The Philadelphia 76ers sent a loud preseason message Monday night, rolling past the New York Knicks 120-97 in a game that quickly stopped looking like an exhibition.
Even without LeBron James, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia had no trouble taking control. The 76ers got a big night from Jaylen Brown, who scored 22 points, and a strong all-around showing from VJ Edgecombe, who finished with 12 points and seven assists. Philadelphia also got double-figure scoring from Jabari Walker, Dillon Jones, Saint Thomas and Caleb Love.
New York never really found its footing. Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each finished with 12 points, but the Knicks shot just 38.5% from the field and 19.5% from three-point range. Once Philadelphia’s second unit started to take over, the gap only widened.
Brown was the clear headliner. He went 8-for-13 from the field, hit three of five shots from deep and added three assists in only 17 minutes.
He didn’t need a long runway or a heavy workload to do damage, and that’s what made the performance stand out. New York had no clean answer for him when he attacked the paint, even with the kind of perimeter defense built around OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.
What made the night even more interesting for Philadelphia was how many different players chipped in. Walker posted 11 points and 11 rebounds, Jones added 11 points and six boards, Saint Thomas scored 11, and Caleb Love contributed 15 points and six assists. The 76ers ended up with five players scoring at least 11 points, while the Knicks had only three.
That kind of spread-out production gave Philadelphia a different kind of edge. The bench didn’t just hold the line; it helped blow the game open. If Embiid, Maxey and LeBron are available later on, Nick Nurse may not need them to carry every possession to keep this team rolling.
For the Knicks, the offensive concerns were obvious. Brunson scored 12 points in 15 minutes, Towns had 12 in 15 minutes and Anunoby added 12, but after that the scoring dropped off sharply. Miles McBride was the only other New York player to reach double figures, finishing with 10 off the bench.
The Knicks finished 35-for-91 from the floor and 8-for-41 from beyond the arc. That’s not the kind of shooting night any team can survive easily, and it forced New York into tougher and tougher looks as the game went on. Philadelphia kept making them work, and the Knicks didn’t have much else to lean on when the jumpers stopped falling.
Edgecombe’s line also gave Philadelphia plenty to like. The second-year player scored 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting, added seven assists and grabbed four rebounds.
The scoring mattered, but the passing was the bigger sign. He didn’t force the issue, moved the ball well and looked comfortable playing within the flow.
The numbers backed up the eye test for Philadelphia, too. The 76ers shot 42.3% from the field, 34.8% from three and 78.6% at the line, while New York finished at 38.5%, 19.5% and 59.4%. Philadelphia also won the assist battle 29-23 and edged the Knicks on the boards 53-51.
One preseason game won’t settle anything on its own. But this one did show something useful: Philadelphia may have more depth than people expect, and that could matter once the stars are back in the mix.
In Other News...
Bruce Brown Is Suddenly In A Knicks Fight Fans Didn't Expect
Bruce Browns path to New York has been shaped as much by the leagues new spending rules as by his own rsum. The 30-year-old forward, long valued as a high-energy bench piece, landed with the Knicks on a training camp deal after drawing limited interest elsewhere, a reminder of how the NBAs second apron has made life harder for veteran free agents hunting for the kind of stable, longer-term opportunity Brown once would have had.
Now Brown is simply trying to stick, which is a different challenge entirely. Training camp invitations always carry an edge of uncertainty, but in this case the Knicks depth chart leaves little room for comfort, and the competition for a roster spot has become the real story as New York sorts out its back end before opening night. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Opener Got Pulled Into A LeBron Embiid Tension Story
The Knicks preseason opener wound up carrying a little extra chatter before the ball was even tipped, thanks to a Mike Breen mention of a story involving LeBron James and Joel Embiid. The buzz centered on an alleged incident in which James supposedly reprimanded Embiid for being late to a 76ers practice, a bit of sideline gossip that quickly spread beyond the game itself even though neither star took part in the matchup against New York.
LeBron publicly pushed back on the tale on Instagram, while Embiid has stayed quiet. Inside the 76ers, the picture has sounded much calmer, with reports indicating the groups practices and workouts have been viewed in positive terms. For the Knicks, it meant a preseason game briefly got pulled into a bigger league conversation, the sort of off-court thread that can linger even when the players at the center of it are not on the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Are Running Into A Harsh Pacome Dadiet Reality
Pacome Dadiets first year in New York has not exactly given the Knicks much leverage. The team is said to be exploring ways to move the young wing in order to clear a roster spot and create a little more salary-cap flexibility, but the market has not responded the way they had hoped. After a lukewarm Summer League, World Cup qualifiers and preseason showing, Dadiet has not built the kind of buzz that usually helps a player become a useful trade chip.
For the Knicks, that leaves a familiar front office problem: trying to turn a roster logjam into a clean solution without paying too high a price. There has been no concrete deal reported, and the lack of outside interest suggests New York may have to get creative to get anything done. For now, Dadiet remains on the roster and the team is still looking for a path forward that fits both the cap sheet and the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]