Sixers Unleash Full Starting Five on Bulls After Weekend Load Management

The Philadelphia 76ers are officially done playing with their food. Monday night's lineup against the Chicago Bulls will feature the full Monstars treatment: Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Kendrick Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid.

After giving James and Embiid the night off during Saturday's road win over the Charlotte Hornets to avoid a back-to-back, the Sixers are plugging their two biggest stars right back into the starting five.

"Underdog NBA reported the starting lineup alert on X."

Resting your two most important, high-mileage pieces against a weaker team just so they can come back fully charged to terrorize Chicago is objectively hilarious. It is the kind of load management that makes perfect sense on a medical staff's spreadsheet but feels like a targeted attack if you are a Bulls fan checking the injury report.

The rest of the league should probably be terrified. Philadelphia is currently sitting at 6-1 and holds the best against-the-spread record in the NBA.

Tyrese Maxey is the main reason they have not missed a beat. He is out here averaging 29.6 points per game, which is an absurd number for a guy sharing the floor with two veterans who demand the ball as much as LeBron and Embiid.

Add in Embiid pulling down 9.4 rebounds a night and James dishing out 7.0 assists, and you have a starting unit that looks completely unbothered by the rest of the Eastern Conference.

With the Bulls coming to town, bettors and fantasy managers finally get the full Philadelphia experience again. If this starting five actually stays healthy, the rest of the East is going to need a support group.