Tyrese Maxey scored 23 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the visiting Philadelphia 76ers remained unbeaten after storming back from a 19-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Washington Wizards 139-134 on Tuesday.
Joel Embiid scored 25 points in 23 minutes for Philadelphia while Quentin Grimes scored 23, Kelly Oubre Jr. added 17 points and 11 rebounds and VJ Edgecombe scored 14. Maxey produced nine of the Sixers’ 13 points in overtime.
Alex Sarr paced Washington with 31 points and 11 rebounds while Kyshawn George scored 20 points. Marvin Bagley III and CJ McCollum added 14 points apiece, Corey Kispert and Khris Middleton each scored 13 while Tre Johnson and Bub Carrington had 10 apiece.
Washington led 126-116 with 2:41 remaining in regulation before the Sixers capped a 17-4 run with 10 straight points to tie the game at 126-126 on Grimes’ 3-pointer with 39 seconds left.
Washington’s chance to win the game in regulation fell short when Middleton missed a jumper at the buzzer.
After the Wizards scored the first five points in overtime, the Sixers answered with six straight points and moved ahead 132-131 on Adem Bona’s tip dunk with 27.6 seconds left.
Washington trailed 135-134 after George hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining. Maxey and Grimes each hit a pair of free throws to help the Sixers improve to 4-0 for the first time since going 5-0 to open the 2019-20 campaign.
Washington led 40-32 at the end of the first quarter before Philadelphia pulled even by opening the second period on a 10-2 run.
Sarr had 20 points and seven rebounds in the first half for the Wizards, who held a 72-68 advantage at intermission.
The Wizards shot 54% from the field for the half and carried the momentum into the third quarter, when they opened on a 23-8 run to move ahead 95-76. George and Middleton scored seven points apiece during the surge.
Washington held a 110-94 lead after three quarters, but the Sixers chipped away and cut the deficit to 118-109 on Grimes’ layup with 7:18 remaining. Sarr scored with 5:38 left in the game to put the Wizards ahead 122-109.
