Andre Drummond, whose dog is named Bob Marley, confirmed he asked for Buffalo Soldier to play when he scores.

Tonight’s Sixers win moved them a half-game ahead of the Hawks for eighth in the East.

Nick Nurse’s Sixers have taken a lot of shit for their defensive tendencies this season, but this was a great matchup to try to turn your opponent over and it worked out very well. Also a great Quentin Grimes game. Wrote about his ability to scale up: www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-trail...

A legitimately impressive Sixers win tonight, with a lot of players submitting impressive performances. Nick Nurse had 11 guys at his disposal and used all of them, but really leaned on nine of them. The lineup that opened the fourth quarter won them the game IMO. Story to come!

An absolutely hellacious steal and slam from Justin Edwards puts the Sixers top by six inside of the 90-second mark. Incredible play.

Free chicken nuggets in crunch time courtesy of old friend Jerami Grant.

Sixers are closing with Edgecombe, Grimes, Edwards, Watford and Drummond. Edgecombe and Edwards replaced Payne and Beauchamp after a hell of an eight-minute burst from the Grimes-plus-reserves lineup. I would have Barlow on the floor over Watford here.

I’m emotional on press row.

Franklin the Dog's streak of made half-court shots has been snapped at one game.

Quentin Grimes, made for March, scores back-to-back buckets off Portland turnovers. After scoring 28 points yesterday, he has 29 points tonight. Sixers have a game-high 14-point lead with 5:34 left; a lineup of Payne, Grimes, Beauchamp, Watford and Drummond has been very good.

After three: Blazers 76, Sixers 82. The Sixers played "Buffalo Soldier" when Andre Drummond scored. I will be investigating whether or not this is now a thing. This has been his best game in months, I think.

Another really nice game for Justin Edwards, who is up to 15 points on 11 shots and has given the Sixers a game-high seven-point lead. Strong start to a third quarter!

Dominick Barlow went for another poster on Donovan Clingan, who committed a hard foul to prevent it. VJ Edgecombe took issue with it, which surprised Clingan. Then Barlow got up and immediately dapped Clingan up. Reviewing it for a flagrant, but should be a common foul IMO.

It gets worse: I’m hearing the Sixers might claim that March 23 is ALSO Franklin’s birthday when the Thunder come to town

Nick Nurse has officially used all 11 of his available players, as Kyle Lowry is now in the game. Out there with VJ Edgecombe, Tyrese Martin, Trendon Watford and Andre Drummond.

After one: Blazers 27, Sixers 30. A pretty fun, with a balanced offensive attack from the Sixers in addition to forcing some turnovers defensively. Grimes, Edwards: 8 points Barlow: 6 points Edgecombe, Payne: 4 points

Enormous human being

Sixers and Blazers knotted at 14 at the game's first timeout despite a hot start for Portland. Andre Drummond is in early because Adem Bona gives up a lot of weight in the Donovan Clingan matchup. Six early points on two threes for Justin Edwards.

Justin Edwards hits a three on his first shot attempt...

Sixers starters tonight vs. Portland: VJ Edgecombe Quentin Grimes Justin Edwards Dominick Barlow Adem Bona Available off the bench: Cam Payne Kyle Lowry Tyrese Martin MarJon Beauchamp Trendon Watford Andre Drummond

Dalen Terry was questionable with a shoulder impingement. Took a hard fall yesterday. He’s out tonight.

Sixers two-way statuses tonight vs. Portland, I’m told: ACTIVE: Tyrese Martin, MarJon Beauchamp INACTIVE: Dalen Terry Sixers have 0 games of two-way availability left while under 15 players. Martin has 4 games left, Terry has 7 games left and Beauchamp has 20 games left.

Andre Drummond, questionable to return to action tonight, just took the floor to start his pregame work. He’s out here at least an hour earlier than usual. He had “#GameDay” in the caption of an Instagram post this afternoon. Would guess he’s in. Adem Bona also questionable.

