76ers' 3-0 start, built on Embiid's triple-double vs. Bucks, has grown to 8-1

The Philadelphia 76ers went to 3-0 with a 127-116 home win over the Milwaukee Bucks, and Joel Embiid set the tone for the night. The center finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, his 10th regular-season triple-double, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. The game showed how deep the roster's star power runs. Philadelphia was missing LeBron James, who sat out for management of low back and sciatica issues on the first night of a back-to-back, and still had three players score 20 or more.

Jaylen Brown scored 27 on his 30th birthday, Tyrese Maxey added 26 and rookie VJ Edgecombe had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Dean Wade, back from a left ankle sprain that cost him the first two games, made his Sixers debut as James' replacement in the starting lineup and hit a corner three on the opening possession. Embiid ran the offense early and had eight points, four rebounds and four assists in the first quarter, including a behind-the-back bounce pass that set up an Edgecombe three.

It was not a clean night. NBC Sports Philadelphia noted that the Sixers managed just seven points in the first six minutes of the second quarter, and Milwaukee had the game's first 19 fast-break points. That followed a 29-point deficit Philadelphia had to erase two nights earlier against Cleveland. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope steadied things with two second-quarter threes and three first-half steals. After Kel'el Ware's three-point play cut the gap to 117-114 late, an Embiid assist on a Brown jumper and a Caldwell-Pope corner three finished it off. Labaron Philon Jr. played four minutes in his NBA debut.

The unbeaten run ended the next night with a 106-93 home loss to Detroit. Since then the Sixers have won five straight: at Indiana, home against New York, at Charlotte, home against Chicago and, most recently, 112-106 at Detroit to get even for that defeat. At 8-1, the team has turned a fast start into one of the league's best opening stretches, and the 76ers team page tracks the full season line.

What it means for Friday at Cleveland

The Sixers go to Cleveland on Friday, November 6, for their second meeting with the Cavaliers. The first was the 114-106 home comeback in the second game of the season. That win started a pattern of tight finishes. Five of Philadelphia's eight wins have come by six points or fewer, including the last two road games at Charlotte and Detroit. The Bucks game was one of the exceptions. With 127 points, it is still the team's highest-scoring night.

The road team is favored across the board for the game, which covers 12 venues. On Novig, Philadelphia is -138 on the moneyline and Cleveland is +135. The spread has the Sixers favored by 2.5 points at -104, with the Cavaliers at -102 getting the points. The total is 228.5, a number the Sixers have topped only a few times this season. Novig lists the over at -108 and the under at +102. The best over price anywhere is Pinnacle's -106 at the same number, a small gap from Novig. Sportsbook hold runs from 2.9% to 5.2% on the moneyline and spread and from 3.4% to 5.2% on the total, so the venues differ more in margin than in their view of the game.

Whether James plays Friday will matter most. Against Milwaukee, the Sixers showed they can win without him when Embiid, Brown and Maxey all produce.