Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 30 points and blocked Cade Cunningham’s late three-point attempt as the Philadelphia 76ers held off the Detroit Pistons 112-106 on Wednesday night, avenging their only loss of the season in a meeting of the Eastern Conference’s top two teams.
Joel Embiid added 26 points and 15 rebounds for Philadelphia, which improved to 8-1, the best record in the NBA. LeBron James finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Tyrese Maxey contributed 19 points and seven assists on an off shooting night. Duncan Robinson led Detroit with 27 points, including seven three-pointers, and Cunningham had 26 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for the Pistons, who fell to 6-2.
How the game was won
Philadelphia built the cushion early, leading 29-21 after the first quarter and 56-42 at halftime behind Brown, who did most of his damage before the break. Embiid’s jumper with 2:47 left made it 106-95 and appeared to settle the game, but Detroit kept coming, cutting the margin to six in the final minute.
Cunningham had a chance to make it a one-possession game, but Brown met his three-point attempt with 37 seconds remaining, swatting the shot that would have completed the comeback. It was the defensive play of the night from the game’s leading scorer, and it closed the door on the rally.
Revenge for the one blemish
The 76ers’ only defeat this season came against these same Pistons, a 106-93 loss in Philadelphia on October 25 that Embiid missed. With their center back and dominant inside, the rematch told a different story: Philadelphia has now won five straight, and the season series between the East’s early pace-setters is level at 1-1. The teams meet once more in the regular season, on February 5 in Philadelphia.
For Detroit, the loss came despite another complete performance from Cunningham and a shooting display from Robinson. The Pistons remain second in the East, and the narrow finish, after trailing by 14 at halftime, will feed their belief that the gap between the two teams is small.
Sources: Reuters and Associated Press game reports and the official box score, November 4, 2026.