Maxey scores 38 as 76ers rally past Hornets 109-104 in Jaylen Brown's return
Tyrese Maxey scored 38 and Jaylen Brown returned as the 76ers closed on a 15-3 run to beat Charlotte without Embiid and LeBron James.
The Philadelphia 76ers played Saturday night without Joel Embiid or LeBron James and still left Charlotte with a win. Tyrese Maxey scored 38 points and the Sixers closed on a 15-3 run to beat the Hornets 109-104. It was their third straight win and moved them to 6-1.
Jaylen Brown was back after missing Friday's NBA Cup win over the Knicks with left patellar tendinopathy. Yahoo Sports reported that Brown was questionable all day before being upgraded to available. He finished with 16 points, though he scored only one in the first quarter and had five at halftime. Because it was the second night of a back-to-back, Philadelphia held out James for sciatica management and Embiid for management of plantar fascia trouble in his right foot.
Maxey carried the offense until Brown found his rhythm. Liberty Ballers had him at 13-for-23 from the field and 4-for-9 from three, with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. NBC Sports Philadelphia noted that the 38 points were a season high. Charlotte led 37-27 after the first quarter. Philadelphia won the second 30-17 and led 57-54 at the break, but the Hornets pulled back ahead in the third and were up 101-94 after a Grayson Allen three with 3:41 left.
Maxey and Anfernee Simons then scored eight straight points to put Philadelphia ahead 102-101. VJ Edgecombe followed with a stepback three over Allen. Maxey hit two free throws for a six-point lead, and after Brandon Miller's three cut it to three, Brown made two free throws with about five seconds left to finish it. Allen had made five of six threes in the first half. He and Brown both drew technical fouls after they shoved each other during a scramble for a loose ball in the fourth quarter. Charlotte was also on the second night of a back-to-back and played without Kon Knueppel, Coby White and Grant Williams, according to Liberty Ballers.
What it means for Monday against Chicago
The win kept up a pattern for this team. Four of the six wins came by six points or fewer, including three straight five-point games against Indiana, New York and Charlotte. The only loss is a 106-93 home defeat to Detroit. Philadelphia is 3-0 on the road and 3-1 at home. Across seven games it has scored 108.7 points per game and allowed 104.9, a margin of about four points a night. That fits a team that keeps winning close games rather than pulling away.
The Chicago Bulls come to Philadelphia on Monday at 1-5, the record Yahoo Sports reported after Saturday's games. That makes it the weakest opponent the Sixers have faced since the opener. Sunday is a full day off, and Monday is not a back-to-back, so the main thing to watch is whether Embiid and James return. Brown's knee is the other question. He missed his first five shots in Charlotte and then recovered, and a second straight game would show whether the tendinopathy is something the team is only managing or something that will keep costing him games.
If Maxey keeps scoring at this pace and the stars are back, Philadelphia goes into the first week of November with the best start in the Eastern Conference that its schedule has allowed. Follow the team on our 76ers page.
