Key Takeaways
- LeBron James called the Philadelphia 76ers’ ring-night victory over the New York Knicks “pretty special.”
- Philadelphia’s win marked James’ first winning regular-season debut with a new team.
- James said basketball fans can expect the 76ers to have more "bumps in the road" as they get used to playing with each other.
The new-look Philadelphia 76ers may be far from perfect, but they sure know how to put up a fight when it counts. On Tuesday (Oct. 20) night at Madison Square Garden, the franchise, which acquired LeBron James and Jaylen Brown over the summer, handed the New York Knicks a 106-100 loss. On their ring night, at that!
For his regular-season debut with Philadelphia, the father of three managed to put up 14 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Definitely not the highest numbers across the board, with Brown scoring 19 points and Tyrese Maxey (who James said “definitely influenced” his decision to sign with the 76ers) putting up a whopping 28, but those are no small numbers by any means. Interestingly enough, last night also marked the first time James won a regular-season debut with a new team, albeit by a fairly narrow margin.
Speaking with SportsCenter after the victory, James was asked about his takeaways from the game. “Still getting my rhythm,” he responded, adding that he’s “a little bit over two weeks with the new squad.” He went on to praise the team’s defense and noted that while they “didn’t shoot the ball well,” they have capable shooters.
James was later asked whether he enjoyed “getting a win on somebody else’s ring night,” to which he hilariously answered, “Yeah, I do. It’s pretty special.” Watch the video below.
The Philadelphia 76ers still have plenty of room for improvement, LeBron James acknowledges
Despite beating last season’s NBA champions, James evidently isn’t letting the victory go to his head. In fact, he acknowledged that the 76ers had their fair share of turnovers and missed opportunities to get shots off against the Knicks.
“We'll have some of those moments in the early run of the season,” James told reporters after the game, per Yahoo! Sports. “We're still new to each other. We had a couple of moments where we had some turnovers that [were] kind of unforced. We had some moments where we had some open looks, and we didn't take it.”
He continued, “And that will happen early on in the season, as we continue to build, as we continue to build our offensive sets, build our defensive sets. We will have some bumps in the road at times. But I think tonight, when we had those bumps in the road — which a good team will usually do — we were able to use what happened previously and then make the adjustment.”
Up next, the 76ers will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday (Oct. 22) at 7 p.m. ET before going head-to-head with the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons over the weekend. In the meantime, revisit some of the best moments from their win over the Knicks below.