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2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer season standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 22
Joel Embiid – 9
VJ Edgecombe – 8
Paul George – 6
Kelly Oubre Jr. – 3
Dominick Barlow – 2
Andre Drummond – 2
Jared McCain :’( – 2
MarJon Beauchamp – 1
Adem Bona – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Quentin Grimes – 1
Trendon Watford – 1
15th roster spot – 1
The Philadelphia 76ers fell 114-98 to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Sunday night. It was the fourth and final meeting between the teams this regular season — they split the series 2-2.
Joel Embiid was out for this contest (as he will be for the Sixers’ next two as well) after being diagnosed with a right oblique strain. Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe tried to pick up the slack, scoring 33 and 23 points respectively, but it simply wasn’t enough to keep up with the Celtics.
This was one of those quintessentially annoying Sixers’ losses. They made more of a game out of it than maybe was expected going into this contest and they did some things great against a really tough opponent… but at the same time, they were so horrendous in other areas, like poor rebounding and making Neemias Queta look like prime Dwight Howard all evening. Always a mixed bag with this Philadelphia squad.
Next up on the schedule for the Sixers is a back-to-back starting on Tuesday night hosting the San Antonio Spurs and then hosting the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The team has already announced that Embiid will be out for both contests before being re-evaluated.
Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer.
VJ Edgecombe: 23 points (5 three-pointers), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
VJ Edgecombe was the only one keeping the Sixers alive as the Celtics started to pull away in the later half of the second period. Especially with Maxey icy cold at the time, Edgecombe was the only reason the Sixers still had a chance in this one as we entered the second half, where he kept delivering. The rookie was just consistently good tonight, from efficient shooting and smart playmaking to some aggression on the boards with a side of some good defense.
The Sixers asked a lot of Edgecombe tonight with some of the lineups they had him out there with, and just frankly how much they needed him throughout overall, and he delivered. Tonight was another example of the rookie playing beyond his years and seemingly thriving even more when the pressure is on.
Edgecombe ended this one with 23 points (including five triples) with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
Oh, and stay to the end of this video for what might be the best effort play of the season from him.
What a rookie.
Tyrese Maxey: 33 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks
It was a tale of two halves for Tyrese Maxey tonight. The first half was one Maxey will quickly want to forget.
Fortunately, he seemed to do just that. After an inefficient first half from Maxey, the third period brought a much more familiar version of the All-Star guard, with Maxey putting up 13 points in the penultimate frame (and tacking on seven more in the fourth) after putting up 13 in the entire first half.
Obviously it would be great to never have a bad start or a bad half, but it’s great to see how Maxey can recover even after a cold streak of shooting. After going just 4-for-18 from the floor in the first 24 minutes, Maxey turned things around a bit to shoot 8-for-16 in the second half. He not only started making more shots but just seemed to be a lot smarter about which shots he was taking as the game progressed. Even if the game situation felt like it demanded more urgency than the first half, he seemed to settle in and not worry about forcing things that simply weren’t there. The opportunities that were there — whether it be to launch from long range, drive straight through the Celtics defense, or to dime up a teammate — he took advantage of.
Maxey finished Sunday night with a game-high 33 points with three rebounds, six assists, one steal and two blocks.
Dominick Barlow: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals
Dominick Barlow might not have contributed the amount that Maxey or Edgecombe did, but he chipped in here and there with some good stints when it was needed.
His biggest offensive contribution came from seven points in the third period that he absolutely battled for, whether it meant coming up with a defensive play and taking it coast-to-coast or drawing contact on the offensive end to get to the line.
Barlow was the Sixers’ third-highest scorer tonight with 14 points on 4-for-7 field goal shooting and 6-for-8 from the charity stripe. Especially on a night where the bench is almost completely unproductive offensively, it’s huge to have that sort of contribution from Barlow. Not only that, but Barlow was one of the few Sixers fighting for rebounds, and he even put up some solid defense on some of the best players the Celtics squad has to offer, including Jaylen Brown.
He finished the game with 14 points, eight rebounds (two offensive), one assist and three steals.
And yet, he didn’t play a single second in the fourth period. Don’t ask me why.