October 02, 2025
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
VJ Edgecombe's first NBA preseason game featured plenty of tantalizing flashes.
The Sixers and New York Knicks kicked off the NBA's 2025 preseason slate on Thursday afternoon in the first of a pair of exhibitions between the two teams in Abu Dhabi.
While preseason wins and losses are largely immaterial, the Sixers lost their preseason opener, 99-84, officially beginning their 2025-26 campaign with an ice-cold 3-of-35 three-point shooting performance.
Joel Embiid, Paul George, Jared McCain, Quentin Grimes and Trendon Watford were all out for the Sixers, while New York's only significant absence was starting wing OG Anunoby. Tyrese Maxey started alongside No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe in the backcourt, with Kelly Oubre Jr. on the wing and a big pairing of Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona. New York's starting five included All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
A running log of sorts from Thursday's action, with observations ranging from standout performers to rotation notes and everything in between:
• Adem Bona had a suboptimal beginning to his second NBA campaign, setting an illegal screen on the team's very first offensive possession. About a minute later, the Knicks scored their first basket when second-year wing Pacome Dadiet converted an and-one against Bona.
As the Sixers try to empower Bona as their backup center, the sophomore big must maintain discipline -- not just to avoid foul trouble, but to limit opposing teams' exposure to the free throw line. Bona is extremely bouncy, hunts blocks and has a motor that never stops. Some amount of fouling is entirely understandable. But early on in his rookie season, he incited whistles far too often. He made late-season progress on that front, but still has a ways to go.
• Bona remains a tremendous lob threat, and Edgecombe's best play early on ended with an alley-oop pass to Bona. Edgecombe made a stellar play, ripping the ball out of the hands of an elite rebounder in Mitchell Robinson, pushing the pace and hitting Bona with a perfect lob:
VJ ➡️ 🆎. pic.twitter.com/5NtgkrLxmH
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 2, 2025
• The Sixers applied backcourt pressure early on in this game, and it appeared to fluster a Knicks team likely not expecting to see such aggression. At one point in the opening minutes, the Sixers forced back-to-back turnovers behind half-court: first, Oubre tormented Mikal Bridges until he had a steal; Maxey scored as a result and then Dadiet was whistled for a travel trying to maneuver Sixers defenders.
• Edgecombe's opening stint lasted only three minutes and 20 seconds, and it became clear that head coach Nick Nurse was setting up the rookie to enter the game for Maxey later on and run point. That is exactly what happened, as about halfway through the opening frame Edgecombe rejoined the action as the Sixers' point guard. Nurse brought Maxey back in quickly thereafter, but Edgecombe remained on the ball a decent amount.
• In all, Nurse used 10 players in his regular rotation during the first quarter: the starting lineup of Maxey, Edgecombe, Oubre, Barlow and Bona, plus a bench unit comprised of Justin Edwards, Andre Drummond, Johni Broome, Eric Gordon and Jabari Walker. Like Bona, Drummond and Walker also picked up early pairs of fouls in quick stints.
• In need of some additional ball-handling, Nurse went to Kennedy Chandler to begin the second quarter. Chandler, an Exhibit 10 signee slated to eventually land with the Delaware Blue Coats and a former second-round pick, helped Edgecombe out with initiating offense. The Sixers went to a smaller lineup with Chandler, Edgecombe, Gordon, Oubre and Broome. If Gordon ends up in the opening night rotation -- a distinct possibility with McCain set to be sidelined -- he can fill a unique role as a floor-spacing shooting guard who functions as more of a big wing on defense. Gordon does not have much athletic pop left, but he is very strong and heady. He can guard up.
• If it could ever be made perfectly clear that the Sixers trust Gordon to defend much bigger players, it happened early on in this frame when he defended old friend Guerschon Yabusele. Yabusele, whose one-year stint with the Sixers was a major success, earned a two-year deal with a player option at the taxpayer's mid-level exception with the Knicks. He will be their third big, an interesting fit next to either Towns or Robinson. There were certainly many members of the Sixers happy to see Yabusele.
• Robinson has a 7-foot-4 wingspan and is one of the most feared shot-blocking threats in the NBA. But, apparently, Edgecombe did not find him so threatening. The rookie went for what would have been an absolutely insane poster dunk on Robinson, ultimately drawing a foul:
👀… y’all pic.twitter.com/20PdYzkefe
— PHLY Sixers (@PHLY_Sixers) October 2, 2025
• Sixers two-way rookie guard Hunter Sallis, the team's highest-priority undrafted free agent in June, checked into the game midway through the second quarter and immediately knocked down a mid-range jumper. Sallis should be expected to spend much of his season in the G League, as fellow two-way signees Barlow and Walker have much better chances of cracking Nurse's rotation in the regular season.
• In the first half, the Sixers attempted 20 three-point shots. Only one of them went in, a make from Edgecombe. So it was no surprise that they only scored 43 points prior to intermission; New York carried a 10-point lead into the halftime with a 4-for-19 line from beyond the arc. Edwards experienced particularly notable struggles from three-point range, missing all five of his tries in the first half.
• New York sat its starters to begin the second half, with Yabusele, Deuce McBride and Jordan Clarkson leading a lineup of key reserves (Josh Hart did not play a whole lot; as the Knicks' versatile forward was ejected in the first half). But the Sixers stuck with their starters as the third quarter got underway, perhaps trying to find some sort of offensive rhythm before calling it a night. Their offensive struggles had not been for a lack of trying. Some of their looks were goods ones, some were not, but none of them were going in.
• While the Knicks were able to find some offensive cohesion within their second unit in the third quarter, the Sixers had no such consistency. They continued to miss three-point shot after three-point shot, and as a result fell behind in a major way. By the time the third quarter had come and gone, the Sixers were trailing 81-57, having only made two of their first 27 long-range tries.
• Nurse brought Edgecombe back into the game to start the final frame, playing with two guards in Chandler and Sallis. Edgecombe was, at least nominally, a small forward on the defensive end. But he also operated with the ball in his hands a ton during that stretch on offense. With four young and talented guards on the roster, Nurse will have to get creative with the sorts of lineups he uses. Maximizing the potential minutes for Maxey, McCain, Grimes and Edgecombe should be among Nurse's most significant priorities.
Up next: The Sixers and Knicks will play one more game in Abu Dhabi, facing off on Saturday morning before returning home to finish out their preparations for the 2025-26 regular season.
