Derek Bodner

Added a bunch of people to the Philly sports reporters Starter Pack. People are joining pretty quickly so I've undoubtedly missed a bunch, so just @ me with anybody that should be added to the list. go.bsky.app/TULdnSA

Tyrese Maxey has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

Looking for a few mailbag questions to discuss on today's 3 pm @phlysports.bsky.social show. Fire away!

Go Birds, I guess.

A 9-0 run by the Sixers to end the half, including 6 straight by LeBron James, gives the Sixers a bit of life heading into the break. They're still down 56-44, but it feels like it should be so much more. Jaylen Brown's 10 lead the way for the Sixers.

Anfernee Simons went the length of the court to hit a running layup, and the Sixers are, somehow miraculously, only down 34-22 at the end of 1. Something I didn't expect to tweet tonight: Adem Bona came in and helped stabilize the defensive rebounding.

We are 5 minutes into this one and the Sixers haven't gotten a single defensive rebound yet lol.

The Sixers have scored all but 12 of the first 13 points to start the game. Timeout Nick Nurse.

VJ Edgecombe has been downgraded to OUT for tonight’s game.

LeBron James, who sat in the front end of the back-to-back last night, is not listed in the injury report. Neither is Dean Wade, who made his season debut last night.

Jabari Walker (left knee soreness) and Joel Embiid (right plantar fasciitis management) are OUT for tonight's game against the Detroit Pistons.

Have room for a mailbag question or two in tomorrow's newsletter, if you have 'em.

Checking out from the Xfinity Mobile Arena. Back at it tomorrow night. Until then...

Tyrese Maxey, on VJ Edgecombe coming up with big players down the stretch: "I'm surprised when he doesn't do that. I get mad at him when he doesn't." "I tell him 'Hey, go do that VJ stuff you do'. That's what I tell him. And that's what he does." www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgX2...

Update: Sixers correct that it is Walker's right knee.

Nick Nurse says that Jabari Walker "tweaked his left knee." No update beyond that at this time.

Final: Sixers hold on for a 127-116 win, improving to 3-0 on the young season. Joel Embiid checked back into the game with 2 minutes left after the Bucks cut the lead to 6, and ended up with a 28 point, 11 rebound, 10 assist triple double. Jaylen Brown added 27, Tyrese Maxey 26, and VJ 17 and 12.

Milwaukee cut the Sixers' lead to 4 late in the 4th, but a couple of big 3s from Jaylen Brown and KCP and the Sixers are back up 9, 123-114, with 1:11 left. Brown's leading both teams with 27 points on 9-19 shooting on the night.

Dean Wade is entering the game for Joel Embiid, and, barring a late Milwaukee run, it looks like the big man will come up one assist shy of the triple double: 26 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists on the night for Embiid.

Maxey's second buzzer beat* of the night gives the Sixers a 97-87 lead after 3. (*There was a second left on this one but I'm calling it a buzzer beater.) Maxey's up to 22 points and 4 assists. The big question is Jabari Walker, who left midway through the 3rd after seemingly bumping knees.

Sixers have regained the lead, and will head to the break with a 64-60 edge over the Bucks. - Brown: 16 points on 5-9 shooting. - Embiid: 14/4/5 on 4-9 shooting. - VJ: 11/6 with three 3s. - Maxey: 10 points, 3 assists. Sixers, who shot just 26.5% from 3 in the first two games, are 10-24 so far.

A couple of 3s from KCP, who has 6 points and 2 steals in a 9 minute stint off the bench, and the Sixers have cut Milwaukee's lead, which was as high as 7 earlier this quarter, down to 2 with 2:08 left in the half.

Dean Wade is IN and starting for LeBron James. Tyrese Maxey VJ Edgecombe Jaylen Brown Dean Wade Joel Embiid

“Bron elbowed me in my face…Nah, I’m good man. I’m blessed. Thank god it’s nothing bad. But if it was, he can buy me a new nose.”

Tired: A 3-point barrage to fuel a comeback. Wired: Giving up a combined ZERO points off turnovers AND second chance points in the second half to erase a 29 point deficit. More on the improbable formula used in the greatest comeback in Sixers history. allphly.com/76ers/grit-f...

Joel Embiid says that he will play in one of the two back-to-back games this weekend, although he did not reveal which one he would play in.

Final: Sixers erase 24 point halftime deficit, beat Cavs 114-106 to improve to 2-0. - Maxey: 32 points, 6 assists. - Embiid: 24 points, 7 rebounds. - Brown: 21/8/4. - LeBron: 17/10/5/3 - VJ: 11/7/6/3.

After the Sixers cut it to two, the Cavs finished the 3rd on a 6-0 run to stabilize things a bit. Still, a 37-21 edge for the Sixers in that frame has cut this to a 90-82 Cleveland lead heading into the 4th.

The Sixers have started the 3rd quarter on a 28-11 run and have cut Cleveland's 24 point halftime lead down to 7 in just seven minutes of play. Timeout Cleveland, and this place is ROCKING.

After this timeout, Joel Embiid will head to the line. For the Sixers' first free-throw attempts of the night. We're over 17 minutes into the game.

The only thing worse than the Sixers' offense in this first half is the white balance on the ESPN broadcast.

Sixers trail the Cavs 35-18 after one, where they went just 8-21 from the field with 8 turnovers in the first 12 minutes of play. Cavs ended the quarter on a 24-7 run.

Sixere Starters: Tyrese Maxey VJ Edgecombe Jaylen Brown LeBron James Joel Embiid Dean Wade has been downgraded to OUT.

Jaylen Brown, on building the team's defensive identity: "Defense is what kept us in it. Defense is what we’re going to have to continue to hang our hat on." "[It's] non-negotiable, we have to play defense.”

Tyrese Maxey, on the lift Anfernee Simons gave them: "Huge. Big shots by five. He did a good job. We're looking for him. When he gets in the game, we're hunting for him. We want him to hunt his shots, and he did a good job with that tonight.”

LeBron James, on limiting NYK's second chance points in the second half: "I thought in the first half we played good first stop defense, but we gave up some second chance points. They got some threes off of us not closing with a defensive rebound so. I was really conscious about that."

Final: Sixers spoil New York's ring ceremony, win 106-100 at MSG behind a superb defensive effort. Tyrese Maxey led the way with 28 points and 5 assists. Jaylen Brown added 19, with Embiid, (13), Simons (13) and LeBron (14) chipping in as well. Next up: Cavs, at home, on Thursday.

Sixers end the 3rd quarter on an 11-2 run, and will take an 83-76 lead into the 4th. - Maxey: 20 points and 4 assists on 7-15. - Brown: 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists. - Embiid: 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists. - Simons: 13 points, 5-8 shooting.