Paul George, Tyrese Maxey lead 76ers over Hornets 110-104 to earn first first back-to-back wins

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Paul George scored 29 points, Tyrese Maxey had eight of his 21 points in the final 30 seconds and the Philadelphia 76ers won back-to-back games for the first time this season with a 110-104 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night.

Jared McCain added 17 points off the bench and Kelly Oubre scored 14 for Philadelphia (5-14), which finished 2-2 in Group A NBA Cup play. Charlotte was 0-4. Neither team advanced out of pool play.

Brandon Miller had 34 points, and Nick Richards had a strong outing in his second game back from injury with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Charlotte (6-15) finished its homestand 0-5.

The Hornets got solid performances from both rookie draft picks as Tidjane Salaun recorded his first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and K.J. Simpson added eight points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Philadelphia led by double digits most of the game, but Charlotte rallied to take the lead with 1:32 left on Miller's seventh 3-pointer of the second half. But it was short-lived as Maxey's layup with 29.7 seconds put the 76ers ahead.

Maxey sealed the win with four more throws and a transition layup.

76ers: Philadelphia seems to be rounding into form with its third win in five games. The ball isn't sticking as much, which resulted in more open shots against the Hornets.

Hornets: Center Mark Williams returned to the court for the first time in nearly a year. Williams had four points and three rebounds and looked rusty in his first game since Dec. 8, 2023.

Trailing by 2, Miller missed a floater that would have tied the game.

George was 10 of 16 from the field and 6 of 9 from beyond the arc.

The 76ers host the Magic on Wednesday night. The Hornets visit the Knicks on Thursday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards (4) pulls down an offensive rebound against Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets guard Seth Curry shoots against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets guard Seth Curry, top, battles Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller (24) shoots over Philadelphia 76ers forward Caleb Martin during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets guard KJ Simpson (25) shoots as Philadelphia 76ers center Adem Bona (30) and Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams (5) look on during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams, right, shoots against Philadelphia 76ers center Adem Bona (30) during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets guard Seth Curry, top, battles Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets guard KJ Simpson, left, drives against Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller, left, looks to drive to the basket against Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) looks to drive against Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are rising toward more records Wednesday after tech companies talked up how much artificial intelligence is boosting their results.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in morning trading to add to what looks to be one of its best years of the millennium. It’s on track to set an all-time high for the 56th time this year after coming off 10 gains in the last 11 days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 143 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.8% to its own record.

Salesforce helped pull the market higher after delivering stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit fell just short.

CEO Mark Benioff highlighted the company’s artificial-intelligence offering for customers, saying “the rise of autonomous AI agents is revolutionizing global labor, reshaping how industries operate and scale.” The stock of the company, which helps businesses manage their customers, rose 8.8%.

Marvell Technology jumped even more after delivering better results than expected, up 22.2%. CEO Matt Murphy said the semiconductor supplier is seeing strong demand from AI and gave a forecast for profit in the upcoming quarter that topped analysts’ expectations.

They helped offset a drop of 10% for Foot Locker, which reported profit and revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations.

CEO Mary Dillon said the company is taking a more cautious view, and it cut its forecasts for sales and profit this quarter. Dillon pointed to how keen customers are for discounts and how soft demand has been outside of Thanksgiving week and other key selling periods.

Retailers overall have offered mixed signals about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain. Their spending has been one of the main reasons the U.S. economy has avoided a recession that earlier seemed inevitable because of high interest rates brought by the Federal Reserve to crush inflation. But shoppers are now contending with still-high prices and a slowing job market.

This week’s highlight for Wall Street will be Friday’s jobs report from the U.S. government, which will show how many people employers hired and fired last month. A report on Wednesday morning may have offered a preview of it.

The report from ADP suggested employers in the private sector increased their hiring last month, but not by as much as economists expected.

The report helped solidify traders’ expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again when it meets in two weeks.

The Fed began easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high in September, hoping to offer more support for the job market. It had appeared set to continue cutting interest rates into next year, but the election of Donald Trump has scrambled Wall Street’s expectations somewhat.

Trump's preference for higher tariffs and other policies could lead to higher economic growth and inflation, which could alter the Fed’s plans.

Another report on Wednesday morning said health care, finance and other businesses in the U.S. services sector are continuing to grow, but not by as much as before and not by as much as economists expected.

One respondent from the construction industry told the survey from the Institute for Supply Management that the Fed's rate cuts have not pulled down mortgage rates as much as hoped yet. Plus “the unknown effect of tariffs clouds the future.”

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.22% from 4.23% late Tuesday.

On Wall Street, Campbell's fell 5% for one of the S&P 500's sharper losses despite increasing its dividend and reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of Wall Street's expectations, and the National Football League's Washington Commanders hired Campbell's CEO Mark Clouse as its team president.

Campbell's said Mick Beekhuizen, its president of meals and beverages, will become its 15th CEO following Clouse's departure.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi sank 1.4% following a night full of drama in Seoul. President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround the parliament. Yoon accused pro-North Korean forces of plotting to overthrow one of the world’s most vibrant democracies. The martial law declaration was revoked about six hours later.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.9% in Seoul. The country’s financial regulator said it was prepared to deploy 10 trillion won ($7.07 billion) into a stock market stabilization fund at any time, the Yonhap news agency reported.

In France, political turmoil has also been rising as the government faces a no-confidence vote Wednesday in parliament following a divisive budget debate. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.5%.

AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

A person walks on Wall St. near the New York Stock Exchange in New York's Financial District on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

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