NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers cruised to a rather easy 129-105 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday to begin a 3-game road trip. They led by as many as 28 and were able to handle business against a rebuilding Nets team.
Kelly Oubre Jr. was a big part of that as he scored 22 points in the first quarter on his way to 29 points while Tyrese Maxey had a big night, but Quentin Grimes hopped off the bench and gave Philadelphia a big boost. He had 22 points, 13 assists, and seven rebounds in a strong effort for the second unit.
“Big time,” Trendon Watford said of Grimes. “Big time. With Q, obviously, we know he can score the ball, shoot the ball at a high level, but I think today, he made the pass, and it was great. Opened up a lot for us.”
That type of passing and playmaking is what coach Nick Nurse is looking for from his guards. Obviously, the Sixers are playing a much different style of basketball, and that type of play from Grimes is a big boost to what Nurse is looking for when it comes to this type of offense.
“Well, it was really good for him tonight,” Nurse said. “I think the biggest thing was those guys—they executed the game plan offensively of what we’re trying to do, right? And that’s really important. It was to create space and move the basketball game, and then attack some of that space, and then you got to make the players in front of you. It’s either a shot or it’s a dump off or a kick out. They were doing it.”
When Grimes is able to make plays off the ball and is able to run some offense, it takes pressure off Maxey and VJ Edgecombe to run things. It’s another ball-handler and the Sixers relied on him against the Nets on Sunday.
“I think it helps us,” Maxey added. “The more guys that can handle the ball, the better. A lot of guys can play make a lot of guys can play off each other. That’s the biggest thing that we need.”