The Sixers' proof of concept

Philadelphia faces a bunch of questions. They answered a big one – can this collection of players actually create a good team? – with aplomb. PLUS: Mat Ishbia brings a water pistol to a knife fight.

Good morning. We're still in Free Preview Week here at the ol' newsletter store. Let's basketball.

The Philadelphia 76ers faced numerous questions after their offseason makeover. The three biggest:

1. Can this team stay healthy for a long regular season and long playoff run?
2. Can the defense be competitive?
3. Is this particular collection of stars actually good together?

The first two of those questions can't be answered for months, and certainly not off of a single game. On the defense: the data looks great after one game, a 106-100 win for Philly in New York in which the Knicks shot 37% from the floor, fell apart on offense in the critical third and couldn't muster a classic Knicks rally in the fourth. But you can always chalk that up to game-to-game variance, or the pressure of Banner Night, or a single-game adrenaline rush for the Sixers, or anything. One night holding the champs to 100 points doesn't mean much in the grand scheme.

But the Sixers did look like a team, which helps to answer that third question – whether these Sixers are actually good – early. Yes, this particular collection of stars really does seem to work together well.

LeBron James, the ageless wonder, was a set-up man and transition maestro, both leading the break with his classic pinpoint passing and as a finisher in the lane. He wasn't efficient from the field (5/13) but contributed in all of the Late LeBronian ways you'd imagine.

Joel Embiid was even less efficient from the field, and looked out of place in a first half in which Andre Drummond causes havoc on the offensive glass. But Embiid settled in, didn't shoot too much (maybe a little too much), ran pick-and-roll with longtime partner Tyrese Maxey, moved the ball and had a really strong defensive second half.

Jaylen Brown, in his official Sixers debut, fit in: he worked with LeBron and Maxey in transition, he took open shots, he worked off the dribble when necessary, he helped V.J. Edgecombe take on the Jalen Brunson assignment, he moved the ball. He didn't go one-on-one too much, he played relatively big minutes, he hit a couple of big shots and he made a positive impact.

And Maxey? Maxey was Maxey. He might be the best player on the team. That "might" might be unnecessary.

Opening the game drilling two threes – one with a numbers advantage – and speeding all over the court, taking advantage of LeBron's passing and the attention Brown and Embiid will draw ... this might be an unfair luxury. And frankly, teams might have to send attention to Maxey and not double Embiid in the post or shade toward Brown with a live dribble. New York has more perimeter defenders than anyone in the East, save perhaps Toronto or Atlanta. And Maxey roasted them.

Again, it's one game, and the Knicks' emotional state was probably impacted by the festivities and the return to the court at Madison Square Garden. We'll see if the health holds up for 41-year-old LeBron and bedeviled Embiid. (Much of the supporting cast already being dinged up is not a great sign.) We'll see if the defense comes through. But Maxey, Brown, LeBron and Embiid? Yes, that looks like a powerful constellation. Question asked, question answered.

Scores

Celtics 113, Pistons 121 – Detroit trailed by 22 in the third quarter as Paul George was pouring it on in his Boston debut. Like, pouring it on.

But the Celtics' defense fell apart under the pressure of ... Duncan Robinson and Javonte Green. The Pistons stormed back with relative ease in the second half, which included a nice little 23-0 run in the fourth.

Jayson Tatum was dreadful from the floor (6/23) and ran out of juice on defense during that run, as you can see. Was it psychotic for Joe Mazzulla to play him 38 minutes in the season opener after he missed much of last season? Who am I to judge?

Jalen Duren (22-9) severely outplayed Mitchell Robinson, who tweaked his ankle in the second quarter but came back onto the floor after halftime. Robinson had one offensive rebound in 18 minutes.

As predicted, the Pistons are good!

Sixers 106, Knicks 100

Thunder 116, Spurs 104 – A playoff atmosphere on opening night at the Alamo. A novella can be written on every Spurs-Thunder match-up, but we'll limit ourselves to three things.

1. How does Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the best scorer in the world, always look like he's getting better? He's doing this to high-end defenders and making it look easy.

2. Victor Wembanyama had his normal defensive impact, racking up blocks and deterring even more shots at the rim (though Chet Holmgren, for one, remained aggressive; Aday Mara also challenged Victor). But Wembanyama was 1/13 from the floor. He started 0/12 and didn't score a bucket until the final play of the third quarter, when De'Aaron Fox finally got him an alley-oop right at the rim. Wembanyama didn't take a shot in the fourth. The Thunder were grabbing and pushing and fouling him in the lane, clearly trying to prevent him from getting going. But Victor played into it by launching threes (four of them) and passing. This is a game if Wembanyama has a normal offensive output. This type of night needs to be unheard of for the Spurs to get where they want to go.
3. Again, respect to Chet for a mostly fearless game. But this situation means that Chet is willing to flop when trying to establish position against one of the smallest guys on the court or that Chet's two pounds of offseason muscle gain wasn't exactly enough.

