Joel Embiid recorded his 10th career triple-double and Jaylen Brown scored 27 points on his 30th birthday to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 127-116 home victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Embiid finished the contest with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists for Philadelphia, which played without LeBron James as the veteran forward rested due to a sore back and sciatica. Team officials noted that James is expected to return to the lineup Sunday against the Detroit Pistons, while Embiid will sit out the second half of the back-to-back set.
The 76ers also received significant contributions from Tyrese Maxey, who added 26 points, and VJ Edgecombe, who knocked down five 3-pointers to finish with 17 points and 13 rebounds. With the win, Philadelphia improved to 3-0 to open the young season, while Milwaukee dropped to 0-3 despite placing eight players in double figures.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. paced the visiting Bucks with 21 points, and Kel’el Ware contributed a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Philadelphia established an early advantage by hitting five 3-pointers in the opening quarter—three of them from Edgecombe—to build a 34-25 lead after 12 minutes of play. However, the hosts struggled to maintain their offensive rhythm in the second period, converting just 9 of 27 shots from the field for a 33.3 percent clip. Brown anchored the Philadelphia offense during the first half, scoring 16 of his points before intermission.
The contest remained tightly contested well into the second half, with the scoreboard deadlocked at 82-82 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. The 76ers then took control by closing the period on a 15-5 surge. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Maxey each connected from beyond the arc during the run, which Maxey capped with a difficult fadeaway jump shot as the quarter clock expired.
Philadelphia continued to pull away in the early stages of the fourth quarter. An Embiid jumper extended the lead to 113-98 with approximately six minutes left on the clock. Although the hosts maintained a 117-108 advantage with 3:18 remaining, the Bucks mounted a quick response, rattling off six unanswered points in just over a minute to narrow the gap to three.
Down the stretch, Edgecombe secured a crucial offensive rebound that led to a 3-pointer by Brown. On Philadelphia’s subsequent possession, Brown delivered a pass to Caldwell-Pope for another perimeter shot that effectively sealed the outcome and secured the victory.
