The China Mail - Sixers suffer first loss as NBA Cup begins

The Celtics avenged a 117-116 loss to the 76ers in their opener at Boston and improved to 3-3 while dropping the host Sixers to 4-1.

"Just grit. I think we just slugged it out," said Brown, whose 13-of-19 shooting including 4-of-7 from three-point range.

"We made a bunch of mistakes but we found a way to win in the end."

Tyrese Maxey, who led Philadelphia with 26 points and 14 assists, and VJ Edgecombe sank three-pointers to lift the 76ers within 108-106 with 51 seconds remaining.

Brown added what turned out to be the deciding free throw with 32.9 seconds remaining but Maxey sank a layup with 20.8 to play to lift the 76ers within the final margin.

Brown, who scored 16 points in the first quarter, committed a foul to turn the ball over with 11.6 seconds remaining but Maxey missed a short jumper.

After Boston's Josh Minott missed two free throws, the hosts had a final chance but Joel Embiid, who had 20 points, missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.

Improving to 5-0 on the campaign were the Chicago Bulls, who were led by Josh Giddey's 32 points and 26 from Nikola Vucevic in a 135-125 home victory over the New York Knicks.

Jalen Brunson scored 29 points to lead the Knicks (2-3).

Chicago clung to a 120-116 lead when Vucevic went on a late 6-0 run and then assisted on a Giddey hoop to seal the victory.

The Atlanta Hawks, playing without star guard Trae Young due to a right knee sprain, improved to 3-3 by beating winless host Indiana 128-108.

Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with 22 points and 13 rebounds. The Pacers, who fell to 0-5, also learned Friday that forward Obi Toppin is out for three months due to a broken right foot.

Toronto had 20 points each from Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett and reserve Jamison Battle in a 112-101 victory at Cleveland.

Later NBA Cup openers had the Los Angeles Lakers at Memphis, Utah at Phoenix, Denver at Portland and New Orleans at the Los Angeles Clippers.

All 30 NBA teams were drawn into six five-team groups with each club playing four games through November 28 that will count in round-robin Cup play and the regular-season standings.

Eight teams will advance to the Cup quarter-finals, the six group winners and top runner-up in the Eastern and Western Conference.

Quarter-final matches will be played on December 9-10 with the last four going to Las Vegas for semi-finals on December 13 and the championship game December 16.

B.Carter--ThChM