March 16, 2025
Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images
On Sunday afternoon, Quentin Grimes faced off against the team that traded him to the Sixers last month.
As the Sixers kicked off their six-game road trip against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday afternoon, the two teams whose seasons have been decimated by injuries (and a few questionable decisions) had more players unavailable due to various ailments than ones dressed in uniform. A total of 19 players across the two rosters were sidelined for this matinee, while 10 Sixers and eight Mavericks suited up.
But one horribly short-handed team had to emerge victorious, and it was the Sixers, who defeated the Mavericks, 130-125, for just their third win since a Feb. 4 triumph over the Mavericks which took place 40 days ago. Here is what stood out from the action:
One of the saving graces of this hellish season for the Sixers turned out to be their trade deadline deal with Dallas, sending Martin and a 2030 second-round pick to the Mavericks in exchange for Grimes and their own 2025 second-rounder, now projected to be the No. 36 overall pick in June. (The Sixers were initially not supposed to send the 2030 second-round pick alongside Martin, but a snag in the veteran wing's physical led to an amendment to the trade's terms.)
It seemed like a strong deal for the Sixers at the time, as they added a quality two-way player with excellent shooting numbers in Grimes along with the premium second-round pick for a player in Martin who was having a very underwhelming season for reasons related to injuries and performance. More than a month removed, it seems this trade may have turned out to be a heist for the Sixers, as Grimes has sustained his defensive playmaking and high-caliber three-point shooting while also exploding as an on-ball threat. Grimes has been magnificent as a scorer and shown significant strides as a shot creator for others, taking advantage of a tremendous opportunity to play with the ball in his hands far more often than anybody expected.
After rewatching it, I think Quentin Grimes' 30-point night in Minnesota might have been more impressive than his 44-point game vs. GSW, just because he had to create so much on his own. I uploaded a bunch of encouraging clips to @SixersAdamClips, here's a supercut of those: pic.twitter.com/1CNc1dpsdE
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) March 6, 2025
Martin, who was ruled out for Sunday's game 30 minutes before tip-off due to a strain in the same left hip which has been hindering him for months, has still only played in five games for the Mavericks. In 96 minutes, he has scored 23 points. Martin is a grinder and a battler who deserves a ton of credit for the number of injuries he tried to play through for the Sixers — and he may be doing the same of late for a Mavericks team even more devastated by injuries than the Sixers — but his offensive skillset is not even in the same stratosphere as that of Grimes, severely capping his upside on a game-to-game basis.
For the Sixers to get the better player in the trade — who is also much younger — while also adding the premium second-round pick is an excellent bargain. Grimes made sure the Mavericks felt it with a very strong performance as a scorer and shot creator.
This is @qdotgrimes' 14th 20-point game of the season, seven of which have come with the @sixers.
— Sixers Stats (@SixersStats) March 16, 2025
Entering this season, Grimes had reached the 20-point mark 12 times through his first three campaigns.
h/t @Stathead
Grimes has done a lot to boost his stock since arriving in Philadelphia, but will be a restricted free agent this summer, and the nature of the expected market will strongly favor the Sixers as they hope to secure the 24-year-old on a long-term, team-friendly contract.
In just his second game with the Sixers, Hood-Schifino showed major strides in terms of comfort operating on the floor on Sunday. He was confidently hunting his own shots, which became easier once they started going down. Hood-Schifino knocked down three triples in the first quarter alone, breaking his previous career-high for made threes and displaying shooting mechanics that are extremely clean and easily repeatable:
that's 9️⃣ Q1 points for Jalen Hood-Schifino! pic.twitter.com/G2Hrpcpxjk
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 16, 2025
Hood-Schifino ended up connecting on a fourth three-point try near the end of the first half, bringing him to 12 points, also a new career-high:
with this last three, Jalen Hood-Schifino has a new career-high. 📈 pic.twitter.com/YTBMxPVVCH
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 16, 2025
In media availabilities before and after his Sixers debut on Friday, Hood-Schifino talked about how above all else, he was just excited to have a chance to get back on the court consistently. The 2023 first-round pick never had much of a chance to break through with the Lakers and had his third-year team option declined before being salary filler in the biggest trade in NBA history and subsequently waived.
Hood-Schifino signed a two-way contract with the Sixers on March 1, and was not expected to have much NBA opportunity before the team continued to be ravaged by injuries. Now, he is hoping to make the most of his chances.
"Just to be able to compete, be out there with the guys was definitely fun," Hood-Schifino said on Friday night.
Some more notes and takeaways from this one:
• Between the Sixers and Mavericks, 19 different players were ruled out for this game due to various injuries. In a season during which I have stared at an unfathomable number of injury reports, I have never seen one even close to as lengthy as the one before this game.
• Chuma Okeke, who reportedly agreed to his second 10-day contract of the season with the Sixers on Saturday evening, had his deal made official on Sunday morning. That enabled Okeke to be available for this game and for the entirety of the Sixers' six-game road trip, and he was part of the team's rotation alongside its other nine available pieces.
• Before Oshae Brissett made his Sixers debut within hours of signing with the team on Friday, head coach Nick Nurse had clear confidence that the veteran forward would be able to find his footing quickly. Brissett, who was coached by Nurse as a rookie with the Toronto Raptors a handful of years ago, has done just that, largely looking comfortable fitting in on both ends of the floor.
Up next: The Sixers' road trip will continue on Monday night, when they are set to face the surging Houston Rockets.
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