Last season, it took the 76ers until December to reach five wins. This year, that number seems like only the beginning.

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday Jake LaRavia, George Yardley, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl! 🎉

Game Recaps

Philly moves to 5-1 with 129-105 win over Nets

The 76ers entered this season as a potential sleeping giant in the East. As of now, they’re officially awake.

Philly improved to 5-1 on Sunday night with a dominant win over the Nets, continuing their fast start to the season. The Sixers tipped off the year 4-0 thanks in large part to their guard play— Tyrese Maxey is averaging 35 PPG, and first-year phenom VJ Edgecombe is now the odds-on favorite to win ROTY.

The Sixers dropped their first game of the year to the Celtics on Friday night, but bounced back two days later after big games from Maxey (26 PTS), Edgecombe (16 PTS), and Kelly Oubre, who led all scorers with 29 PTS including a ludicrous 21 in the first quarter. Philly was without former MVP Joel Embiid, who sat out on a scheduled rest day, but it didn’t make a difference against 0-6 Brooklyn.

The 76ers have gotten the buzz they deserve for their recent roll, but in a weakened East, this team has legit Finals potential if the chips fall right. With Paul George and Jared McCain returning soon, the sky is the limit in Philly. 👀

Duren’s career-high 33 PTS help Detroit to 122-110 win over Dallas in Mexico City

33 PTS. Three missed shots. Under 30 minutes? A successful day at the office for Jalen Duren.

The Detroit big man’s big night helped the Pistons to their fourth win of the season, motoring by a Dallas squad that was without Anthony Davis. Duren put on a show for the crowd in Mexico City, also adding 10 REB including 5 offensive boards. Duren didn’t have to wait long for the ball once he got open— Cade Cunningham finished the game with a career-high 18 AST along with 21 PTS of his own.

D’Angelo Russell led the way for Dallas with 31 PTS off the bench, but it wasn’t enough for the 2-4 Mavs. With Kyrie Irving sidelined, the team is lacking a true playmaker to make the most of its lob-threat lineup, and No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg is still in the process of adjusting to the NBA game. No matter when it happens, we can’t wait to see this squad fully healthy.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

• You can reserve this space in next week’s newsletter for a similar version of the following: OKC is balling out. The Thunder are the only undefeated team left standing after 30-piecing the Pelicans 137-106 behind a calm 30-point effort from SGA. The reigning champs haven’t skipped a beat in their bid to repeat, though they’ll be missing Jalen Williams for a while longer after the All-NBA forward underwent a follow-up surgery for his wrist injury.

• The Bulls were undefeated before Jalen Brunson got in the way. JB dropped 31 PTS led New York to a 128-116 win at MSG, while the Knicks as a whole nailed 20 threes on 47.6% from beyond. NY is just 3-3 to start the year, but don’t let them get hot…

• Toronto won its first home game of the season, dropping Memphis 117-104. RJ Barrett led all scorers with 27 PTS including this mean jam, while Brandon Ingram added 26. The Grizzlies were without star PG Ja Morant, who was suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team.

• While we didn’t get to see LeBron face off against his former team, Lakers-Heat delivered in plenty of other areas. First, stars: Luka Doncic scored 29 for LA, and Bam racked up 17 PTS, 8 REB, and 5 AST. Second: big-time bench performances. Jaime Jaquez Jr. continued his bounce-back season for Miami, leading all scorers with 31 PTS, while Jake LaRavia notched 25 PTS on 77% shooting for LA. And of course, big finish— after Miami got the game within four to start the fourth quarter, the Lakers pulled away in the final frame for a 130-120 win.

Enjoy Stock Market

Welcome to the first 2025-26 edition of the Enjoy Basketball Stock Market, where we look into the biggest trends in basketball. Let’s break it down…

📈Trail Blazing

Portland may have entered this season with low national expectations, but it looks like that news never made it to the locker room. On Friday, the Blazers climbed to 4-2 with a 109-107 win over Denver, but the real story is how they did it— with their young core of Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, and Toumani Camara combining for 56 PTS. Does this team have playoff potential? Only time will tell…

📈 Lauri’s Leap

The Jazz may be near the bottom of the standings, but don’t blame Lauri Markkanen. The 9th-year pro is enjoying the best season of his career, putting up a jaw-dropping stat line of 33.8 PPG and 6.8 RPG on 50.5% from the field. A legit 7-footer with mobility and a smooth touch on his jumper, Lauri’s finally putting it all together and reaching the ceiling we’ve always known he had— and maybe even higher than that.

📈 The Two-Decade Club

By appearing in Philly’s win over Brooklyn, Kyle Lowry became the 12th player in league history to play 20+ seasons. It’s a huge accomplishment for Kyle, as well as a testament to the longevity of modern players. Of those 12 guys, nine have retired in the last 10 years, meaning we’re likely to see more and more 20-year vets in seasons to come. Here’s to more years for Lowry and all our favorite hoopers!

Three in the Key

Signing Off

And we out! Thanks for spending a portion of your day with us. This week, try to go out of your way to do small, kind things for those around you. Hold that door, compliment that shirt. You never know what it could mean to someone! See you soon.

Walker Carnathan