Tyrese Maxey scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and dished out 11 assists to highlight the Philadelphia 76ers’ 126-107 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Monday.
Jaylen Brown provided 25 points and 11 rebounds for Philadelphia, which improved to 7-1 on the season. VJ Edgecombe chipped in with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while LeBron James added 15 points, nine assists and seven boards.
Impressive rookie Caleb Wilson led Chicago with 24 points and seven rebounds. Norman Powell pitched in with 18 points and Josh Giddey notched 13 points and 10 assists in the Bulls’ fifth straight defeat.
The Sixers led by five points at halftime before extending their lead to 90-79 after three quarters. Neither team shot well in the third, as the teams combined for 37% shooting from the field, including a collective 2 of 16 from 3-point range.
The key stretch was an 8-0 run by Philadelphia in which Joel Embiid and James accounted for all the scoring.
The Sixers took a 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Bulls got within 99-90 on Giddey’s 3-pointer with 8:51 left.
Philadelphia’s lead was 104-96 with about 6 ½ minutes remaining when Maxey’s 3-pointer gave the hosts a double-digit lead that they’d maintain the rest of the game. Brown made two triples in the final four minutes to put a couple of exclamation points on the Sixers’ fourth straight win.
Philadelphia shot 59.1% from the field in the first quarter en route to a 30-23 lead after 12 minutes. Edgecombe was 5 of 5 for 11 points in the quarter.
The Sixers shot well in the second quarter as well (54.5%), but the Bulls knocked down 60.9% of their shots in the session. Chicago led for a bit before Philadelphia rebuilt a double-digit advantage with Edgecombe and Dean Wade providing the bulk of the offense.
Wilson had five points and an assist in the final minute of the half to help the Bulls close within 64-59 at the break.
Edgecombe led all players with 15 first-half points on 7-of-7 shooting.
