With wins and losses no matter paramount to those watching Sixers games, the focus has shifted: what can be gleaned from the team's remaining regular season games which are actually relevant moving forward?
A clear development that is meaningful: Quentin Grimes looks like someone who can be a foundational piece for this organization. The Sixers acquired Grimes along with their own 2025 second-round pick — currently slated to land in the top 37 picks this June — from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for veteran wing Caleb Martin (the Sixers later added a 2030 second-round pick to the deal after Martin's physical hit a snag; he still has yet to suit up for Dallas due to a hip injury).
Grimes has submitted strong showing after strong showing since joining the Sixers, and made the most of a new opportunity on Tuesday night when the Sixers took on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Sixers ended up falling to Minnesota, 126-112, after a poor fourth quarter. Here is what stood out from a game in which the key long-term positive, once again, was the play of the 24-year-old Grimes:
Quentin Grimes gets the start at point guard and makes the most of it
Unsurprisingly, Tyrese Maxey was out of commission for the Sixers in this one, the night after taking a hard fall on his back which caused him to miss most of the second half of Monday's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. What was called a back contusion at the time was eventually listed as a lower back sprain, and with Maxey sidelined, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse opted to give Grimes his first start at point guard. Grimes, who was not expected to assume many ball-handling responsibilities when the Sixers acquired him at the trade deadline, quickly earned more and more on-ball duties, eventually becoming Nurse's go-to backup point guard behind Maxey.
Grimes, who scored a career-high 44 points on Saturday, outperforming Stephen Curry in the Sixers' win over the Golden State Warriors, was not brought to Philadelphia for the offense to run through him on any sort of regular basis. His reputation as a strong defender on the perimeter with terrific long-range shooting abilities made him seem like a perfect off-ball fit on what was a star-laden roster.
Before Saturday, @sixers @qdotgrimes had never scored 20+ points in the first half of an @NBA game. He's now done so twice in his past three contests.
At halftime tonight, Grimes has 20 points (8-12 FG) at Minnesota.
h/t @Stathead— Sixers Stats (@SixersStats) March 5, 2025
Almost a month into his Sixers tenure, Grimes has forced everyone to reevaluate just how significant of a role he can handle moving forward. He followed up his career-best scoring night on Saturday by posting a career-high nine assists on Monday. And on Tuesday, he was upgraded from questionable to available while dealing with bicep soreness and got right back to scoring at will. Grimes scored 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field in the first half alone, his second 20-point first half in three games.
When Grimes arrived in Philadelphia, he was a strong defender at multiple positions, was a terrific spot-up three-point shooter and knew how to attack a closeout. That formula on its own makes him a quality rotation regular on any contending team. Now Grimes is showing there was far more untapped potential than anybody realized, the Sixers included. His torrid scoring stretch continued on Tuesday as Grimes keeps generating more potential earnings for himself when he becomes a restricted free agent this summer.
Kelly Oubre Jr. returns and earns a well-deserved honor
In a season filled with absences up and down the Sixers roster, Oubre has rightfully taken a lot of pride in the consistency he has provided this year, not just in terms of production but also availability. Nurse acknowledged as much prior to Monday's game, a contest Oubre missed due to an illness. But Oubre returned to action on Tuesday in Minnesota after initially being listed as probable.
This game marked Oubre's 57th appearance in 61 opportunities this season, keeping him tied with Guerschon Yabusele for the most among all Sixers in 2024-25. However, Oubre and Maxey entered Tuesday with the exact same number of total minutes played this season: 1,960.
TIL Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tyrese Maxey have played the exact same number of minutes this season: pic.twitter.com/p9l3AuTofh
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) March 4, 2025
With Oubre back in the lineup and Maxey out of it, Oubre officially pulled ahead of Maxey for the team lead in minutes this season. Considering all of the injury-related circumstances the Sixers have faced this season, that should absolutely be viewed as a badge of honor for Oubre.
Oubre has not just been showing up this season, though. The veteran swingman has likely had the best all-around season of his career despite the Sixers' struggles, providing more consistent energy on the floor than any other member of the team, carrying a significant workload while playing with tremendous effort. His rebounding has been stellar and he has become an improved on-ball decision-maker after revamping his process as a driver on the fly. He has remained a defensive pest, and Nurse trusts him to guard some of the elite offensive players in the league.
The only area where Oubre has lagged behind in recent months is three-point shooting. And while Oubre's value from beyond the arc has always stemmed from volume more than accuracy, anyone's value as a role player on the wing who frequently attempts spot-up triples is going to be capped if they connect on below 30 percent of their attempts.
A positive sign: in his last two games before this one, Oubre knocked down seven of his 12 three-point attempts. Nurse did not notice anything different about the quality of the shots he was taking in those games, but did have a key observation about Oubre's demeanor.
"Only thing I noticed was, I say this a lot, but man, he stepped into them quick the other night," Nurse said. "When it came to him, you could tell he was thinking, 'I'm pulling this the second it touches my hand.' And I think that again just shows you that he's feeling good and confident, rather than, 'Should I shoot it? Should I not?' Once you get into that state of mind, that probably lowers your percentage pretty quickly… You could see as the ball was coming, his hands and feet were coming together and obviously he was just pulling the trigger and stepping right into them."
Odds and ends
Some more notes from this one:
• Lonnie Walker IV rebounded from a poor four-game opening to his Sixers tenure with a strong showing on Monday, scoring 13 points and giving the team a nice offensive spark while also making a handful of defensive plays. Walker came out with a similar offensive aggression in this one, giving the team a nice burst in the first quarter and earning extended run:
hoop & the harm 😤 pic.twitter.com/udLpWjLrx0
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 5, 2025
• Jared Butler has struggled in very limited opportunity lately, with two-way point guard Jeff Dowtin Jr. leapfrogging Butler in the ball-handling hierarchy recently. But when Dowtin and Ricky Council IV had difficult opening stints, Nurse went to Butler, who eventually found a decent rhythm within the flow of the game. The quintessential Butler play was this one: he identified an avenue to nab a steal from an unsuspecting ball-handler, and his lack of top-end athleticism prevented him from completely separating. However, he had the presence of mind to lure the defender in before dropping the ball off to Oubre with a behind-the-back pass for a slam:
WITH AUTHORITY 🎇 pic.twitter.com/7bMVmKw5KR
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 5, 2025
• Once again, Paul George just could not find any sort of groove as a scorer, even as the team's lone "star." George struggled to generate open looks for himself — an ongoing issue all season long which causes significant concerns about his long-term viability in the role the Sixers envisioned for him when they inked the nine-time All-Star to a four-year, $211 million contract — and when teammates created open looks for him, George was largely unable to cash them in. George continues to play with a splint which has immobilized his left pinky finger. In the final moments of the game, the Sixers said George would not return with the groin soreness that has bothered him the last few days.
Up next: The Sixers will have two days off before returning to action on Thursday night, when they will face the defending champion Celtics in Boston, the fourth and final matchup between the teams this regular season.
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