The Quentin Grimes Revenge Game

Playing against the team that traded him, Quentin Grimes starred as the Sixers were able to take down the equally shorthanded Mavs.

For as many mistakes as the Sixers have made, at least they did not trade Luka Doncic in his prime — or Quentin Grimes for that matter.

Philadelphia nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, but snapped their three game losing streak by defeating the Dallas Mavericks 130-125 Sunday afternoon. They are 23-44.

Taking on his former team for the first time, Quentin Grimes returned to the lineup to lead the Sixers with 28 points, shooting 10-of-19 from the field. Jalen Hood-Schifino used a big first half to finish with a career-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

Despite being unable to help the lack of bigs problem, Guerschon Yabusele went for 14 points and seven rebounds including the one that put the game away. Jeff Dowtin Jr. had 14 as well. P.J. Washington led all scorers with 29.

Once again, it is easier to list who was actually available for this one versus who was not.

Here are some grades at the buzzer.

Quentin Grimes

That illness seemed to clear up just fine as Grimes opened the game up easily driving to the hoop. He fell into some turnover issues in the second after a hot first as fast-break points also played a big part in Dallas’ early advantage.

He settled back in in the second half though. Not only was he able to get to his spots fairly easily, but defense was setting up offense a few times as well, thanks to the two steals he grabbed in the third.

If anyone is curious, the Sixers did not “pull a Raptors.” That’s to say they closed the game with their starters on the floor with Grimes leading the way, even with a late push by Dallas.

Grade: A-

Justin Edwards

Returning from a one-game absence, Edwards got himself on the board like he typically does, by driving for a midrange jumper. He’s in a bit of a slump from deep at the moment though. Coming into this game he’s been shooting 28% from three over his previous 10 games, and missed his all three of his attempts in this one.

He hasn’t looked for his shot as much he’s able to at the moment, but the ankle injury that’s had him in and out of the lineup is a likely culprit. He still managed to pitch in defensively causing some deflections in the third.

Grade: C+

Jalen Hood-Schifino

Unlike his first game with the team where he needed a few minutes to settle in, Hood-Schifino was ready to fire away as soon as he touched the floor. Getting to pull-up jumpers early and often, he had put up a career-high 12 points by the end of the first half.

He kept that going when he returned in the second half, hitting a couple of big jumpers as the Mavs threatened to cut into the lead.

Grade: A

Ricky Council IV

It feels like every game for Council follows the same course, the only variance being if he can get a couple more threes to fall. He’ll look for a couple pull-ups in the paint, maybe make a flashy play on defense early before fading to the background, where he spends the rest of the game hoisting awkwardly placed threes. For the most part they were actually falling as he finished with 13 points, but threw up an absolute flail with a chance to put the game away.

An area the team would like to see him impact the game more is on the glass, and he did do that against the Mavs. He pulled down 10 rebounds on the day.

Grade: B-

Guerschon Yabusele

It wasn’t his fault there wasn’t a traditional big available, but the Sixers’ defense once again opened as an absolute mess without an anchor. Dallas shot 59% and 14-of-17 at the rim in the first half.

While they had no interior presence on that end, Yabu was still putting together a well-rounded game on the other end of the floor. He made two of his first three threes, and crashed for some timely dunks as well. He was also part of the swarming effort in the third quarter, poking free a ball near mid-court and diving to secure the save.

Grade: B+

Oshae Brissett

This was another game where Brissett just seemed to fill in the gaps where needed. Whether he can make shots will really decide if he can stick or not. He was 1-of-3 from deep but had more success finishing possessions at the basket, finishing with 13 points.

Grade: B+

Chuma Okeke

There were plenty of minutes to go around as Okeke saw 15:56 of action, a part of the “bigger lineups” of the day playing next to Alex Reese. He obviously couldn’t do much to stop the parade at the rim in the first half, but he was able to steal an inbounds pass in the backcourt in the second.

He knocked down just a couple of shots at the other end, putting back a layup and drilling a three.

Grade: B

Staying in Texas, the Sixers are right back in action as they are set to take on the Houston Rockets Monday night at 8 p.m. ET.