Maxey's fourth quarter, LeBron James' passing lift Philadelphia 76ers to 7-1 over Bulls

The Philadelphia 76ers got their full starting lineup back on Monday night and played their most lopsided game of the season. Philadelphia beat the Chicago Bulls 126-107 at Xfinity Mobile Arena for a fourth straight win, moving to 7-1 and keeping first place in the Eastern Conference.

Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 26 points, and 15 of them came in the fourth quarter after a quiet first three periods, according to the AP recap carried by ESPN. He also had 11 assists. His 3-pointer with about six and a half minutes left made it 107-96 and ended Chicago's last push. LeBron James finished with 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Several of those assists came on long outlet passes that turned into easy baskets for VJ Edgecombe.

What changes is the lineup. James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, Maxey and Edgecombe had all sat out the weekend wins over the Knicks and at Charlotte, and Monday was the group's first game back together. Embiid was listed as questionable with a foot injury but played, putting up 15 points and eight rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter. Brown added 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Edgecombe scored 21. Yahoo Sports noted that all five starters reached at least 15 points, and much of the offense came in transition. James and Maxey each had seven assists by halftime.

Philadelphia led by five at the break and took control in the third quarter. A James layup with just under five minutes left in the period made it 85-68. For Chicago, the No. 4 overall pick Caleb Wilson scored 24 points with four steals, Norman Powell scored 18 and Josh Giddey had 13 points and 10 assists, according to K.C. Johnson's box score line on Yahoo Sports. The Bulls have now lost five straight and are 1-6.

What it means for Wednesday at Detroit

Next is the biggest test of the young season. The 76ers visit the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, and Detroit is the only team to beat them so far. The Pistons won 106-93 in Philadelphia, the 76ers' only loss and the only game in which they failed to reach 98 points. Detroit comes in at 6-1, leads the Central Division and has won three in a row, so the game is a matchup of the East's top two records.

The season numbers favor Philadelphia slightly. The 76ers are 3-0 on the road, with wins at New York, Indiana and Charlotte. They are averaging about 110.9 points and allowing about 105.1, a margin of nearly six points per game. Many of the wins have been close, though. Three came by exactly five points, and Monday's 19-point margin is their biggest of the season. The weekend wins came without the regular starters, so how close the games were says less about the full lineup than usual.

Embiid's foot is the thing to watch. He was questionable before Monday, and the second night of a back-to-back is not in play here, but how Philadelphia manages his workload against a front line that beat it by 13 will shape the rematch. If the starting five is available again, Wednesday will show how this lineup holds up against a team at its level.