Preseason Bell Ringer rankings:
Jaylen Brown – 1
It was the first game the starting five of LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, VJ Edgecombe and Joel Embiid all played together, and there is a ton to be excited about.
Jaylen Brown continued his strong preseason against the Nets, tallying 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He made up for a slow start with a full house spreading the basketball around by taking over in the early moments of the second half.
Considering he earned Bell Ringer honors in the first game, it felt most sensible to showcase the stars we saw for the first time.
LeBron James: 10 points, 18 minutes, 1-of-1 FG, 8-of-8 FT, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal
James looked in control for all of his 18 minutes, finding open Sixers in transition on what seemed like every possession for the first six minutes.
Although his only field goal came in the form of an early post-up finish over Drake Powell and Mo Wagner, most of James’ points came at the free throw line. He was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, converting drives into points.
His court vision has the chance to really elevate the games of Maxey, Edgecombe and Brown. It will be a focal point if Embiid can look more comfortable before the regular season begins. He finished with eight turnovers.
Tyrese Maxey: 14 points, 5-of-8 FG, 2-of-4 3PT, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
Maxey looks incredibly fast and showcased his speed on a nasty baseline dunk over Egor Demin.
He made two threes and appeared to be in a rhythm early. First three was off a James assist while the second three was running in transition and receiving the return pass from VJ Edgecombe.
He was playing very comfortable off-ball, playing a cutoff-man role to help pace out the offense or push the pace in transition.
