Watford’s First Career Triple-Double Carries Sixers Over Raptors on Throwback Night

The Sixers turned back the clock and the Raptors, 130-120, on throwback night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The black 2000-01 jerseys dropped, and so did the offense, from an unexpected source.

The first half was a tale of quarters; the Raptors started strong by using their quickness and the playmaking ability of Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, and Brandon Ingram. One of the three would drive in and either go to the basket or kick it out to a waiting winger who would have a clean look at a deep shot, and they were locked in from distance. The second quarter belonged to the Sixers, who adjusted defensively, and when Andre Drummond came in to relieve Joel Embiid, the lane was clogged, and that forced the Raptors to slow the pace down, and Toronto’s shooting never recovered. The Sixers closed the half out with a 68-63 lead.

The third quarter has been the Achilles heel of the Sixers all season, and tonight they played their best third quarter thus far. They started the third strong, building as much as an 8-point lead, but thanks to the lack of offensive rebounding by the Sixers, the Raptors won the third 34-33. Before tonight’s game, the Sixers averaged a -5 point disadvantage in the third quarter, so -1 is an improvement. The fourth was all Sixers, and when Toronto started to mount a comeback, the fatigue from the back-to-back took over, and they ran out of gas. The game ended with a Sixers 130-120 win, and the song was playing.

The real star of the show was Trendon Watford, who had his first career triple-double with 20 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists. He got to start alongside his good friend Tyrese Maxey, who put in a game-high 31 points. The chemistry between them was obvious and fun to watch. Embiid played like an MVP tonight, dropping in 29 in just short of 26 minutes on the court. The positive thing here was that he was moving around well on the court, which is great to see, but makes me nervous about his availability and effectiveness tomorrow.

The only Sixer starter who had a down night in scoring was VJ Edgecombe, who had his first struggles of the season, mostly with his distance shooting, which was not there tonight. He did, however, provide us with one of the highlights of the night with an impressive dunk that was the exclamation point to end a Toronto rally.

This is a great sign that when one of the primary options isn’t having a great game, the offense doesn’t stall out. Even though Edgecombe didn’t have a strong game, he still helped his teammates create shots and didn’t shy away from shooting. This was a great learning experience for the rookie, and his demeanor on the court didn’t change, so we can take this for what it is, just a game where the outside shot dried up.

Most importantly, the connection between Maxey and Watford shone tonight, and shows that the Sixers are evolving, and if Watford can continue to play like he did tonight, the other teams in the East should be concerned about this team, which has been one of the true surprises this season.

I’m looking forward to seeing how well this starting lineup can come together and continue to evolve. Any win feels great, but this felt like a complete team win, which always feels even better.

Steve Hamilton

Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.

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