the moment he disappeared into the locker room. The only saving grace was that he did so under his own power.
With the game already a blowout, the idea of Edgecombe returning to the court made little sense, but with the Sixers’ next game in less than 24 hours, there’s no guarantee his absence will be limited to the second half of this game.
After the game, Sixers’ head coach Nick Nurse said there was not yet an update on his status.
After Cam Payne was limited to just five minutes against the Celtics, Nick Nurse was left with no option but to play him against the Spurs due to the team’s ever-increasing injured list. With a legitimate opportunity and as green a light as he’s seen since he was playing in Serbia, Payne showed that the rust may be officially shaken off, scoring 10 quick points before falling off after Nurse sat the remaining key starters and role players in the second half.
Justin Edwards returned to the court for the Sixers and quickly hit the ground running, scoring six points on a pair of shots from beyond the arc. Edwards has been back and forth between the Sixers and their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, but that movement has kept him active and ready for the moment he would be called upon, allowing him to respond with an impactful performance, at least until the game was out of hand.
Jabari Walker was limited to garbage time in this matchup, though admittedly, that describes the majority of the game, but that didn’t matter to Walker, who put up 20 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes of action. The level of competition was obviously far lower than when the Spurs’ primary rotation players were on the court, but this is just the latest example of Walker displaying more heart and hustle than the majority of his teammates, no matter the situation.
Philadelphia is back at it again Wednesday night as they finish this latest back-to-back with a matchup against the Utah Jazz. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on March 4.
Unless otherwise stated, all stats included in this article are via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass, Basketball Reference or Team Rankings. All salary information via Spotrac.
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