The new-look Philadelphia 76ers kicked off their preseason Monday night hosting the New York Knicks.
Well… sort of the new-look Sixers. As there tends to be for preseason, there were a number of absences, some more major than others. Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Anfernee Simons, Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona all missed the opening contest. Important to note though that Simons (muscle tightness), Barlow (back) and Bona (foot sprain) were the only ones out dealing with actual injury, according
to Nick Nurse.
But that still left plenty of players to get early glimpses of in the Sixers’ preseason debut, which Philly won 120-97 (if you for some reason care about preseason game scores). Let’s watch some highlights and talk about it.
Jaylen Brown: good at basketball
Brown looked absolutely dominant in his time out on the floor in the first half of this one, racking up 22 quick points in the first half (16:51 played) and showcasing an array of his skills from footwork in isolation to finishing at the rim to long-range shooting and his midrange pull-up.
To put it simply, he looked like the player that anyone who has watched the Celtics in recent history knows he is. He took the rest of the night off, deservedly so.
VJ Edgecombe looking like VJ Edgecombe, but better
There was already so much to like about Edgecombe after his excellent debut NBA season, but now he only seems to have gotten better — and stronger. The young guard still uses his footwork, not necessarily his strength and size, to get right through opposing defenses, but his noticeable bulk-up over the offseason has given him increased body control finishing in the air through contact. That was something that was a bit difficult for him in year one. His confidence leading an offense and as a passing guard looks to have improved over the summer as well, with Edgecombe making a number of really nice assists in this one.
Sure, it’s just preseason — the disclaimer we have to make for all of these observations — but VJ is playing with a ton of confidence and it’s not hard to see why.
(His night was also done at halftime.)
Jabari Walker doing a lot of things right
Throughout this one, Walker was looking like a very viable small-ball five — no small task when pitted against Karl-Anthony Towns. Getting in the correct positioning to come up with rebounds on both ends (11 boards) combined with some very smooth shooting from long range (3-for-5 3PT) made for an impressive outing from Walker that has definitely earned him a closer watch as we continue through this preseason campaign.
Catch up on the whole game
In case you missed this one, here’s the full reel of highlights from throughout the contest. One game down, many to go! Welcome to the 2026-27 season.
