Another 30-point night for Grimes, another loss to help with the ping-pong balls

Quentin Grimes recorded his third 30-plus-point game as a Sixer but it wasn’t enough as Philly couldn’t match the Timberwolves’ firepower.

Of all the Sixers basketball games that was certainly the most recent.

Philadelphia dropped their second in a row, falling 126-112 to the Timberwolves Tuesday.

Paul George left the game early with groin tightness. He had seven points on 3-of-11 shooting in 29:38 before exiting.

At least Quentin Grimes looked good — he led all scorers with 30 points, shooting 12-of-18 from the floor. Kelly Oubre Jr. went for 24 points going 11-of-19 from the field. Naz Reid led the Wolves with 23.

Tyrese Maxey (back contusion) and Justin Edwards (ankle sprain) were both out, as was Rudy Gobert for Minnesota.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• Another solid start for Grimes, despite coming into the game as questionable. Oubre returned with a couple strong drives as well. George walked into a midrange but missed his first three of the night.
• It was an unfortunate start for Guerschon Yabubsele, who nearly punted the ball out of bounds on a turnover and missed an open dunk. He did steal a pass as a part of five Wolves turnovers — they also opened the game 3-of-9 from the floor.
• Lonnie Walker IV may be settling in a bit. He had a couple three-point plays shortly upon checking into the game. The offense stalled though, going scoreless for nearly three minutes. They had five turnovers of their own and trailed by two after the first.

Second Quarter

• Just as the Wolves’ offense was getting going, Edwards returned from a brief injury scare to finish up a 13-2 run. Julius Randle was his only teammate to get to the line but the two of them combined for 12 in the first half.
• Jaden McDaniels quickly racked up four blocks, but when the Sixers weren’t challenging him they were able to put together an 11-2 run. Grimes continued to excel off the dribble, putting up 20 points in the half.
• Jared Butler got to close out the quarter, and was off to a better start than the previous night. He made his first two shots of the night and had a pair of assists as well. The Sixers went into the half trailing by four.

Third Quarter

• Despite shooting in the low 20s from three, the Sixers came out of the break pretty well. Yabu finally got one to go down and was one of the guys found by George moving to the basket.

• It was a tougher assignment for Andre Drummond, and he had to go to the bench with his fourth foul midway through the quarter. He did help the Sixers finally win another challenge when a clean block of his got called a goaltend.
• The Sixers again almost went three minutes without a field goal to close the quarter, but Oubre stole himself a transition opportunity to tie things up. Mike Conley threw up an absolute prayer that beat the buzzer to keep the Wolves ahead by three.

Fourth Quarter

• After playing 29 out of a possible 32, George was ruled out for the rest of the game with groin soreness. Good thing everyone is squinting towards a championship though so all these injuries are worth it.
• An annoying trait of this team is they always seem to give away points at the most inopportune times. The bench got called for a technical amidst a 12-3 run, again giving Minnesota their largest lead of the night. Reid’s pick and pops had the defense stretched thin as they made their first five threes of the quarter.
• The Toronto Raptors pulled three of their five starters with eight minutes left in the game, and the fourth with less than two minutes to go. They left Ja’Kobe Walter in though, who won it for them at the buzzer. With that win and Sixers loss, they’re just two games back for the fifth worst record in the league.

• Your Philadelphia 76ers will once again be on a national stage as they are set to visit the Boston Celtics Thursday — scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m. on TNT.