Without LeBron and Embiid, Maxey scored 38 and the Sixers came back in Charlotte

The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Charlotte Hornets 109-104 on Saturday night with neither LeBron James nor Joel Embiid in uniform, and they did it after trailing by 10 in the first quarter.

Tyrese Maxey scored 38 points and added four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Anfernee Simons came off the bench for 19 points and shot 5-for-9 from 3-point range.

Jaylen Brown, who had been listed as questionable all day, was upgraded to available after the pregame shootaround and finished with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Philadelphia is 6-1 and 3-0 on the road. Charlotte dropped to 3-4 and 2-2 at home.

The absences were planned. LeBron James sat for sciatica management and Embiid for right foot plantar fascia management, both on the second night of a back-to-back.

That is the modern version of load management, and it produced the kind of first quarter the Sixers expected: Maxey scored 15 points in the opening period and was essentially the entire offense, while Charlotte ran out to a 37-27 lead.

Brown had one point in the first quarter. The Sixers' half-court possessions were slow and the Hornets were happy to play in transition.

Then the second quarter reversed it. Philadelphia outscored Charlotte 30-17 and went into halftime leading 57-54.

The third quarter belonged to Charlotte again. The Hornets took an eight-point lead on a 14-4 run powered by six points from Naz Reid, and Philadelphia had to answer with 3-pointers from Maxey and Simons just to get within 79-77.

Charlotte scored the last four points of the quarter and led by six going into the fourth.

The fourth quarter had a little of everything. Brown and Charlotte's Allen went to the floor battling for a loose ball midway through the period, both players were assessed technical fouls, and the game stayed physical from there.

With 3:41 left, Allen hit a 3-pointer to put the Hornets ahead 101-94, which looked like the shot that would decide it.

It was not. Simons and Maxey combined for the next eight points, and Philadelphia took a 102-101 lead.

Brandon Miller missed a short turnaround jumper, and VJ Edgecombe hit a stepback 3-pointer over Allen to put the Sixers up by four.

Sion James missed on Charlotte's next possession, and Maxey drew a foul on Allen and made both free throws for a 107-101 lead with 23.8 seconds left.

Miller made a 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds remaining to cut it to three, but out of a timeout Dean Wade found Brown cutting to the basket. Brown drew a foul and made both free throws.

Charlotte's best player was Allen, who missed only three shots from the floor all night, went 7-of-10 from 3-point range and finished with 27 points.

Miller added 24 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Reid had 14 points and five rebounds.

The Hornets' problem was the second quarter and the last three minutes. They scored 37 in the first and 17 in the second, and they could not get a stop after taking the 101-94 lead.

Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back, so the fourth-quarter legs were not an advantage for either side.

The win matters because it is the first real evidence that Philadelphia can survive without its two stars. The team's 6-1 start had been built with James and Embiid available for most of it.

Maxey's 38 points were the obvious answer, but the supporting line is the more useful one: Simons' 19 off the bench and Brown's 16 after a questionable tag.

The Sixers' next game is at home against Chicago, which is 1-5, before a tougher stretch later in the week.

Charlotte hosts Detroit, which is 5-1, on Monday, and the Hornets' home record is now even.

The interesting tactical detail is how Philadelphia survived the non-Maxey minutes. Simons ran the offense in those stretches, and the Sixers stopped trying to play through the post.

That is the shape of a team without its two biggest names: more guard actions, more early clock shots, and a willingness to live with a lower-percentage night.

The Hornets, by contrast, went away from what worked. Their first quarter was built on pace, and the second quarter was played at Philadelphia's speed.

The last three minutes were decided by free throws and one stepback three, which is a fair description of a game that neither team controlled for long.

Philadelphia's schedule now asks a different question: whether the Sixers can keep this level when James and Embiid return and the rotation changes again.

Charlotte's question is smaller and more immediate. The Hornets have lost two of three and are about to play a 5-1 Pistons team at home.

For one night, the answer in Philadelphia was Maxey plus a bench that made shots at the right time.

The 6-1 record is real either way, and so is the fact that this win came with the two most expensive players in the building watching from the sideline.