Trendon Watford vs Toronto:

20 PTS
17 REB (career-high)
10 AST (career-high)
8-10 FG

First undrafted 76er with a triple-double since T.J. McConnell. pic.twitter.com/6PDPxGMuGz

— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 9, 2025

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers bounced back with a 130-120 win over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night to put a halt to their brief 2-game losing skid. The Sixers received a big night from many contributors up and down the roster, but Trendon Watford was the star in this one.

Watford recorded his first career triple-double in his first start of the season as he went for 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting with 17 rebounds and 10 assists in 36 minutes. The Sixers needed all of it to hold off a pesky Raptors team and to do it while playing with a close friend in Tyrese Maxey is a big accomplishment for him.

“He was decent tonight,” Maxey said while sitting next to Watford after the big night. “He was decent. He played well. That’s what we expect him to do, honestly. That’s what I expect of him. I’m proud of him. Gotta keep it going.”

Watford was able to give the Sixers a little bit of everything. He was super efficient with his own offensive game, he stepped up and made plays defensively, ran some offense from the power forward spot, and superstar big man Joel Embiid pulled up a familiar name when it comes to Watford.

“He was good,” Embiid said. “Obviously, triple-double. He reminded me of Ben Simmons tonight. That was good. We miss those triple-doubles, doing everything, so that was good.”

Maybe not exactly like Simmons, but Watford truly did so much for Philadelphia on the night. The fact that he missed all of the preseason and a majority of training camp and provide such a big lift for the Sixers is impressive from that standpoint.

“I mean, listen, he’s kinda what you would call a hooper,” coach Nick Nurse said on Watford. “He really knows how to play and he can do a lot of different things that we talked about, but his instincts are just so good.”

Kelly Oubre Jr., who also had a big game in his own right, was impressed with what Watford brought to the table. For a player who has had to battle through a lot, he just knows how to play the game of basketball and it’s a big lift for this group overall.

“A hooper,” Oubre added. “Straight up. I think he’s just one of those people you can plug in any system and he can adapt because he’s so poised. He’s a big body. He can score, he can pass, he can obviously rebound and use his size. So, I think he uses what God gave him to the best of his ability and it works well for him.”

At the end of the day, this comes down to how versatile and important Watford can be to a winning team. It’s also great for Maxey to see one of this close friends succeed and be such an important piece of that success.

“It’s really cool, honestly,” Maxey said. “Blessed. For me to be able to actually give him the game ball for a triple-double, this is something we’ll probably remember for a long time. Hopefully, we get to play with each other for a while, but I’m just proud of him. I know what he can do. I talk trash to him all the time, but I know what he’s capable of and that’s who he is. I don’t really expect anything less from that caliber of a player. Hopefully, he keeps it up.”

The Sixers will take on the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.