Washington (AFP) – Reigning champion Oklahoma City, the Philadelphia 76ers, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Chicago Bulls remained undefeated with impressive NBA triumphs on Monday. The league’s last four unbeaten clubs topped a busy 11-game slate.
Philadelphia guard Tyrese Maxey scored 43 points, and Bahamian rookie guard VJ Edgecombe added 26 to lead the 76ers (3-0) to a 136-124 home win over Orlando. “He’s elite, man,” Edgecombe said of Maxey, his partner in the NBA’s top-scoring starting backcourt through three games. “Very versatile, super fun guy to play with.” The two have combined for 186 points over the Sixers’ first three games, the most by any starting backcourt duo in the first three games of a season since 1970-71 when starter statistics began being tracked. Edgecombe, the third pick in this year’s NBA Draft, added a spark as Cameroonian big man Joel Embiid was benched by the Sixers for left knee injury management. “It’s a must-win every night,” Edgecombe said.
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Oklahoma City got 23 points from reigning NBA Most Valuable Player and scoring champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, plus 18 points and 11 rebounds from Chet Holmgren in a 101-94 victory at Dallas. The Mavericks outscored Oklahoma City 25-14 in the fourth quarter but could not rally for the win. D’Angelo Russell’s floater lifted Dallas within 95-94 with 54.8 seconds remaining, but Isaiah Hartenstein answered with a layup to give the Thunder a 97-94 edge. “We stayed locked in,” Hartenstein said. “We had a bad little stretch, but we stuck with it and finished the game out.” Russell missed an attempted tying three-point shot, and Holmgren rebounded for Oklahoma City, setting up two free throws by Gilgeous-Alexander with 21.3 seconds remaining. Gilgeous-Alexander rebounded a Dallas three-point miss, and Holmgren sank the final free throws to clinch the Thunder victory to reach 4-0.
Victor Wembanyama continued his strong start to the 2025-26 campaign, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds to lead San Antonio’s 121-103 home triumph over Toronto. Stephon Castle added 22 points for the Spurs, who improved to 4-0. Chicago’s Ayo Dosunmu scored 21 points to lead eight Bulls double-digit scorers in a 128-123 home victory over Atlanta. Dosunmu hit 7-of-10 shots, 4-of-6 from three-point range, while Nikola Vucevic added 17 points, 17 rebounds, and nine assists, and Josh Giddey contributed 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls, who improved to 3-0. Kristaps Porzingis led the Hawks with 27 points.
Markkanen scores 51 – Finnish forward Lauri Markkanen scored 51 points, the last on two clinching free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime, and grabbed 14 rebounds to spark the Utah Jazz over visiting Phoenix 138-134. Devin Booker had 34 points to lead the Suns.
Denver’s Jamal Murray scored 43 points while Nikola Jokic added a triple double with 25 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists to ignite the Nuggets’ 127-114 victory at Minnesota. Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points, and Jarrett Allen added 20 to lead the Cavaliers’ 116-95 romp at Detroit, while reserve Tari Eason had 22 points and Alperen Sengun added 21 to power Houston’s 137-109 home rout of Brooklyn. Jonathan Kuminga had game highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Golden State Warriors over visiting Memphis 131-118, while Anfernee Simons scored 25 points off the bench as Boston cruised to victory 122-90 at New Orleans. Deni Avdija scored 25 points to lead Portland’s 122-108 triumph at the Los Angeles Lakers, spoiling a 41-point performance by Austin Reaves with LeBron James and Luka Doncic both out due to injuries.
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