What's most amusing is that the Thunder had three Williamses in the game, and all three were assessed technicals in the aftermath. This should have once per game on account of the Thunder having two Jalen/Jaylin Williamses. It's not fair to the broadcast teams!

Ego Death Wish

Last week, Suns majority partner Mat Ishbia did a long interview with CNBC's Alex Sherman for the aptly-named CNBC Sport where he talked about his apparently liquidity crisis (Ishbia says it's not real), the fan experience in Phoenix, the prospects of expansion in Las Vegas, the next WNBA commissioner and more. One line of conversation is getting all of the attention: when Sherman asked Ishbia about lessons learned from the Kevin Durant trade. Ishbia took the bait and gobbled it up and vomited this back up.

You can watch the whole segment if you're concerned about cherry-picking. The clip above is fair, though. And per usual, while there remains plenty (plenty!) to critique about Durant's late career, he absolutely never misses when it comes to flame wars. Referencing Dillon Brooks' DUI and Bradley Beal's amnesty clause in back-to-back tweets? Iconic.

He could have also mentioned that Ishbia lied or misremembered the state of the Suns when he assumed control. They were, uh, a season and change removed from the NBA Finals and coming off of the franchise's best record of all time (64-18, the overall No. 1 seed in the league). Ishbia says he inherited an "8 or 9 seed" and agreed to the big trade splash. Ishbia's deal to buy the team was announced December 20, 2022. The Suns were No. 3 in the West at the time. Ishbia officially took control on February 7, 2023. The Suns were the No. 5 seed in the West at the time. Phoenix traded for Durant two days later.

Ishbia blames everyone else for the Durant trade, and says it was not aligned with his vision. (No word on who forced him to trade for Beal the following summer.) Ishbia says that after the failure of the Durant mini-era, he (Ishbia) decided to take stronger control and instill his vision for the team. The result was last year's Suns, a feel-good playoff team who got mercilessly swept in the first round. The jury is out on whether that team will amount to anything more than what the Durant-era Suns did (which was not much).

Ishbia says he wanted to get "extremely involved" with bringing in "the type of guy, the type of person" he wanted in the Suns organization, "not just on the court, but off the court." Let's take him at his word.

From ESPN in July 2022:

LOS ANGELES – Charlotte Hornets restricted free agent Miles Bridges is facing three felony domestic violence charges after being accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their two children last month, the Los Angeles County district attorney said Tuesday.

District Attorney George Gascon said his office filed one felony count of injuring a child's parent and two felony counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death. According to the DA's release, the case "includes an allegation of causing great bodily injury on the domestic violence victim." The DA's release noted that the children were present for the alleged assault but did not otherwise specify what the child abuse counts stemmed from.

From a Phoenix Suns press release on July 13, 2026:

The Phoenix Suns announced today that the team has completed a trade with the Charlotte Hornets, acquiring veteran forward Miles Bridges, a 2029 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick in exchange for guard Grayson Allen, forward Royce O’Neale and a 2033 first-round pick.

“Miles has established himself as a highly productive player whose game continues to evolve,” said Suns general manager Brian Gregory. “His elite athleticism, strength and versatility allow him to impact the game on both ends of the floor. He embodies the grit, competitiveness and work ethic that fit our identity, and we’re excited to welcome him to Phoenix.”

From Ishbia, in this interview on CNBC:

We have to define what we're about in Phoenix, and stick with it and believe in our vision and our path. I didn't do that at the beginning. I kind of just threw money at the problem. Now I got personally involved with every decision from the 14th man on the roster to the 1st man on the roster.

Well, at least now we know what Ishbia values.

Schedule

We have 11 games on Wednesday. By the end of the night, only two teams – the Nuggets and Cavaliers – will have yet to play a regular season game. All times Eastern. The most intriguing games are in bold.

Hawks at Magic, 7
Bucks at Wizards, 7
Timberwolves at Heat, 7:30, ESPN
Hornets at Nets, 7:30
Bulls at Raptors, 7:30
Jazz at Grizzlies, 8
Pacers at Pelicans, 8 – dirty business to put Tyrese Haliburton's official return to action in New Orleans on League Pass
Mavericks at Rockets, 8:30
Warriors at Lakers, 10, ESPN – with the state of the Pacific Time Zone teams we might need to move Texas to the West Coast
Suns at Blazers, 10
Kings at Clippers, 10:30 – one of these teams is going to start the season 1-0, that's crazy

Alright, be back on Thursday with recaps and highlights and maybe more. Be excellent to each other.