LeBron scores 10 in Sixers pre-season debut but Brooklyn win 114-108
LeBron James scored 10 points in his first pre-season appearance for the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday as the Sixers lost 114-108 to the Brooklyn Nets. James logged 18 minutes and four seconds, all in the first half, finishing with 10 points, four rebounds, five assists and a steal.
James announced in July that he had signed a two-year, $8m deal with the 76ers, ending weeks of speculation over where the four-time NBA champion would land as a free agent after eight seasons and one title with the Los Angeles Lakers. The 41-year-old, entering a record-extending 24th NBA season, won two titles with Miami, another with Cleveland and a fourth with the Lakers, and is aiming to help the Sixers win their first championship since Julius Erving led the team to the title in 1983. Thursday’s game was his first chance to play alongside new teammates Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, who arrived from the Boston Celtics.
Jaylen Brown led Philadelphia with 18 points in the loss while Julius Randle scored 14 for Brooklyn. The Nets seized control with a 37-23 third quarter and held on for the 114-108 final.
James made his only shot from the field and sank all eight of his free-throw attempts, with all of his scoring, rebounds, assists and the steal coming in the first half. He recorded all five of his assists in the first quarter and combined on offence with Tyrese Maxey, and performed his signature pre-game chalk toss for the first time in a 76ers uniform.
After seeing his starters together for the first time, 76ers coach Nick Nurse said: “I think there was some really good things happening, you know, right off the bat. A bunch of back cuts and good passing et cetera ... there were segments where obviously we turned the ball over a lot ... just the little clunky segments, too. But, again, it’s pre-season, first time they’re together. I think you look at it as what’s good and what are the learning experiences, things that we can improve.”
Off the court, James took to Instagram to dispute a claim made by a play-by-play announcer during the team’s first pre-season game on Monday that he had admonished Embiid for arriving late to practice, posting: “He ain’t been late, so stop the lie.” James had told reporters at the team’s media day last month that the attention surrounding the 76ers would be “doubled, tripled and quadrupled now that I’m here.”
The 76ers have two more pre-season games, both against Boston, before opening the regular season against the defending champion New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on 20 October.