76ers Showed the NBA How Scary Their Starting Five Can Be

The Philadelphia 76ers handled business against the Chicago Bulls, and it seems that this team is finally hitting its stride as the starting unit plays lights out. 

VJ Edgecombe, the player who does it all, finally showed us what he’s capable of against the Chicago Bulls. Edgecombe scored 21 points and had five assists in this blowout victory. Edgecombe was one of three players to score at least 20 points. This was a season-high for the second-year player. In this game, fans saw Edgecombe doing a little bit of everything offensively. He slashed to the basket, got out in transition, and finally saw his three-point shot find the bottom of the net. 

Not only did Edgecombe find his offensive game, but Jaylen Brown did as well. Brown has been under heavy fire for seeming out of place and has had to bear the brunt of that criticism. Against the Bulls, we saw the Jaylen Brown of old. The player that the 76ers front office made a trade for two first-round picks to acquire strutted his stuff and dropped 25 points of his own along with 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Brown, like Edgecombe, finally saw his three-point shot go in, and it activated a player that had been lying beneath the surface. 

Philadelphia went on a series of runs, and it led to a five-point lead at the half. Surprisingly, Tyrese Maxey  was slow out the gate and only had 10 points at the half. But when everyone else had it going, Maxey turned into a true point guard and started dishing the ball to everyone. Maxey had nine assists in the first half and finished with 11.

The second half saw LeBron James take over as he scored nine of his 15 points in the third quarter. James nearly added another triple-double to his storied career, as he had 7 rebounds and nine assists. Everything was rolling for the 76ers even though the Bulls refused to go away. The Bulls pulled to within 10, but this 76ers team was too potent offensively to be stopped. 

Joel Embiid returned from injury and had 15 points of his own. There was no shortage of astounding plays from this starting unit. Maxey, who got off to a slow start, lit it up as he scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter.  

All five starters got to rest for the last few minutes of the fourth as the game was out of hand and the 76ers won 126-107. This is the kind of game that could be in store for Philadelphia and their fans if this team can play the way they did Monday night. 

The 76ers are building confidence, and now we see just how electric this team can be when everything is firing on all cylinders.