NEW YORK -- After all of the bells and whistles that was championship ring night for the New York Knicks, it was time for the Philadelphia 76ers to take the floor. Knicks PA announcer Mike Walczewski introduced the Sixers with LeBron James being introduced last.
"And at forward at 6'9" from St. Vincent-St. Mary's High, number 23, LeBron James."
The dream for Sixers fans became reality. The future Hall of Famer was officially making his debut for the franchise as he began his 24th season in the league, and it resulted in a 106-100 win over the Knicks after James finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
"I thought our defense in the second half," James pondered when asked about his debut. "I thought in the first half, we played good first stop defense, but we gave some second chance points. Offensive rebounds. They got some 3s off us not closing with a defensive rebound. I thought we were super conscious about that, being able to close glass and letting it to one shot."
To James' point, the Sixers were out-rebounded 27-19 in the first half before bouncing back to win the rebounding battle 22-20 in the second half. On top of the Sixers getting after it on the glass, they also made a defensive adjustment to have James defend Knicks star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. Despite his advanced age, James was able to slow him down and really make a difference. The move also allowed the Sixers to try some different things defensively to allow Philadelphia to find success.
"I mean, this is all a team effort," James stated. "I mean, obviously, I took the assignment, but when you got the voices behind you, and I'm just trying to, you know, make sure that VJ (Edgecombe) and JB (Jaylen Brown) and Reese (Tyrese Maxey) and the rest of the guys, because I can see if he's running different pick-and-rolls or whatever the case may be. So, just try to have that communication just at a high level."
Speaking of that "team effort" that James mentioned, there was a defensive possession late when James and Maxey teamed up for a big defensive play that essentially closed the game out. James forced Towns to make a quick decision and he made the wrong one. He made an errant pass and Maxey stepped in like a cornerback and went the other way for a game sealing dunk.
"That was more just like a read the play," James explained. "Obviously, KAT is very dangerous when he has space, and anytime that JB (Jalen Brunson) is head on the ball with KAT popping, it just creates a long closeout for guys trying to get to that shot. He catches it high, he shoots it high. He had a couple in the fourth quarter. So that was just me trying to read it, and if he was – JB, meaning Brunson – was able to throw the ball back to KAT, I wanted to be there on the catch and not give him no airspace. And Tyrese just playing centerfield was able to jump that and get that dunk. That was a big momentum play."
Tyrese Maxey comes up with a HUGE steal and score down the stretch.
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It's just one game of 82, but the Sixers have to like what they saw from James and Co. in the opening act. Their attention now turns to the home opener when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: LeBron James reacts to making Sixers debut after road win over Knicks