Maxey, LeBron Sink Knicks 98-93 as Edgecombe Buries the Dagger

Philadelphia held off New York 98-93 on Friday night, with Tyrese Maxey dropping 27 points to lead five Sixers in double figures. The game's decisive moment came in the fourth quarter when VJ Edgecombe drained a 27-foot three — assisted by Maxey — swinging the home win probability from 64% to 83%.

Philadelphia seized control early and never fully let go. Joel Embiid opened the scoring from the line, LeBron James answered OG Anunoby's early three with a driving layup and then a cold-blooded 28-footer to push the lead to 12-7, and by the time VJ Edgecombe ran off back-to-back dunks late in the first quarter, the Sixers were up 20-11. New York kept clawing — Miles McBride hit a 23-footer, Anunoby scored twice in the final minute — but Philadelphia took a 29-21 lead into the second. The second quarter told the same story: LeBron and Embiid kept feeding each other, combining for a 30-foot three and a turnaround jumper that pushed the lead to 42-28. Jalen Brunson answered with back-to-back buckets, including a 25-foot three, to trim it to 44-36, but Philadelphia closed the half on a LeBron layup — again off an Embiid assist — to lead 48-38 at the break.

The Knicks had the talent to make this uncomfortable. Brunson finished with 24 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals. Karl-Anthony Towns posted 22 points and 12 rebounds, including a silky 26-foot step-back three in the second quarter. But New York could never string enough stops together to flip the deficit, and that's where this game was lost. Anfernee Simons added 21 points off the Philadelphia bench, and LeBron James — in a performance that looks like a statement for a team with genuine ambitions — finished with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, a steal, and a block. At 41, that line is still absurd.

The knockout blow came from an unlikely source. With the game still in the balance in the fourth quarter, VJ Edgecombe — who finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds — stepped back and buried a 27-footer off a Maxey feed at the 33.6-second mark of the period, swinging the win probability from 64% to 83% in a single possession. That's the play that ended it. Edgecombe's 13-point, 8-rebound night appears to be exactly the kind of secondary contribution Philadelphia needs if this group is going to be taken seriously. Nine players sat out between the two teams by coach's decision, so depth questions linger on both sides — but on this night, Philadelphia had enough. Final: PHI 98, NY 93.