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Observations after Sixers beat Bulls to reach East-leading 7-1
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- Observations after Sixers beat Bulls to reach East-leading 7-1
Observations after Sixers beat Bulls to reach East-leading 7-1 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers kept up their hot start to the season Monday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena, reaching 7-1 with a 126-107 win against the Bulls.
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All five of the Sixers' starters scored in double figures. Tyrese Maxey posted 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting and 11 assists. Jaylen Brown tallied a season-best 25 points and 11 rebounds.
VJ Edgecombe's 21 points were a new season high. LeBron James recorded 15 points, nine assists and seven boards.
Bulls rookie Caleb Wilson had 24 points and seven rebounds.
Joel Embiid (15 points, eight rebounds) had been listed as questionable with an official designation of "right foot plantar fascia injury management." He sat out Saturday on the second night of a back-to-back for the Sixers' win over the Hornets.
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"Plantar is a little bit of a come and go type of thing," Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told reporters pregame. "They're just trying to manage it. It's very painful, if you've ever had it. It can kind of come and go out of nowhere. So we're just trying to manage the pain with that, be as smart as we can."
Nurse told reporters that Dominick Barlow is set to see a specialist Tuesday about the back injury that's sidelined him to start the season.
"He's been on court a little bit … not a ton of moving around," Nurse said. "I think they want to get to tomorrow's appointment. Hopefully, it'll be positive and we can get into his workouts a little bit."
The Sixers will begin a three-game road trip Wednesday when they visit the Pistons. Here are observations on their victory Monday:
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Edgecombe slamming away off the bat
After Embiid blitzed a Bulls pick-and-roll, Maxey picked off Matas Buzelis' hurried pass to get the Sixers rolling in transition and James jammed home the team's first field goal.
Edgecombe got a slam soon after James grabbed a defensive rebound and the Sixers again pushed the pace. The Sixers scored six quick fast-break points, leading the Bulls to burn an early timeout, and James' long-distance feeds were a major asset.
"If you're open, he's going to pass it," Edgecombe said of James. "The main thing is just being ready. Tonight I had to run and go get 'em. If you're open and he sees you, he's going to pass the ball."
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Edgecombe had a dunk-heavy first quarter. He threw down his second when Dean Wade nabbed a steal and dropped off a typically selfless dish to the Sixers' explosive second-year guard, whose slam put the team up 22-13.
The Sixers have an abundance of dangerous options in the open floor, Edgecombe included. As he's already shown with his continued clutch shotmaking, the 21-year-old won't become anything resembling a non-factor offensively this year as a byproduct of the Sixers' enhanced star power.
Over the team's first seven games, Edgecombe had averaged 11.3 points. He scored 11 in the first period on 5-for-5 shooting.
More rough minutes for Bona
Adem Bona missed a dunk early in the second quarter, which stung a bit more when Jalen Smith drilled a three-pointer seconds later.
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Bona remained the Sixers' main backup center. He had a poor first-half stint overall amid a largely negative start to his third season. The 23-year-old big man played well in the Sixers' victory over the Bucks , posting six points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Outside of that, his season has been sparse on bright moments so far. It's reasonable to wonder when Nurse might turn to alternatives like Jabari Walker, who played a good game Saturday in Charlotte, or try James again at the five.
The Bulls outscored the Sixers by eight points in Bona's first run, cutting their derficit to 40-38. Chicago went in front with a three by former Sixer Buddy Hield.
The Sixers regained the advantage late in the second quarter. Maxey and James each were excellent as passers in the first half, combining for 14 assists and three turnovers. James fired the ball to Wade for a corner three that gave the Sixers a 60-52 lead.
Sixers outclass Bulls
Following a third-quarter Embiid fadeaway jumper and two James lay-ins, the Sixers were up 17 points.
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The Bulls cut the Sixers' lead down to 11 points by the start of the fourth quarter. With Bona still struggling and on four fouls, Wade began the fourth at center. Bona then briefly spelled Wade before being whistled for his fifth foul and taking a seat. Embiid ultimately wasn't needed for any of the fourth period and only logged 25 minutes.
Embiid said postgame that he was not available to return to the action in the fourth and has been feeling his plantar fasciitis on the court. The seven-time All-Star's health is clearly not close to 100 percent.
"I was on a minutes restriction," he said. "(The foot) has been going like that for the past few weeks. It's painful. Just got to manage it.
"If it flares up pretty bad, got to take a step back. We've been able to manage it, but it has its ups and downs."
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The Sixers' lead got as low as eight points, but Chicago did not shoot well enough from three-point range (26.3 percent) or have sufficient firepower to sustain a meaningful comeback run. The bottom line is the Sixers are in a different class than the Bulls, who fell to 1-6.
As for the Sixers, they'll wake up Tuesday morning at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
"You've got some of these nights where you kind of call them professional wins. …You look at the records and all that kind of stuff, but they have a lot of talent," Nurse said. "A lot of these teams play a way that's a little scary. It's fast and it's furious, lots of threes. … They're going to keep coming at you, high-possession games. So they're not easy games and I'm glad that we handled it professionally tonight."
