Judah Mintz shined again and newcomer Dominick Barlow impressed, but the Summer Sixers weren’t quite able to complete the comeback vs. the Hornets Saturday.
Somehow, VJ Edgecombe’s stock might be rising faster in the games he hasn’t played in than the one that he did.
The Sixers fell 96-94 to the Charlotte Hornets Saturday night, falling to 0-2 in the Vegas summer league.
Judah Mintz was the game’s leading scorer with 24 points, shooting 5-of-13 from the field while getting to the line 15 times. Dominick Barlow had 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting along with eight rebounds. After another slow start, Justin Edwards went for a 14-point second half. KJ Simpson led the Hornets with 19.
Edgecombe missed his fourth straight game of the summer, but there was reported optimism that he will be able to return for one of the final two games. No. 4 overall pick Kon Knueppel was also unable to suit up for Charlotte due to injury.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
It will be interesting to see how effective Barlow can be for this team as a non-shooter. A lot of things he does well were on display in this one. He moves his feet well and puts himself in good position to rebound and he has active hands that he’s able to poke and prod with to annoy ball handlers.
This certainly isn’t a great environment for his type of role, especially since he seems to be on the floor with a non-shooter often. Still, he had a nice stretch in the second quarter where he was able to get himself to the basket. Perhaps the most intriguing play of the night was when Johni Broome was posting up near the block, but was still able to find a cutting Barlow for a lob.
It’s been really cool seeing Adem Bona push around centers that are noticeably taller than him. He was able to do that to Kyle Filipowski in Utah and was even more aggressive attacking Ryan Kalkbrenner in this one.
Bona was playing with so much aggression he was trying to rip the ball out of everybody’s hands. He was just as eager to attack offensively as well, and finished with a couple big dunks to show for it. He would finish the game with eight points, three blocks, and two steals. The only downside to a good performance from him is Mark Jones making a Bona-fide pun on commentary every quarter.
Adem Bona SLICING into the paint pic.twitter.com/AmLJ5i7qqH
— NBA TV (@NBATV) July 12, 2025
This isn’t exactly the type of environment for JEdwards to thrive as a Swiss-army knife type of guy, but he has still looked a lot worse this summer than a year ago. He finally showed some signs of life in the third. After knocking down a three he was able to cut down the lane for dunk. Just as impressive as the slam was the bounce pass from Bona that found him.
Jedwards w/ the AND 1 hand slam! pic.twitter.com/ddbwNDBDLZ
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) July 13, 2025
Hunter Sallis got the start as Jalen Hood-Schifino was inactive, but he still wasn’t able to settle in. The way he moves with the ball in his hands is interesting and he’s had some decent moments creating. He finished with four assists in this one. It’s hard to see him being very effective though if he can’t get that shot to fall.
He looks rough compared to Mintz, who at times is the only guy on this team who can put the ball in the basket. It was his flurry that made it a competitive game in the second quarter, and he did a lot of the leg work in the fourth when they briefly held a lead, though his attempt to tie the game with time expiring was blocked.
The Sixers are back in action again on Tuesday when they take on the Washington Wizards at 8:30 p.m. ET. That game will be on NBATV and NBC Sports Philadelphia.