Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey lead the way as Sixers beat the Bulls and improve to 7-1
The Sixers shot 53% from the floor while all five starters finished with at least 15 points, led by Maxey’s 26 points to go along with 11 assists.
LeBron James let go of the fadeaway jumper, then watched the ball bounce off and roll around the rim before dropping through. Then, a 76ers offensive rebound eventually landed in Tyrese Maxey’s hands, who converted an explosive driving finish and shimmied his shoulders in celebration.
Those buckets effectively finished off the Sixers’ 126-107 victory over the Chicago Bulls Monday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena to improve to 7-1.
The Bulls, who fell to 1-6 and are expected to finish near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, hung around until the third quarter. The Sixers used a 15-2 run to seize an 83-66 lead on a James layup, and eventually extended that lead to as many as 22 points in the fourth.
» READ MORE: For Sixers, early-season success is a matter of ‘trust’
The Sixers shot 53% from the floor while all five starters finished with at least 15 points, led by Maxey’s 26 to go along with 11 assists.
The Sixers next hit the road for three games. They play Wednesday at the Detroit Pistons, who on Oct. 25 delivered their only loss, before a Friday contest at the Cleveland Cavaliers in James’ return to his former NBA home. They will wrap with a Sunday rematch at the Bulls in Chicago.
Bounceback from Brown
After going 6-of-15 from the floor in Saturday’s win at Charlotte, Brown bounced back with 25 points on an efficient 9-of-15 shooting and added 11 rebounds and five assists. He also appeared to be moving around better, after missing Friday’s home win over the New York Knicks with left knee tendinopathy (“jumper’s knee”).
He hit two fourth-quarter three-pointers to force Bulls timeouts in the final period, including one off the dribble that gave the Sixers a 119-102 lead at the 3 minute, 9 second mark.
VJ’s dunk show
After hitting crucial crunch-time three-pointers in two consecutive wins, Edgecombe started Monday 7-of-7 from the floor and finished with a season-high 21 points.
Early on, Edgecombe regularly was on the receiving end of kick-ahead passes for thunderous transition dunks — including one eye-popping bounce pass from James. The Sixers finished with 29 fastbreak points as a team.
Early bench troubles
The Sixers’ 10-point first-quarter advantage quickly dissipated once coach Nick Nurse began rotating in his bench. Those subpar minutes again aligned with Adem Bona, who remained the back up for Joel Embiid — who posted 15 points and eight rebounds — at center in both halves but committed five fouls in 14 minutes.
The bench did a much better job maintaining the lead in the second half. Dean Wade, meanwhile, scored a season-high eight points on 3-of-4 shooting. After a string of hot-shooting performances, Anfernee Simons went 1-of-7 from long range and 2-of-11 overall to finish with six points.
Reserve big man Jabari Walker, who on Saturday returned to action following a three-game absence due to a knee injury, did not play until garbage time.
Inquirer beat reporters Gina Mizell and Chris Hine go behind the scenes of covering LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and the Sixers’ star-studded roster, and debate what’s real and not real about the team’s hot start. Watch here.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
