Sixers takeaways: Big Three thrives, Quentin Grimes adjusting to new role, and more from win over Mavericks

DALLAS — The 76ers are stacking days with their Big Three.

Paul George is expected to remain primarily at small forward after Kelly Oubre Jr. returns from injury.

Quentin Grimes is adapting to a different role as players return from injury by providing solid defense and taking open shots.

Those things stood out in Thursday’s 123-108 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.

This marked the second straight game that the Sixers’ Big Three of Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and George all played. And it’s starting to provide positive results, as they won both games to improve to 18-14.

The Sixers lost the first four games that the Big Three played this season. The trio actually had a nine-game skid, dating back to last season.

Give the Sixers credit. They didn’t panic, believing things would be fine once they developed a rhythm.

» READ MORE: Kelly Oubre is anxious to return to the Sixers lineup. It won’t be long now.

“Just trying to get more games with them,” Nick Nurse said on the Sixers playing for their Big Three for the second consecutive game. “I think that’s the key that we can move positively. Again, I still say they need more minutes, more rhythm, more time, more conditioning — all that kind of stuff. So the more games we can do in a row, the better. I think I said last time, we’re on five or six or something, we can use a lot more than that, and to have some in a row would be nice.”

Against the Mavs, the Sixers had a balanced attack with Maxey (34 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds, two steals, two blocks), VJ Edgecombe (23 points, four steals), Embiid (22 points, six assists, one block), Grimes (19 points), and George (14 points) scoring in double figures.

Embiid is averaging 29.1 points over his last six games after averaging 18.2 in his first nine appearances.

“I feel like I’m getting back to myself,” he said. “Then I think tonight is a perfect example, different than Memphis [Tuesday when he scored 34 points]. Memphis, I had to be more aggressive. Tonight … I could make plays for some of the guys, all these guys on the team. So taking what the defense gives me, but defensively, … I feel like I’m getting back to that level of blocking shots and being that defensive presence.”

His play over the last two games is a significant reason for the consecutive victories.

George came to the Sixers last season to play small forward. But that plan was for him to slide to power forward while Oubre switched from shooting guard to small forward.

However, with Oubre sidelined for the past 20 games with a lateral collateral ligament injury in his left knee, George has played mostly small forward this season.

And while his shots aren’t falling, George has contributed nicely at the position. In addition to his 14 points, he had seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal while having a game-high plus-20 against the Mavs.

» READ MORE: VJ Edgecombe’s short career is full of milestones. The Sixers think there are more to come.

But Oubre was the X-factor at the position before his injury. That’s why Nurse was asked if he sees George as more of three or a four once Oubre returns.

“A three mostly,” Nurse said. “I just think that it does matter who we’re playing. I think it seems to go really one end of the spectrum or the other. Like it seems like all of a sudden you are running into a team that’s huge all over the place. Play your big lineups. Then all of a sudden, playing four guard and seven four more. So I think that’s when he will go to the four more. But this is a pretty big team tonight, so pretty good chance to play him at the three most of the time.”

George did play some power forward against Dallas when the Sixers went with their three-guard lineups.

So, who will start at power forward?

Are the Sixers comfortable moving Oubre from small to power forward once he returns? Or has Dominick Barlow, who made his 19th start on Thursday, entrenched himself as the starting power forward?

“He’s played great,” Nurse said of Barlow, “Nothing to not play his minutes. I think it’s Paul. I think it’s Barlow. Could be a little Oubre. Could be a little [Adem] Bona. But I think it just depends on who we’re playing. Hopefully, we can be versatile enough to figure out what we are doing in all those different lineups. That’s what’s going to take some time.”

Those options might be a good problem for the Sixers to have.

Against the Mavs (12-23), Grimes, Andre Drummond, Jared McCain, Jabari Walker, and Bona came off the bench. Nurse was asked if this could be the deepest team he’s had since taking over the Sixers on June 1, 2023.

“Well, let’s hope so. I don’t want to get carried away,” he said. “I think our last 18 to 20 months have been three guys in, four guys out, three guys in, two guys out, it’s been nonstop. Let’s get how about 10 or 12 games under our belt with pretty much everybody healthy, and then we can start worrying about that kind of stuff.”

Grimes’ new role with players coming back could be flying around on defense, and taking shots as they come.

“Joel is getting a lot more comfortable, getting his rhythm,” he said. “P’s getting his rhythm out there, just me finding my rhythm being in attack mode, taking shots, not thinking about stuff, and that turns into easy offense for us for sure.”

» READ MORE: Sixers mailbag: Are the Sixers better on defense without Joel Embiid?

The combo guard quickly made a defensive impact shortly after entering the game with 7 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first quarter.

The combo guard blocked Cooper Flagg’s drive to the basket 20 seconds later. Then, on his first shot attempt, Grimes buried a corner three-pointer to give the Sixers a 37-35 lead with 9:15 remaining in the half. Then his three-pointer with 1:49 left in the game gave the Sixers a 118-108 cushion.

“He was great, man, offensively and defensively,” Maxey said. “But we need that from him, night in and night out. He’s kind of a good wildcard for us. He can get hot. He can make threes. He can drive the ball. He can play defensively, too. That’s what’s really good for us. He can play with a lot of lineups, too.”

Grimes made 7 of 9 shots — including 5-for-7 from three-point range — along with six rebounds, two assists, and three blocks. And as the primary defender, he did a solid job of making Flagg work for shots.

“Just make it physical for him,” Grimes said of what he tried to do to the No. 1 pick. “I mean, he’s a rookie. He’s got a different little physicality. He’s super talented out there, so I’m trying to be physical with him. I’m trying to make it as hard as possible. I feel like I did a pretty good of that tonight.”

And none of the Sixers were surprised.

“He really tries on defense, and he has the tools to do it,” Nurse said. “ He’s an athlete. He’s strong. He can jump. He got some quickness. I love, again, you guys have heard me say this. I love the way he takes it to the rim. Still don’t think he does it enough. … He’s explosive. He can move it around up there and score. Obviously, we need his three-point shooting.”

But the Sixers do need to figure out where Grimes and McCain both fit in when the team is fully healthy.

» READ MORE: Jared McCain has physically healed. But he’s not rushing the on-court results.

They both had primary roles during different stages of last season on a depleted team. McCain had to provide the offense at the start of last season while Embiid and George were sidelined.

“At the end last year, Q was like the last [healthy] guy left last year,” Nurse said. “He kind of had to score. They showed some great abilities to do that. I think the key to A being a good basketball player is figuring out how you can impact your team to win and play a role a little bit.

“I think they are both still looking and feeling that out.”