The PhIladelphia 76ers are already blatantly tanking at this point in time, but they showed an uncanny ability to still be able to resemble a functional basketball team last night, storming into the American Airlines Center and handing the uber-depleted Dallas Mavericks another loss on their plate, pushing them further down in the drain the playoff race out West.
In all honesty, winning any more games stand to hurt the team’s lottery odds, but they remain in possession of the sixth-best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft as of writing. Still, conceding shortsightedness, it is nothing short of satisfying to see the 76ers still get the occasional win, especially against their latest adversaries.
Dallas, already mauled by injuries left and right, has become the most miserable team in the league this season, to the point that it makes Philly look like a mild case of disappointment. After their front office’s abominable decision to trade for Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, the basketball gods started to look at them with contempt with injuries to Davis, Kyrie Irving (an ACL tear), Dereck Lively, and other key rotation players.
76ers continue to add to Mavericks’ misery as Quentin Grimes makes them look foolish
A win over the Mavericks would normally not amount to anything out of the ordinary, but this win is made even sweeter by the fact that the 76ers were spearheaded by Quentin Grimes — the very player Dallas was so quick to dangle away before the trade deadline.
To those in need of a refresher, Philly shipped Caleb Martin away for Grimes. The move was largely to free up cap space, with the 76ers drawing a lot of flak at that time. However, that trade has aged like really fine wine for the franchise.
Whereas Martin is lulling on the Mavs bench due to his nagging hip issues, Grimes has emerged as a legitimate piece for the 76ers. He has become a huge silver lining for the franchise and seems poised to be a keeper for the squad moving forward.
Grimes led the rally over his former team and finished the night with 28 points. In 19 appearances for the the team thus far, he has logged 19.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and three assists per outing — raising a compelling case for him to remain part of the team’s plans well beyond this season.
Dallas is afflicted with a heavy curse that won’t be casted away anytime soon, and thanks to Quentin Grimes, the Philadelphia 76ers are somehow looking like geniuses for making that swap.
Given how mundane this season has been, we’ll take the win.