76ers 15-3 Run To Close Out Game Completes Late Comeback Over Hornets

The 76ers find a way to win again.

On the second night of a back-to-back, with both LeBron James and Joel Embiid out due to scheduled rest, the Philadelphia 76ers mounted another come-from-behind effort to win their sixth game of the season.

On the road, missing two starters, and with opponents coming off their worst performance of the season, no matter at all as the 76ers used a 15-3 run over the final three and a half minutes of action to complete the comeback and win 109-104, improving to 6-1.

One of the impressive things about this 76ers team is the way it was constructed. There’s no shortage of weapons to cover for the older players on the floor and keep them fresh and healthy through a managed workload. This game was an example of that: a night when the rest was scheduled for Embiid and James, the pressure was on the remaining 76ers, and they rose to the occasion.

Tyrese Maxey was the lead man like he has been all season, scoring a game- and season-high 38 points on 13-of-23 shooting, and he has now scored at least 26 points in every game this season. Anfernee Simons added 19 off the bench, drilling five three-pointers off the bench for the third straight game becoming the first 76er in franchise history to accomplish that feat.

The real “disappointment” performer on the night came from Jaylen Brown, who returned from a knee injury but still finished with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists, while fellow guard VJ Edgecombe added 10 points but buried a later three-pointer, essentially icing the game for the second consecutive night.

The 76ers needed the heroics because Charlotte came out of the gate hot. Grayson Allen hit five first-half threes on his way to a season-high 27 points off the bench, and Brandon Miller added 24 as the Hornets took a 37-27 lead after one quarter. Maxey scored 15 of the 76ers’ 27 in the period while Brown had just one point.

In this game, Brown was back, but it took him a while to get going. Brown missed his first five shots and found his rhythm only after halftime, giving the 76ers a lift late in the third quarter with Maxey on the bench.

The 76ers outscored Charlotte 30-17 in the second quarter after trailing by as many as 13, taking a 57-54 lead at the half. The Hornets answered with a 14-4 run in the third, and although threes from Maxey and Simons cut the deficit to 79-77, Charlotte scored the last four points of the quarter to lead by six entering the fourth.

Miller blocked an Edgecombe layup with five minutes left and fed Moussa Diabate for a dunk that made it 97-90, and Allen’s three with 3:41 remaining pushed the lead to 101-94. Then the 76ers woke up, going on a huge run to close out the game.

Simons hit his fifth three, a transition layup cut it to one, and two Maxey free throws with 1:22 left gave the 76ers a 102-101 lead they never surrendered. Edgecombe stepped back for a left-wing three to make it 105-101, Maxey added two more free throws, and Brown iced it from the line with 5.2 seconds left.

Edgecombe struggled all night, going 4 of 13 for 10 points, but he delivered the biggest shot for the second straight night. It is becoming a habit, one his teammates have come to expect.

The defense got them there. Charlotte shot 50% from the field but scored just three points over the final 3:41, a stretch that included a block at the rim from Dean Wade and lockdown defense from Edgecombe and co.

The comeback wins are becoming a pattern, as the 76ers erased a 29-point deficit against the Cavaliers on Oct. 22, came back from 13 down in Indiana on Oct. 28, and rallied Saturday again from a seven-point hole with less than four minutes to play. Philadelphia keeps falling behind, and yet they keep finding a way to come back.

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