Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 29 points before exiting with a sprained ankle as the Philadelphia 76ers continued their strong start with a 129-105 victory over the winless Brooklyn Nets Sunday night in New York.
Oubre scored 24 points in the first half and shot 12-of-21 from the field for his best game of the early season as Philadelphia rebounded from its first loss and improved to 5-1.
NBA scoring leader Tyrese Maxey added 26 as the Sixers shot 52.1% while resting Joel Embiid for the second time this season.
Quentin Grimes added 22 and a career-high 13 assists while former Net Trendon Watford chipped in 16, nine rebounds and seven assists. Rookie VJ Edgecombe chipped in 16 as the Sixers led for the final 38-plus minutes.
Cam Thomas scored 29 points, and Nic Claxton added 19 but the Nets shot 43.3%, missed 31 of 38 3-point tries and are off to their first 0-6 start since opening the 2015-16 season with seven straight losses. Michael Porter Jr. finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds, but shot 7-of-23, including 1-of-12 from 3-point range.
Brooklyn also continued to experience problems at point guard. Tyrese Martin started at point guard, but was held scoreless while rookie Egor Demin finished with five points and fellow first-rounder Ben Saraf did not play.
Oubre scored 22 and combined with Maxey for 31 points as the Sixers shot a blistering 62.5% and held a 40-37 lead through the first quarter. Edgecombe scored eight straight Philadelphia points, including a two-handed dunk that opened a 62-47 lead with 3:36 left in the half, and Oubre’s layup before the horn extended the lead to 73-55 by halftime.
Brooklyn scored nine straight and got the lead down to 76-64 with 9:31 in the third on a hoop by Porter. A dunk by Thomas sliced the lead to 85-75 with 2:26 left, and Porter’s 3 right before the buzzer shaved Philadelphia’s lead to 90-78 entering the fourth.
Philadelphia finished it off by scoring the first nine points of the fourth, and a layup by Maxey opened a 111-85 edge with 5:40 left.
