The Philadelphia 76ers found themselves in Houston Monday night, facing one of the Western Conference’s toughest teams. In a game that many expected the Sixers to be simply blown out in, Philadelphia dominated throughout stretches, forced overtime, and nearly walked away with the win thanks to another career night by Quentin Grimes.
What went right?
What is right? What is wrong? What is love? Baby, don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more.
These are truly important questions that have all been turned on their heads this season as the Sixers went from contenders to lottery hopefuls. Whether you are rooting for the Sixers to work their way closer to the top of the reverse standings or for Quentin Grimes to secure generational wealth, you likely finished watching Monday night’s game with a grin or, at the very least, exhausted satisfaction attached to your face after the final buzzer.
For the second time in Grimes’ 17 games played with Philadelphia, the rising stud scored a career-high in points, finishing with 46 points on the night. This marks the second game in which Grimes scored 40+ points for the Sixers, making him the fastest in Sixers franchise history, passing Wilt Chamberlain, who needed 19 games to accomplish the same feat back in 1965.
Throughout much of the game, it looked as though Grimes’ success was inevitable and would come at the expense of the team’s spot in the draft standings. However, a strong third-quarter effort by Houston and an immaculate job to force the offensive rebound off the free throw into a last-second putback by the Houston Rockets. Following a heated overtime period, the game would end with a Rockets win, but in the favor of both franchises, given their direction this late in the season.
What went wrong?
The only real flaw to begin the game was that the Sixers were performing too well for their own good. Risking a step closer to the Toronto Raptors, who were handily blown out by the Phoenix Suns that same evening.
As the game progressed, if one is to discuss right and wrong, good and bad, through a traditional sense and not through a tanking lense, Philadelphia once again showed an ineptitude to either the paint or the perimeter.
It’s fair to point out that the team had exactly zero healthy centers in this matchup, the closest in resemblance being stretch-four Alex Reese. Still, Philadelphia has dealt with this issue regardless of the health status of its players. At this point, it’s easy to chalk the matter up as “who cares?” but it’s an issue the team will need to solve by next season if they’re going to look remotely close to competitive.
Sixers standings update
With the Brooklyn Nets off for the night, the Sixers’ movement was limited to working back to a tie with the Nets, while a Raptors loss in a blowout to the Phoenix Suns kept them within a game of both Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
With just 14 games remaining, the seeding in the reverse standings continues to be a battleground. The Raptors are resting players left and right, the Sixers seemingly have another injury every day, and the Nets are simply not very good.
The Raptors have the easiest remaining schedule in the league, calculated by reverse record, the Sixers have the sixth easiest, and the Nets have the tenth easiest remaining record. Philadelphia has an incredibly difficult opponent as they’re set to face the Thunder, but after that, the schedule opens up a bit, potentially complicating Philadelphia’s plans to tank to the top.
If anyone was still squinting, hoping for Philadelphia to reach the Play-In tournament, a win by the Chicago Bulls has put them in a tie with the Miami Heat for the ninth seed and a full six games over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Up next for the Sixers
The Sixers will travel next to Oklahoma City to face off against the best in the West, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder. The Thunder are coming off three days’ rest following a convincing win over Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Tip-off is set for 8 p.m., and you can watch the game as always at NBC Sports Philadelphia or listen live at 97.5 F.M.
For the latest breaking news on your Philadelphia 76ers and other Philly sports, follow Zach Ciavolella on X — @CiavoNBA and Bluesky — @ciavo.bsky.social
