Jaylen Brown, Grayson Allen trade shoves as 76ers rally past Hornets

Jaylen Brown and Grayson Allen each picked up a technical foul after a shoving match midway through the fourth quarter Saturday in Charlotte. The Philadelphia 76ers then came back for a 109-104 win over the Hornets that moved them to 6-1.

As the New York Post described it, Brown drove the baseline into a crowd of Hornets defenders and ended up on the floor with Allen, both grabbing for the ball. After the ball went out of bounds, Allen pushed Brown's arm away while getting up. Brown pushed Allen back to the floor, and players from both teams stepped in before it went any further. Allen, who signed with Charlotte this offseason, has long been known for physical play, a reputation the Post traced back to his college days at Duke.

Allen did not argue with the calls afterward. He told reporters the two had "both gave a little bit extra after the whistle," The Sporting News reported, and said both technicals were fair.

The flare-up got more attention than Brown's game did. According to Yahoo Sports, he had missed Friday's 98-93 win over the Knicks with left patellar tendinopathy. He had one point after the first quarter and five at halftime, then finished with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. Philadelphia was on the second night of a back-to-back and played without LeBron James (sciatica management) and Joel Embiid (right foot, plantar fascia management), so Tyrese Maxey carried the offense with 38 points.

Charlotte led for most of the game and was up by as many as 13. Allen scored 27 off the bench on 7-of-10 shooting from three. His three with 3:41 left made it 101-94 Hornets. Anfernee Simons and Maxey answered with eight straight points, and VJ Edgecombe hit a stepback three over Allen to put the Sixers ahead by four. Brown sealed the win with two free throws in the final seconds after Dean Wade found him cutting to the basket.

What it means for Monday against Chicago

Philadelphia hosts the Chicago Bulls on Monday after a day off. The Sixers have won five straight since their 106-93 home loss to Detroit, and four of those wins came by six points or fewer. Yahoo Sports listed Chicago at 1-5 going into the week. The key question is who plays. Brown came back from his knee issue the day after missing a game, and James and Embiid sat out Saturday as part of managing their workloads on the back-to-back.

The prices reflect how far apart the two records are. Across the 12 venues on this site's board, Philadelphia is a heavy favorite. Novig has the Sixers at -506 and the Bulls at +471. On the spread, Novig has Philadelphia -11.5 at -102 on both sides. The best Sixers price anywhere is -10.5 at -120 at BetRivers, and the best Chicago price is +12 at -113 at Pinnacle, so the venues are a point and a half apart. Novig sets the total at 240.5, with the over at +104 and the under at -108. The best over price is at BetRivers, at 238.5 for -125. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.9% to 5.7% on the moneyline and from 3.0% to 5.3% on the spread.