Jaylen Brown's season-high 30 and late block lift 76ers past Pistons

Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 30 points and blocked Cade Cunningham's three-point attempt in the final minute as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Detroit Pistons 112-106 on Wednesday 4 November, according to the Associated Press report published by CBS News Detroit.

The win took Philadelphia to 8-1. Its only defeat this season had come at home against Detroit, so this was a measure of payback against the team that had set the early pace in the Central Division.

Detroit remain 6-2 and still lead that division, the Associated Press reported, but they had the better of the closing stages and will feel this was a game they let slip.

Brown sets the tone early

Brown did most of his damage before the interval. The Detroit News and NBC Sports Philadelphia both reported that he scored 23 of his 30 points in the first half, and NBC Sports Philadelphia said he closed the opening quarter with a deep, buzzer-beating three-pointer that put Philadelphia 29-21 ahead.

ESPN's box score had the 76ers winning the second quarter 27-21 as well, giving them a 56-42 lead at half-time. They stretched the advantage to 17 points before Detroit found a response.

The Detroit News reported that Brown finished 11-for-19 from the field and added six rebounds. It was the kind of efficient, aggressive night Philadelphia needed, because their usual sources of scoring were not firing together.

Joel Embiid delivered 26 points and 15 rebounds, but Tyrese Maxey had a difficult evening. He scored 19 points on 5-for-16 shooting, which the Associated Press described as a season low in points. On a night when Maxey could not find his rhythm, Brown's first half gave the 76ers a cushion they would badly need.

The block that settled it

Detroit won the fourth quarter 31-21 according to ESPN's box score, and the game tightened in a way the first three quarters had not suggested. The Pistons pulled within six, and The Detroit News reported they were on a 7-0 run when Cunningham rose for a pull-up three.

Brown got there. The Associated Press put the block at 37 seconds remaining, while the Detroit Free Press had it at 38 seconds, but the effect was the same either way. Detroit's momentum was gone and Philadelphia closed it out.

Cunningham still produced a 26-point, 11-assist, seven-rebound night, and Duncan Robinson added 27 points for the Pistons. Between them they kept Detroit in touch long after the 17-point deficit, and the fourth-quarter surge showed why this team sits top of the Central Division.

But it also showed the gap that still exists. Philadelphia absorbed a poor shooting night from Maxey and a late push from a good side, and still had enough through Brown and Embiid to hold on.