October 31, 2026
Brian Westerholt/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Was Tyrese Maxey's early heater enough for the Sixers on Saturday?
On Saturday night, the Sixers played their second game in a 22.5-hour period after a late-night flight to Charlotte, without having their lone reliable center in Joel Embiid or the NBA's all-time leading scorer, LeBron James.
Final score: Sixers 109, Hornets 104.
The Sixers, whose lack of bandwidth when it comes to withstanding injuries has defined a chaotic three-year period, are learning in real time how much easier their lives are becoming. It was not easy to beat the Hornets at all, to be clear, but when the game went down to the wire they mustered yet another impressive comeback.
Anfernee Simons' fifth triple of the game preceded a transition layup which trimmed Charlotte's lead to one point. Tyrese Maxey put the Sixers ahead with free throws. Then, for the second night in a row, VJ Edgecombe buried a clutch end-of-shot-clock triple to give his team a two-possession lead in the final minute.
Edgecombe's dagger triple punctuated a 13-0 run that won the Sixers the game:
VJ IN THE CLUTCH! AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/v0cCUe71M2
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 1, 2026
With that, the 2026-2027 Philadelphia 76ers have won six of their first seven games. Observations from another impressive victory:
The hallmark of the Sixers' rotation so far: having two or three high-wattage offensive players on the floor at all times. That is the luxury that comes with a five-headed monster of a starting lineup, but it dwindles when two players as prolific as Embiid and James become unavailable.
In Friday's dramatic win over the New York Knicks, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse accounted for Brown's absence by asking for Maxey and Simons to carry a lineup featuring three low-usage players. They answered the bell and then some; both players were excellent.
"It was good. With missing one of your impact scorers, it's going to change the rotations a lot, and somebody of the three is probably going to be out there on their own. That was Tyrese tonight," Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said after Friday's win. "It was a good thing. Anfernee was scoring, obviously had an amazing game. [The Knicks] do play a little smaller, so it gave us a chance to get [Labaron Philon Jr.] in there with Tyrese and Ant, who were both scoring... It is a critical time to play good."
On Saturday, the plan changed. Nurse's goal: have one of Maxey or Brown and one of Simons or Edgecombe on the court at all times.
Maxey was outstanding; he has started the season with seven consecutive 25-point games and finished with a season-high 38 big ones on Saturday. He scored 15 points in the opening frame alone – his 6-for-9 shooting to kickstart the action prevented the Sixers from being buried by Charlotte's early avalanche of threes. Maxey was once again able to power a productive offense when operating as its lone star. As great of a career as Maxey has authored, he has largely been unable to do that without Embiid in years past.
As dominant as Maxey was early on, Brown was that bad. His explosiveness was far from its usual standard early; he forced bad shots, got blocked repeatedly and made forced decisions. He logged 20 first-half minutes and struggled mightily. Brown was able to finally find something late in the third quarter; with Maxey out he became the focal point of the offense and gave the Sixers a critical lift.
— v3h (@AhmashSal) October 31, 2026
It was a bit disappointing for the Sixers to fail to get Edgecombe comfortable as an on-ball player in this one; given how often he will be forced into an off-ball role any chance for him to stand out when the Sixers are undermanned should be welcomed. But Simons was excellent again – he has more than made up for his early-season struggles. Simons has submitted tide-shifting performances in three consecutive contests.
Anfernee Simons is the first 76ers player in franchise history to make at least five three-pointers off the bench in three consecutive games
— 76ers Stats (@76ersPR_stats) November 1, 2026
(Confirmed by @EliasSports)
Ultimately, in order to consistently win games without James and/or Embiid, the Sixers need Brown to be far better than he has been in those games so far. He shot 5-for-20 in a loss to the Detroit Pistons without Embiid last weekend and once again failed to give the Sixers steady, efficient scoring on Saturday.
With Dean Wade and Adem Bona replacing James and Embiid in the starting lineup – plus two new bodies available in the frontcourt – Nurse had some interesting decisions to make within his bench mix. Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were the locks to play, and Philon appeared to be a very strong candidate.
How Nurse handled the backup center spot, subject of much distress, was the most notable bench subplot. And while two-way center Tacko Fall was indeed active and available to make his Sixers debut, on Saturday it was the returning Jabari Walker eating up the majority of the minutes at the five behind Bona.
Walker was on the verge of overtaking Bona for the primary backup center spot behind Embiid before he tweaked his knee last Saturday, and given Bona's enormous struggles to begin the season there is no reason Walker should not be given a genuine crack at that role again – even when Embiid returns. Bona was not totally disastrous on Saturday, but Walker was much better; his activity on the glass and interior finishing helped the Sixers stabilize things after a rough first quarter.
The Sixers barely had any centers available during the preseason, and it forced Walker to slide up to the five. He impressed in a meaningful way, and he appears far more comfortable there now. Walker's confidence as a shooter has grown leaps and bounds, and if he is even a semblance of a stretch big in the long run his stock will skyrocket.
second times a charm 🫡 pic.twitter.com/SAd6VQGAIE
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 1, 2026
“Well, I think he's played very well. And again, it's kind of just been out of necessity that we've had to play him there," Nurse said before the regular season began. "It's maybe helped him a little bit. I think primarily he's a pick-and-pop player. So when he's at the five, he's going to get more matchups and more opportunities to show some of that. So that's been good. I think it's maybe given him a little more focus... I think it's been beneficial for both us and him to see him get a lot of minutes and he’s played very well."
Some additional notes:
• Given Charlotte's wing-heavy rotation, Nurse ended up playing Justin Edwards in his first rotation cameo early, but then got a longer and more productive stint out of Philon later. Late in the third quarter, Nurse responded to Charlotte playing three bigs at once by playing... no bigs at once. Four guards – Maxey, Philon, Simons and Caldwell-Pope – shared the floor with Wade. It was quite a clash of styles.
• Bona started this game matched up against a player he can aspire to be more like: Moussa Diabaté, the ultimate energizer whose suspect size and strength has become less meaningful as he has mastered the art of offensive rebounding. Diabaté, a waiver-wire find by the Hornets years ago, is one of many foreign-born NBA players that Bona has been facing in international competition dating back to his teenage years.
• Wade, generally a complete non-creator, did not just score a pair of unassisted baskets; he also racked up 10 assists, doubling his previous career-high. Wade made two critical crunch-time plays – an offensive rebound and assist of Simons' fifth triple, then a block protecting the rim as a small-ball five. Wade has not had much to marvel at statistically this season, but has drawn constant praise from teammates for his work doing the little things.
Up next: The Sixers will be back in action at home on Monday night when the Chicago Bulls come to town.
