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Sixers takeaways: Doc Rivers gets last laugh; Quentin Grimes racks up assists
Doc Rivers owns the 76ers.
Quentin Grimes can do more than be an elite scorer. And Adem Bona is in the midst of a dominating stretch. Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 126-113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center.
1. Doc dominates old team
The Sixers fired Rivers as coach in May of 2023, for failing to advance them beyond the second round in each of his three seasons. However, he has a 6-0 record against them since being hired by the Bucks in January of 2024.
Thursday’s victory comes with an asterisk though, as Rivers only coached the first quarter due to an illness.
But beating the Sixers isn’t anything new for the 63-year-old. He now has a 45-26 career record against them across stops with the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, and Bucks.
2. Showing versatility
Grimes has scored 30 or more points on five occasions since being acquired by the Sixers via a Feb. 6 trade with the Dallas Mavericks.
But he finished with a season-high-tying 10 assists to go with 24 points in Thursday’s loss.
“I feel like I’m just getting comfortable,” Grimes said of being a playmaker. “Reading the game, kind of being a point of attack on the team for the offensive end, teams are doubling me more, just making the right reads, [Guerschon Yabusele] popping, or hitting Justin [Edwards] for three."
Grimes, who has two double-digit assist games with Philly, credited his emerging big man for some of his success.
“Bona was phenomenal tonight, just on the rolls, rebounding, so just trying to make the right reads, hitting the guys, not trying to force too much on the offensive end, but taking what the defense gives me."
3. Bona's big night
Bona finished with a career-high 28 points on 13-of-15 shooting to join Hall of Famer Charles Barkley as the only Sixers rookies to score at least 25 points while shooting at least 85% in a game.
The Sixers center’s previous career high was 16 points, which he did twice. And over his last 10 games, Bona is averaging 13.4 points on 72.2% shooting to go with 8.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots.
