Led by Jaylen Brown’s 30 points and seven rebounds, the visiting Philadelphia 76ers downed the Detroit Pistons, 112-106, on Wednesday.
Joel Embiid supplied 26 points and 15 rebounds as the Sixers avenged their only loss this season, Detroit’s 106-93 road win on Oct. 25. However, Embiid missed that contest. Tyrese Maxey contributed 19 points and seven assists, while LeBron James racked up 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Duncan Robinson led the Pistons with 27 points, including seven 3-pointers. Cade Cunningham had 26 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, while John Collins added 16 points. Ausar Thompson had 11 points and 17 rebounds in a game that the Sixers led most of the way.
The Sixers led by as many as 17 in the first half en route to a 56-42 halftime advantage. Brown finished the half with 23 points, while Embiid had 13. Robinson led the Pistons at the break with 11 points.
Detroit cut it to eight early in the third quarter on Collins’ alley-oop dunk. Brown then hit a jumper to start an 8-2 Philadelphia spurt to make it 70-56. After Robinson hit a 3-pointer to pull the Pistons within nine, the Sixers pushed the advantage to 17 in the final minute of the quarter on Brown’s midrange shot.
Brown opened the scoring in the fourth with another bucket. A layup by Thompson with 8:57 remaining cut Detroit’s deficit to 12 points at 95-83. Huerter hit a 3-pointer at the 8:24 mark to make it a nine-point spread.
Maxey’s 3-pointer with 4:32 left nudged Philadelphia’s lead to 104-91. Embiid’s jumper with 2:47 left made it 106-95.
Detroit then made its push. Cunningham set up Robinson for a 3-pointer. A pair of Cunningham free throws and a layup pulled the Pistons within four with 1:05 to play.
Embiid missed a 3-pointer, but Brown then blocked a Cunningham 3-point try. Embiid made two free throws with 24 seconds remaining to push the Sixers’ lead to six.
After Robinson was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two free throws, Maxey made four free throws in the game’s last 20 seconds to close out the win.
