LeBron James makes home debut, Joel Embiid stars, but Sixers drop preseason finale in OT
The 125-120 scoreline against the Boston Celtics was largely irrelevant, as the Sixers' star-studded starting lineup built more chemistry and received an encouraging performance from Embiid.
There were a few firsts at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday night.
Jaylen Brown faced his former team for the first time, even if most of the Boston Celtics starters, including Jayson Tatum, didn’t make the trip.
Friday was also the first time the home crowd got to hear the Sixers’ starting lineup with Brown and LeBron James in it.
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The Sixers lost to the Celtics 125-120 in overtime with Joel Embiid shrugging off a slow start to his preseason with 27 points and eight rebounds. Brown had 20 points and eight rebounds while Tyrese Maxey added 22 points and six assists. The 41-year-old James, who was content to play facilitator, had eight points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in 25 minutes.
Maxey-James chemistry on display
Maxey, and his relationship with James, played a significant role in the Sixers landing James this offseason. The workout partners had some crackling chemistry Friday.
As Boston inbounded the ball in the first quarter, James snuck behind Boston’s Chris Cenac Jr. and stole the pass.
The ball bounced to Tyrese Maxey, who dribbled down the left side of the floor as James flashed down the right behind the defense. Maxey hit James with an on-target pass at the rim for an alley-oop that got the home crowd on its feet.
“Obviously it’s just a connection that we have,” James said of the play. " And some of the best things for us offensively is going to be to get up the floor, pace and space. We have athleticism. We have guys that share the ball. We have guys that can attack the paint with the dribble, with the pass."
That play highlighted what has been a common theme for the Sixers this preseason – getting out in transition. The Sixers were again intentionally pushing the pace, whether off misses, turnovers, or makes.
Then in the second quarter, James and Maxey played off each other well in a nice two-man game on an empty right side of the floor. That sequence led to a layup and three-point play opportunity for James.
“It’s a good set for us,” James said. “It’s some good movement for us. It’s good to know that we can have that in our back pocket whenever we need it.”
A few possessions later, James, after garnering a rebound, hit a streaking Maxey in stride for a layup. They had just one missed connection, when James, on a no-look pass, just missed Maxey on a back cut.
That was one of the 14 turnovers the starters committed as a group.
“I think we want to play fast and I think there has been a little bit of carelessness, or sloppiness might be a better word,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Just, again, I think that the looks are correct. We just got to kind of be a little more sure of them.”
Involving Embiid early and often
When the Sixers weren’t in transition, they were intentional about operating through Embiid in the first quarter. This came after he struggled with eight turnovers in his preseason debut against the Brooklyn Nets. It was a much better night for Embiid against the Celtics. In the first half, he had 16 points on 4-for-8 shooting, but he got to the free-throw line nine times, hitting seven. He added five rebounds, two assists, and three turnovers.
Embiid, 32, again looked healthy and wasn’t laboring much to get up and down the floor. At one point in the second, he sprinted to the rim for a potential dunk before he was fouled. He hit the deck, then bounced right back up.
In the third quarter, Embiid again attacked the rim with speed and purpose and slammed it home with one hand, drawing “ohs” from the crowd.
Brown has room to operate
When Embiid sat in the first quarter, Brown took over as the main offensive engine for some possessions. Brown capped a preseason in which he averaged 20 points per game over three games, and he was the only starter that played into the fourth quarter on Friday. He shot 58% from the field in the preseason.
The former Celtic, who has been known to favor midrange shots, took just two of his 14 shot attempts from the midrange against Boston. He was 1-for-5 from three-point range, and the rest of his shots came from the restricted area.
“It was good to see some of the young guys,” Brown said of his former teammates. “Spent a lot of time with those guys. To see them develop and getting better is good to see.”
Edgecombe sits, Wade rolls ankle
After it sounded earlier in the week as if all five starters would play, VJ Edgecombe sat out Friday’s game. Edgecombe had played in the previous three preseason games.
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“He played three and we had a pretty tough week of practice and I just wanted to hold him out for one today,” Nurse said. “We have one more tough practice coming at us Sunday, too.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got the start in Edgecombe’s place.
Forward Dean Wade “rolled” an ankle in the first, Nurse said. Wade sat out the second half, but Nurse said the injury wasn’t considered serious.
Up next
The new-look Sixers will get going for real on Tuesday night in New York against the defending champion Knicks (7 p.m., NBC/Peacock).
