PHILADELPHIA — No Joel Embiid, no problem.
The 76ers didn’t need the MVP candidate Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, even leading by 17 points in the first half. But the Grizzlies had too much firepower and fought back for a frenzied, back and forth game.
After the Grizzlies chipped away at their lead and forced an extra period, the Sixers eventually took a 122-119 overtime victory at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers scored the final seven points in overtime to take the three-point victory. Tyrese Maxey scored the final four points. His layup with 26.4 seconds left gave the Sixers a 120-119 advantage. Then he added a breakaway layup right before the final buzzer for good measure.
The victory extended a pair of winning streaks for the Sixers. This marked their fifth-straight win. They’ve also won the first four games of a five-game homestand.
That enabled the Sixers to improve to 31-19 overall and 14-10 at home.
Maxey paced the Sixers with 33 points and eight assists. Tobias Harris added 31 points. Andre Drummond, who started in place of Embiid, added 16 points and a game-high 23 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Ja Morant showed why he was voted a Western Conference All-Star starter. The third-year point guard finished a game-high 37 points for the Grizzlies (35-18), while Desmond Bane added 34.
This game wasn’t without controversy.
Seth Curry appeared to be fouled on a missed 10-foot attempt that would have won the game at the end of regulation. Doc Rivers rushed the court after regulation to argue the non-call and received a technical.
Bane made a technical foul to give the Grizzlies a one-point advantage at the start of overtime.
Embiid missed Monday’s game because of a planned rest day. This came after Embiid played in 21 consecutive games, which is the second-longest stretch of his career. He was noticeably fatigued towards the end of that stretch. Doc Rivers had talked about giving him one game to recharge. This just happened to be the day despite the Grizzlies being the stiffest competition during the homestand.
But the Sixers were also without Furkan Korkmaz (left knee soreness), Shake Milton (back spasms) and Ben Simmons (refusal to play this season for Sixers).
Exciting end of regulation
Morant split a pair of foul shots with 46.2 seconds left to give the Grizzlies a 109-108 lead.
Curry responded on the ensuing possession with a four-foot jumper to put the Sixers up one.
The score remained that way until Maxey stepped to the foul line with 14.9 seconds left. The second-year point guard split a pair of free throws to give the Sixers a 111-109 advantage.
However, Morant responded on the ensuing possession by making an off-balance basket while being fouled by Drummond with 7.4 seconds to play. The Sixers tried to challenge the play, but the foul was confirmed. Morant stepped to the foul line and missed the shot. Curry grabbed the rebound, raced up the court and misfired on a 10-footer with 0.3 second left. The shooting guard appeared to be fouled on the play by Jaren Jackson Jr.
That’s when Rivers rushed the court and received a technical. Bane’s technical foul shot gave the Grizzlies a 112-111 advantage.
Three-point shooting woes
The Sixers and Grizzlies combined to make just 1 of 13 three-pointers in the third quarter. The Sixers missed all seven of their attempts, while Memphis went 1-for-6. Three-point shooting was actually the Grizzlies’ Achilles heel, making just 6 of 30 for the game.
Homecoming for Taylor Jenkins
Taylor Jenkins has ties to Philadelphia.
The Grizzlies coach was a student at Penn, graduating with an Economics degree in 2007. As a student, Jenkins would come to Sixers basketball games. Back then, the Wells Fargo Center was named the Wachovia Center.
“I remember seeing AI,” he said. “One guy that sticks out to me is Kyle Korver, the old school uniforms with the box cut sleeves. Kyle, I actually coached him in Atlanta. I spent time with him there. So we reminisced there a little bit about Philadelphia days, his young days here too, so great times here.”
Jenkins witnessed great matchups as a fan at Sixers games. He spoke of energy in the building and the passion and uniqueness of the Sixers fan. He still makes a point to go down memory lane whenever he’s back in Philly. Jenkins had a cheesesteak Monday on Penn’s campus.
“I had to check that off the list,” he said.
But as a non-basketball playing student, Jenkins never envisioned being an NBA coach while at Penn.
He did, however, help start a basketball league for youth in West Philadelphia during his sophomore year.
“That was probably my highlight from my college career aside from getting a great education,” he said of his three years with the league. He made “friendships, but basically kind of rolled up my sleeves up in West Philadelphia in coaching boys and girls 10 to 13 years old. It has kind of sparked me to get to this point here. I never thought I would be a head coach.”
After graduating, Jenkins interned with the San Antonio Spurs basketball operation department during the 2007-08 season.
He transitioned that into an assistant-coaching job with the Spurs’ NBA G-League affiliate, the Austin Toros from 2008 to 2012. Jenkins was elevated to the Toros head coach for the 2012-13 season.
Following the season, he had assistant-coaching stints with the Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks before being named the Grizzlies coach on June 11, 2019.
