What is the story about?
And there’s a blowout, for those that were still asking for one.
The Sixers picked up their fourth win in a row, handling the Chicago Bulls 126-107 Monday night to improve to 7-1 on the season.
VJ Edgecombe was everywhere from the start of this one, shooting 9-of-12 from the field for a season-high 21 points along with five assists and three rebounds.
Tyrese Maxey had his best night as a passer, putting up 11 assists while still leading the Sixers with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. LeBron James had another
splendid all-around night, going for 15 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists shooting 6-of-13 from the floor.
Jaylen Brown quietly shot the ball well on the night to put up 25 points and 11 rebounds on 9-of-15 shooting. Joel Embiid meandered his way to 15 points and eight boards while Caleb Wilson led the Bulls with 24.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- A pedestrian start for both teams, but one the Sixers used to get out and run early. After Edgecombe threw a hit-ahead pass, he ran up the floor a couple of times for two transition buckets of his own to prompt an early Bulls timeout.
- The Bulls, or rather center Jalen Smith to be more specific, took advantage of a laid back Sixers defense coming out of the timeout, picking up two cutting baskets and drawing a foul on the second. A Brown three was a nice response, but their defense kept biting on Josh Giddey’s drives, opening Smith up for another layup at the basket.
- The pick-and-roll between Embiid and Lebron has yielded good looks so far, which is exciting because you can see them refining it as they get more minutes together. James hit Embiid with a very late drop pass, setting the big fella up for a layup he was also able to draw a foul on. As Edgecombe continued to run out after misses for transition baskets the Sixers pushed their lead back up to a comfortable margin.
- The Sixers did put Isaac Okoro at the line and let up an open three coming out of a timeout of their own, but Maxey got right to the basket to prevent any sort of run. On the next possession Maxey found Brown wide open in the paint for his fifth assist of the quarter. The Sixers assisted on 12 of their 13 made field goals and led by seven after the first.
Second Quarter
- Anfernee Simons came around a screen and buried a three for his first points of the game. Brown hit a three from the coach’s stripe a couple possessions later, but the Bulls started walking into some open baskets that kept them hanging around. They gave up a pair of threes being slow to close out and gave up two more baskets on open cutters which kept Chicago within a possession or two.
- This was far from Adem Bona’s worst shift of the season but there were some struggles. It took two possessions for him to complete a rolling dunk off a pocket pass. On top of letting up an offensive rebound by being out of position, the Bulls scored five of their first seven field goals of the quarter at the rim. Embiid and LeBron checked back into a two-point lead that was overtaken by a Buddy Hield three.
- Embiid getting stripped on one end led to a Zach Collins layup that capped off a 14-3 run for Chicago. After going without one his last three games, Dean Wade hit a corner three off a LeBron kickout to stop the bleeding.
- Of all the Sixers not phoning this one in, Edgecombe was at the top of the list. His insistence on running down the floor continued to create easy baskets. After he got another much needed transition dunk, he found a cutting Wade with a beautiful bounce pass. The Sixers forced a travel on the ensuing possession, prompting a Bulls timeout.
- For the first time all night, the Sixers came out energized out of a timeout. Edgecombe used the screens to get open at the basket on the ATO. LeBron threw another nice kickout to Wade for a corner three and bounce pass to Maxey for a dunk before Chicago’s defense got back. As they had all night, the Bulls had a response. The rookie Wilson got open on a cut before drilling a three at the buzzer to keep Chicago within five at the break.
Third Quarter
- No one should complain about soft coverage on Giddey on the perimeter, but he walked into a three to cut it to a one-possession game to make the arena uneasy. The Sixers responded well with Brown and James both getting right to the basket. Brown threw a nice lob to James that got smoked, but Maxey getting to the basket for an and-1 layup was a much needed basket to calm things down. The Sixers ran out on a blocked shot to set up a fast break layup for James to force a Bulls timeout.
- The effort in doing the little things has been what Edgecombe has excelled at this year, so it was nice to see him fill up the box score for a night. Coming out of the timeout he helped Embiid get out of a post-up with another cut for a basket at the hoop. The Sixers locked in a bit defensively after this, getting stops on five of their next six possessions including a turnover.
- After making most of his impact as a passer, LeBron started to impose his will as a scorer with a couple more drives to the basket. His increase of energy may be due to the sip of a fan’s drink he took after chasing a loose ball into the stands. Thanks to the reporting of ESPN’s Khris Rhrim, we know the drink he took a sip of was indeed wine.
- Edgecombe had a brilliant sequence that summed out how great he was in this one, getting all the way back to block a transition layup by Wilson, then getting back down the floor to get the ball in the paint and find Brown to get two more points the other way. Edgecombe tried to put Noa Essengue on a poster a few minutes later but had to settle for a trip to the free throw line. The one thing he wasn’t able to do was hit the grenade swung to him as the quarter ended, so the Sixers had to settle for an 11-point lead after the third.
Fourth Quarter
- Maxey didn’t really have to shoot a ton, so it was cool that the baskets he did make were impressively silly. He started the quarter by hitting his second highlight floater of the game. Brown followed that up with a midrange jumper and a trip to the line as he slowly put up a solid scoring night.
- The Sixers struggled to come up with the killing blow, which was a little frustrating because when they did things well, it looked really good. Brown had a drive that the Bulls stopped by stepping up in the lane, but he spun and hit Maxey for an open stepback three. A minute later James drew a foul on a jumper that spun all the way around the rim before falling in and danced in celebration, but they weren’t able to put themselves ahead by more than 15.
- It seemed like the Sixers wanted to play Embiid as little as possible, which was fitting given their opponent and Embiid coming into this game questionable with a foot issue. Bona continued to make that difficult, picking up his fifth foul with over five minutes to go. Nick Nurse subbed in Wade at the five which was fine, but it did beg the question as to why Jabari Walker didn’t see the floor at all.
- The killing blow the Sixers were looking for came in the form of Brown’s shotmaking. He came off a screen to hit corner three that forced another Bulls timeout, then hit another on the Sixers next possession that prompted a second timeout from Chicago within 30 seconds. The Sixers finally pushed their lead to 20 which led them coast to victory.
