The Philadelphia 76ers will play their second preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets tonight in New York. With the team adding LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and several others, the Sixers will need to continue developing their on-court chemistry as the regular season approaches.
Who: Philadelphia 76ers (1-0) at Brooklyn Nets (1-0)
When: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Watch: NBA League Pass, YES Network, NBC Sports Philadelphia+
The Sixers lost free-agent center Ariel Hukporti after just a few minutes of action against the Knicks. The backup center ruptured his Achilles tendon and is expected to miss the entire season. With Adem Bona also dealing with a foot injury, the team will have to operate against a young Nets team with a smaller lineup.
With just a few preseason games remaining, any opportunity for Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe to share the court would be valuable as the team continues building chemistry.
Brown quickly acclimated himself to the team and fans in the preseason opener against the Knicks, scoring 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-5 from long distance. Second-year star VJ Edgecombe, despite not having a good shooting night, still finished with 12 points, four rebounds and seven assists while looking comfortable alongside Brown.
If James, Maxey and Embiid join Brown and Edgecombe on the court tonight, fans could get a glimpse of what the team hopes will be its healthy core as it marches toward a title at the end of the season.
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It wasn't that long ago that the Nets brought in their version of the "Big Three" with Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant. While the team had mild success for a couple of years, the playoff results never materialized.
Over the past three seasons, the team has averaged 26 wins per year, with its win total decreasing each season since 2022-23. With seven first-round picks over the past two years, the Nets shouldn't be expected to do much again this year, but if their development comes through, the future could be very bright in Brooklyn.
The Nets have brought in Julius Randle and Keon Ellis to join Michael Porter Jr. and a young group led by recent first-round pick Mikel Brown Jr. The team will look to continue developing its young core, with the veterans helping to enhance its own version of "The Process."
Brown Jr., along with fellow first-round pick Joshua Jefferson, will look to build on the previous year's haul of five first-rounders. That group, led by Egor Demin and Danny Wolf, along with Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Nolan Traore, will look to take big steps in their games, helping the Nets finally climb out of the bottom of the standings.
One of the biggest things to watch tonight will be how Nick Nurse manages his rotations and which combinations get time together on the court.
The additions of James and Brown, combined with Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, have given the Sixers a major roster transformation, adding depth and talent in areas where the team has lacked over the past few years.
The latter three players will give Nurse multiple options in his rotations, along with rookie Labaron Philon, who looked very much like an NBA-ready player over the summer. Having the depth of talent that the Sixers have now, even before LeBron signed with the team, was a big reason to be positive about the upcoming season.
Tonight should also allow fans to get a glimpse of players like Dillon Jones, Saint Thomas and Caleb Love, three young players looking to develop and make names for themselves under the guidance of the stars the Sixers already have. It's not a bad school to be involved in.
Jabari Walker and Justin Edwards will get their minutes, and the hope is that Edwards can show, in his third season, that he's improved enough to warrant a roster spot.
Lots of rotations, limited minutes for stars and evaluations from the coaches are what these games are about. The stars are all veterans who know what's needed once the regular season starts, so the focus for the remainder of the preseason should be on scheme, flow and coming together on the court.
Each player will have to accept his role, but having James, arguably one of the greatest to ever play, take a minimal deal to be part of the team shows them that they're not here to mess around.
Sixers 125, Nets 103
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