Jaylen Brown scores 30 points as Sixers improve to 8-1 with 112-106 win over Pistons
Brown had 23 of his points in the first half on 8-for-14 shooting to pace the Sixers early, then helped seal the win by blocking Cade Cunningham's three-point attempt with 37.5 seconds left.
DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons are the only team that has defeated the 76ers this season. But the Sixers weren’t at full strength that night, with Joel Embiid sitting out the tail end of a back-to-back.
The Sixers had their full complement of starters on Wednesday night, and the came away with a 112-106 victory tostart their three-game road trip. The Sixers led by as many as 18 points, and Detroit cut the lead to four late before Jaylen Brown sealed the game with a block of Cade Cunningham.
Brown had 23 of his 30 points in the first half. Joel Embiid had 26 while LeBron James orchestrated the offense to great effect in the second quarter. He finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
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Brown ignites in first half
Early in the game, when the Sixers were struggling to make shots, Brown got them off to a steady start. So far, Brown has said he is trying to find his way to fit in with this team, and he is playing through a left knee he said is “a little sore” after he missed a recent game against the Knicks.
But Brown’s first half was about as seamless of a half offensively as he has had so far with the Sixers. He was 8-for-14 from the floor, 3-for-5 from three-point range and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line for 23 points. He was scoring in isolation, off cuts and from off-ball actions.
His scoring propelled the Sixers to a 17-point lead and was needed after Tyrese Maxey (17 points) went 1-for-7 for two points in the first half.
Brown then helped seal the game on defense by blocking Cunningham’s three-point attempt when the Sixers were clinging to a 106-102 lead with 37.5 seconds remaining.
Embiid playing through pain
A game after Embiid was on a minutes restriction as he was playing through a “painful” plantar fasciitis in his right foot, he was back in the lineup. It looked like Embiid’s night was over in the fourth quarter — he had taken his shoes off on the bench and Jabari Walker was going to check in for this first minutes of the night. But after Detroit cut the lead to 12, and Nick Nurse called a timeout, Walker went back to the bench and Embiid checked back into the game.
It was an eventful night all around for Embiid, who drew a technical foul in a confrontation with Detroit’s Tolu Smith in the second quarter. He ended up playing 33 minutes, had 15 rebounds, and was 8-for-18 from the field and 10-for-10 from the foul line.
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James gets to cooking
With his second field goal of the night, James became the first player in NBA history to score 16,000 field goals. But he made his biggest impact on the game with his passing in the second quarter.
James was whizzing passes to his teammates for open looks, sometimes when they weren’t expecting them. He fired one to Adem Bona, who had trouble corralling it at first before laying it in for a three-point play. James found Bona again on the next possession for another easy bucket, giving the beleaguered backup big man five first-half points. He also tried to fire a pass to a cutting VJ Edgecombe, but Edgecombe wasn’t quite ready for one. If he was, it would have been a layup.
James finished the first half with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Sixers led 56-42 at the break.
Fast pace, slow start scoring
The teams were up and down the floor in a fast-paced first quarter, but the defenses did a good job of discouraging open looks. The Sixers held the Pistons to 8-for-22 while the Sixers shot 10-for-23. Brown got off to the best offensive start for the Sixers (4-for-6, 10 points) while it was slow going for Maxey and Embiid (a combined 3-for-12), through Embiid was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
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Unlike the teams’ first meeting, Ausar Thompson was available for Detroit, and he guarded Maxey a good portion of the time he was on the floor. The Sixers limited Cunningham to a 2-for-8 start and led 29-21 after Brown nailed a 38-foot three at the buzzer. That capped an 18-4 finish to the first quarter for the Sixers.
Inquirer beat reporters Gina Mizell and Chris Hine go behind the scenes of covering LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and the Sixers’ star-studded roster, and debate what’s real and not real about the team’s hot start. Watch here.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
