Sixers Bell Ringer: Justin Edwards plays well again, Sixers fall to Hawks

The Philadelphia 76ers lost their fourth game in a row on Sunday to the Atlanta Hawks and it was an ugly one. The lone bright spot for the Sixers was the performance of rookie Justin Edwards.

Sixers Bell Ringer Season Standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 16
Quentin Grimes – 9
Joel Embiid – 8
Jared McCain – 8
Paul George – 7
Kelly Oubre Jr – 5
Guerschon Yabusele – 4
Justin Edwards – 3
Adem Bona – 2
Ricky Council IV – 2
KJ Martin – 2
Jared Butler – 1
Jeff Dowtin Jr – 1
Andre Drummond – 1
No One – 1

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The Philadelphia 76ers fell 132-119 in ugly fashion to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday evening.

This was going to always be a tough draw with multiple NCAA March Madness games being played simultaneously… well, we watched so you didn’t have to.

You, uh, didn’t miss too much on this one. The Sixers trailed by double-digits for a good majority of the game and even by over 20 points at some moments. It just was ugly all the way through and finally ended with Philadelphia losing 132-119 in Atlanta… and trust me, it wasn’t that close.

There was also this entertainment from former Sixer Georges Niang:

Anyway, Justin Edwards played well at least. Quentin Grimes didn’t play all that well, but still led the Sixers with 26 points. More on both of them in a minute.

The Sixers are back on the floor tomorrow to finally close out this six-game road trip they’ve been on. They’ll face overnight travel and a quick turnaround to visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night. As of postgame Sunday, the Sixers are tied with the Brooklyn Nets for fifth NBA Draft lottery position.

Let’s get to the Bell Ringer.

Justin Edwards: 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Justin Edwards continued the hot streak he’s been on recently against the Hawks Sunday. The rookie got off to smooth start, putting eight points up in the first quarter, shooting 3-for-3 from the floor to begin the night and showing off a number of tricks in his bag: he used his footwork to dance into the lane for a lay-up, slammed a dunk home and sank a catch-and-shoot triple in the opening frame. It was more in the continuing pattern of Edwards looking extremely confident and aggressive with the ball in his hands in a number of ways and how that’s been bringing him success recently. He led the floor at halftime with 15 points (5-for-10 field goal shooting) with two rebounds (both offensive) and two assists. For most of the contest, until Quentin Grimes started racking up some points, Edwards was a majority of the offense for Philadelphia.

Edwards finished Sunday with 22 points (8-for-18 FG, 3-for-6 3PT) with three rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Quentin Grimes: 26 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Quentin Grimes had a quiet start to this one, shooting just 1-for-4 from the floor with two turnovers in the opening frame. Grimes has begun to struggle a bit in the last few games with control of the ball. Even if not every instance resulted in a full turnover, there were a number of moments that Grimes just seemed to lose the ball a little bit. That, and his shots just seemingly weren’t falling with any consistency Sunday, with Grimes even blowing a few lay-ups.

All that said, he still ended up with a team-leading 26 points, even if he needed to rely a bit more on free throws for this outing. Grimes ended up with 7-for-18 field goal shooting and just 3-for-10 from long range but did sink 9-for-11 from the charity stripe to keep chipping in points when his shots from the floor weren’t falling. He also continues to show off his playmaking potential with Philadelphia, leading the team with six assists on Sunday.

Overall, this wasn’t the best game from Grimes, with some sloppiness spread throughout its entirety. But, with where we’re at with this team, the pickings are slim.