When the Philadelphia 76ers added Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to a core that included Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, they raised the ceiling. If these guys were all healthy in the spring, this could be a serious title contender.

After nine games, the Sixers certainly haven’t been as good as they’re capable of playing. But they still have the best record in the NBA. They’re 8-1, and they avenged their only loss by winning in Detroit on Wednesday.

It’s not a dominant 8-1, and it’s been a little surprising that it’s been driven more by success on defense. But so far, so good.

Here are some notes, numbers and film on the Sixers’ strong start.

All stats are through Wed., Nov. 4.

1. Coming up clutch

While the Sixers have the league’s best record, they only have its ninth best point differential (plus-5.8 points per game). That’s the differential of a team that should be 6-3.

Seven of their eight wins have been within five points in the last five minutes, and the eight wins have come by an average of 8.1 points per game. Their one loss was not within five in the last five, and it was a 13-point defeat.

JAYLEN BROWN CLUTCH BLOCK.

SIXERS MOVE TO 8-1 AND STAY #1 IN EAST ‼️ pic.twitter.com/PtxjZtlEtm

— NBA (@NBA) November 5, 2026

There was a team that did something similar last year, and interestingly, it was the team that James played for. The Lakers won their first 13 games that were within five points in the last five minutes, and in early January, they were 23-11 (.676, fourth best), with the point differential (plus-0.2 per game) of a team that was 17-17.

Over their final 48 games, the Lakers had a better point differential (plus-2.8 per game), but a worse record (30-18, .625).

If you take the Sixers’ point differential and extrapolate it over their 73 remaining games, you still get a final record of 60-22, the franchise’s best mark since its 1982-83 championship season. But there’s plenty of season left to go, maybe a little less late-game fortune and maybe some better numbers overall.

2. Is the defense real?

While we all had questions about how the Sixers’ four stars would play together on offense, there should have been greater concern about their defense. But through nine games, they rank much higher defensively (105.1 points allowed per 100 possessions, second) than they do on offense (110.5 scored per 100, 20th).

The defensive success has mostly been about how poorly the opponents have shot. The Sixers rank fifth in opponent effective field goal percentage (50.0%), and that’s more about the perimeter (26.0% from mid-range, 31.8% from 3-point range) than it is about the paint (56.7%, 15th).

But only 46% of their opponents’ 3-point attempts, the league’s fifth lowest opponent rate, have been wide open. And only 22% of them, the second lowest rate, have come from the corners.

Still, according to tracking data:

• The Sixers rank 24th in defensive shot quality overall.
• Only the Wizards have seen their opponents underachieve more in regard to their expected effective field goal percentage.

So we can expect Philadelphia’s opponents to shoot better going forward. Thus far, the only team that the Sixers have played that currently ranks in the top 10 offensively is the ninth-ranked Cavs. They’ve played four teams — Milwaukee, Indiana, Charlotte and Chicago — that rank in the bottom 10 on offense.

The success of the defense will also depend on Embiid’s availability. They’ve allowed 14.4 fewer points per 100 possessions in his 234 minutes on the floor (97.8) than they have in his 198 minutes off the floor (112.2). It’s a small sample size, but that follows the same pattern that we’ve seen for much of his career.

3. Sharing the ball and the shots

As you might expect, the Sixers do not have a lot of ball or player movement. According to tracking data, they rank:

• 23rd with 262 passes per 24 minutes of possession.
• 27th with 8.1 miles traveled per 24 minutes of possession.
• Fourth with 23.8 isolations per 100 possessions, with Jaylen Brown sixth among individuals at 12.4 per 100.

Maxey has had the ball in his hands a lot more than any of the Sixers’ other three stars. But their usage rates are pretty balanced, and they’ve all been assisted on more than half of their buckets.

Sixers’ stars time of possession and usage

TOP = Minutes of possession per game
TOP% = Percentage of minutes on the floor with possession
USG% = Usage rate = Percentage of team’s possessions used (via FGA, turnover or trip to the line) while on the floor
%AST = Percentage of field goals assisted on

For Brown, the percentage of his buckets that have been assisted (54.7%) is his highest rate in the last five seasons. James’ rate (69.0%) is the highest of his 24-year career by a wide margin, topping his rate of 53.9% last season.

Generally, assisted shots are better than those that were unassisted. But the Sixers still rank last in shot quality, according to tracking data. This would be the fourth straight season that they rank in the bottom three in the league.

Even with the talent upgrade, they’re still taking tough, low-efficiency shots. Only the Nuggets have taken a higher percentage of their shots from mid-range, and the Sixers rank 20th in the percentage of their 3-point attempts (25%) that have come from the corners.

So there’s plenty of room for improvement offensively. And the hope should be that better shots will come with better chemistry between the best players.

4. Other (pretty good) options when one isn’t available

We saw the benefit of having multiple stars on the floor late in the Sixers’ win in Detroit on Wednesday.

They came out of a late timeout looking to get Brown posted up on the right side of the floor. A Maxey screen above the left block got Ausar Thompson off of Brown, but Daniss Jenkins switched the screen and James couldn’t get the ball to Brown …

No matter. James just passed the ball to Embiid on the other side of the floor and the Sixers went straight into an empty-corner handoff for Maxey. He got into the paint, drew help, and got the ball back to Embiid for a short jumper …

It’s nice to be able to go to a nearly impossible-to-guard action involving two stars when your first option (involving two other stars) isn’t there.

5. More numbers to know

1. Embiid has taken just 42% of his shots in the paint. That’s the lowest rate of his career, and he’s just 3-for-26 (11.5%) from 3-point range, the worst mark among 195 players with at least 20 attempts.

2. Among the 20 lineups that have played at least 50 minutes, the Sixers’ starting group ranks 15th offensively (103.4 points scored per 100 possessions) and third defensively (95.4 allowed per 100).

3. They’ve played 35 minutes with James at the five (no Embiid or Adem Bona on the floor). The offense has been great (86 points on 70 possessions, 123 per 100) and the defense has been solid (80 on 72, 111 per 100) in those minutes.

4. The Sixers rank third in turnover differential, having averaged 3.4 per game fewer than their opponents. They’ve seen the league’s second biggest drop in turnover rate, from 13.4 per 100 possessions (sixth) last season to 12.9 per 100 (second) this season.

5. The Sixers have a league-high four wins (they’re 4-1) after trailing by double digits. They were 12-31 (.273) after trailing by double digits last season.

The largest deficit that any team has faced before winning a game this season was the 29-point hole the Sixers were in against Cleveland in their home opener. Looking for their sixth straight win, they’ll face the Cavs again in Emirates NBA Cup action on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, Prime).

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