The Sixers just avenged their only loss of the young season, dropping the Pistons 112-106 in Detroit on Wednesday night. This wasn’t just another win, either. It was essentially wire-to-wire and pushed their record to a staggering 8-1, which is the best in the entire NBA right now. They’re still undefeated on the road, too. Even with Jalen Duren out for the Pistons, the Sixers showed some serious resiliency closing out a game that got a bit dicey at the end.
Jaylen Brown Is On Another Level
Seriously, where do you even start with Jaylen Brown? The dude was an absolute two-way monster against the Pistons. He started attacking early, piling up 10 points in the first quarter alone, then dropping another 13 in the second. He was scoring from everywhere on the court, going for a crazy coast-to-coast dunk over Paul Reed, hitting his shots from his sweet spot in the midrange, and even nailing a deep three right at the buzzer to end the first quarter. He shot 11-of-19 from the field and 3-of-5 from deep, finishing with a game-high 30 points. It was just a masterclass.
But here’s the kicker, the real moment. VJ Edgecombe and Brown were all over Cade Cunningham most of the night, holding the All-Star guard to 26 points on 9-of-22 shooting. Cunningham had to work for every single bucket. Then, with just 38 seconds left and the Sixers clinging to a slim 106-102 lead, Cunningham saw an open lane for a transition triple that would’ve made it a one-point game. Clean look, right? Wrong. Brown recovered, lunged, and absolutely stuffed that shot with a massive block! It was a game-sealing play, the kind that doesn’t just show up as a “block” on a stat sheet, it shows up as a W. The Sixers sealed it from the free throw line right after that. That’s a winning play if I’ve ever seen one.
This Defense Is For Real
Remember all the chatter about this team’s defense heading into the season? Some of it was probably overblown, but honestly, nobody was expecting them to be this elite right out of the gate. But here we are, Sixers sitting second in the NBA in defensive rating. That’s no joke.
The defensive locks were always Brown and VJ Edgecombe. Brown has proven himself an elite on-ball defender for years, and Edgecombe is showing all the signs of becoming one too. Even LeBron James, who’s seen a bit of slippage on that end in recent years, has been mostly solid. This group is just suffocating opponents, and it’s a huge reason why they’re sitting atop the league standings.
This team isn’t just winning games, they’re showing incredible resilience and playing some stifling defense. Jaylen Brown is just a complete force, and if they keep playing like this, the league better watch out. That 8-1 record isn’t a fluke.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Liberty Ballers.
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