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PHILADELPHIA — When a team with so much expectation for a season goes through 82 games and wins 24 of them, the next year can go a couple of ways. The spiral could continue. The frustration can linger. And almost everything can fall apart. Or maybe reinforcements can be made and lessons can be learned.
Either way, the Philadelphia 76ers’ nightmare of last season will be remembered by almost everyone who experienced it.
The Sixers don’t want a repeat. The principal characters involved have made this clear since training camp. But that’s what camp is for, to elicit hope. What speaks louder is how a team plays when the regular season begins.
The new 76ers are 3-0 after a rousing 136-124 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday. They are one of four unbeaten teams in the NBA and one of only two teams (including the Bulls) in the Eastern Conference without a loss. They’ve been an angry magnet of energy, led by MVP-level play from Tyrese Maxey and precocious rookie V.J. Edgecombe. They have fought and scrapped their way to three consecutive wins.
When the Magic tried to punk them Monday, the Sixers made sure the bullies got bullied. When Desmond Bane fouled Maxey and stood over him, Maxey jumped to his feet and went nose to nose with Bane, the two players close enough to smell each other’s breath.
"He's elite, man. He's a real leader. Credit to Tyrese" –@vj_edgecombe on sharing a backcourt with @TyreseMaxey @PennMedicine pic.twitter.com/2plVIqO5fO
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 28, 2025
The Sixers are 3-0 for the first time since 2019.
“Y’all saw what happened last year, right?”
That was Philadelphia forward Kelly Oubre, whose one sentence sums up how this team is feeling and the chip they are playing with. Outwardly, this roster is saying the right things. They know there will be adversity, there will be losses and there will be rough patches.
But the embarrassment of last season won’t easily subside for this team. It’s a proud and storied franchise. And the players know how important this season is, in terms of winning.
“We know that we are going to go through some things,” Oubre said. “But, it’s how we respond that’s going to determine what we end up being.”
Philadelphia keeps passing the small tests that come its way. A regular-season opening win against the Boston Celtics proved the Sixers were capable of winning a possession game on the road. That win, and Saturday night’s home-opening win over the Charlotte Hornets, proved the 76ers were capable of facing double-digit fourth-quarter deficits and rallying to win.
Monday night was different, however. Against a Magic team fully loaded with bookend forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, the Sixers won without Joel Embiid, Paul George, Jared McCain, Trendon Watford and Dominick Barlow. Last season, such an extensive injury list would have meant almost certain defeat. But this team is determined to roll with whomever is in uniform and expects to win.
It’s a team that so far has been a stickler for small details. In the first half Monday, when rookie guard Hunter Sallis checked into an NBA game for the first time, he noticed Maxey yelling at him.
“Why are you yelling?” Sallis asked.
“Your jersey is hanging out,” Maxey responded. “We don’t want to get a technical foul, because you don’t have your jersey tucked in.”
“Twin, I’m just happy I got into the game,” Sallis said.
https://t.co/Ox7oTTAnjn pic.twitter.com/JOYF4o9kXN
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 28, 2025
That last response got Maxey to laugh. But the inference has been clear and from offseason conditioning to the beginning of training camp, and it has spilled over into the beginning of the season. The Sixers have done plenty of the things that stand out. Maxey has scored 40 or more twice. Edgecombe has been a revelation as a rookie. Oubre’s 25 points and 10 rebounds prompted head coach Nick Nurse to say Monday night was perhaps his finest game in a 76ers uniform.
But the small things, the things that ultimately win games, the things that the Sixers didn’t do a year ago, are the things that Philadelphia has done in spades so far.
“Kelly was awesome,” Nurse said. “He kept battling. He spent a lot of time guarding Banchero, and he was giving away about 50 pounds, maybe? He had a great game because he kept battling.”
Oubre’s game on Monday night served as a mirror for the 76ers as a group. Banchero and Wagner kept getting into the lane and scoring with ease. The Sixers were the smaller team. They started a two-way player in Jabari Walker at power forward. Sallis and veteran Eric Gordon saw their first minutes of the NBA season. Justin Edwards played a season-high 19 minutes. Quentin Grimes fouled out, and Philadelphia as a team had issues with fouling all night. Walker almost fouled out, too.
And yet, the Sixers found a way. This is in part because Maxey has found another gear and may have taken a leap into another tier. And this is in part because Edgecombe has been a rare find as a rookie. Putting the two together, they have been one of the best backcourts in the league. Their ability to create offense and bend defenses has opened things for everyone else.
On Monday night, facing one of the best teams in the East, the Sixers looked to be at a real disadvantage, particularly without Embiid in the fold. As it turns out, the Sixers didn’t need Embiid, at least on this night. Scoring 136 points without your superstar center isn’t something to scoff at.
And doing it against a team as highly regarded as the Magic is going to have to soften even some of the most dedicated skeptics.
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Tony Jones is a Staff Writer at The Athletic covering the Philadelphia 76ers and the NBA. A native of the East Coast and a journalism brat as a child, he has an addiction to hip-hop music and pickup basketball, and his Twitter page has been used for occasional debates concerning Biggie and Tupac. Follow Tony on Twitter @Tjonesonthenba