Half of the players on the Sixers are listed on the initial injury report for tonight's game: www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-injur...

The Sixers have an injury report for tonight’s game vs. Portland. Once again, I do not have enough characters to tweet this one, so here is a screenshot:

Officially taking questions for this week’s Sixers mailbag! Happy to discuss offseason outlook, playoff and play-in scenarios, awards, rotation stuff, beat writing, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, Nick Nurse, Daryl Morey and anything else that's on your mind. Fire away!

New: On suddenly surging Sixers sophomore Justin Edwards: his unique workout habit, the impressive results stemming from it, his recent uptick in production & why he still has believers on the staff and in the locker room. “I would say he embodies being patient.” www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-news-...

Incredible effort from LeBron. (Not sure I have ever thought a Nuggets Cam Johnson three was going in, and am reasonably certain Aaron Gordon has not missed a big shot in three years)

Justin Edwards scored 19 points and shot 9-10 on two-point attempts in the Sixers' win over Brooklyn on Saturday:

Nick Nurse: “The story of the game was energy, and we had a ton of it [in] the first half… [In the second half] it was noticeably different.”

The guess here: there will not be any remnants of today's Sixers-Nets game on display at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame: www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-nets-...

That was a basketball game. This is about all I can say with confidence about what has transpired over the last two-plus hours. Sixers went with a nine-man rotation; Tyrese Martin and Kyle Lowry were the only ones to dress but not play. Story to come.

Quentin Grimes laughs as he shoots a technical free throw courtesy of Michael Porter Jr., who is in street clothes on the bench.

Quentin Grimes, today's leading scorer, goes to work in the mid-range to give the Sixers a five-point lead with 42.1 seconds left. Timeout Brooklyn.

THE NETS ARE WINNING

They gave Franklin another chance to make the half-court shot. His new streak is at one.

Loud boos here as Nick Nurse calls timeout, with the Sixers suddenly only up by five points at the 4:27 mark of the fourth quarter. They led by 28 points about 15 minutes of game time ago.

...This is a seven-point game.

After three: Sixers 77, Nets 56. Brooklyn exploded for 25 points in the third quarter. Justin Edwards leads all scorers; he has 17 points on 8-for-8 shooting inside the arc (0-3 on threes).

Quentin Grimes enters for VJ Edgecombe, who appears to be in some pain after taking a hit. Trendon Watford has been grabbing at what looks like his right thumb for most of the quarter.

Halftime: Nets 31, Sixers 53. Yes, that is the score. The Nets are 11-41 (26.8%) from the field and 3-20 (15.0%) on threes. They have three more turnovers (14) than made shots.

Franklin the Dog, who has summoned a half-dozen mascots and thousands of people here to celebrate his fake birthday, did not make any half-court shots today despite taking several more than usual. It was a disastrous performance when the lights were brightest.

What are we doing to the youth?

After one: Nets 16, Sixers 29. Nets shot 6-20 from the field in that opening frame and committed eight turnovers. Cam Payne ended the quarter by shooting a 29-footer about 31 feet. VJ Edgecombe leads all scorers with 10 points (5-8 FG).

VJ Edgecombe just tried to kill a person on live TV. Tyrese Maxey gave him a thumb down and they put it on the scoreboard. Timeout Brooklyn.

Awesome start for primary ball-handler VJ Edgecombe, getting downhill at will. Four early buckets for him. Sixers up 18-9.

The Sixers and Nets are underway. VJ Edgecombe guards fellow rookie Nolan Traoré, then starts the day's scoring with a dunk.

According to the in-arena feed, Sixers starting shooting guard Johni Broome (?) has already hit a three. The game does not start for another six minutes.

Considered calling for help as I watched Gina count out loud while pressing the “simulate” button over and over.

Sixers starters today vs. Brooklyn: VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, Justin Edwards, Dominick Barlow, Adem Bona Available off the bench: Cam Payne, Kyle Lowry, Tyrese Martin, MarJon Beauchamp, Dalen Terry, Trendon Watford