There’s Sixers basketball in South Philly tonight, but several key starters to sit out preseason opener

After about as special an offseason as any Sixers fan can remember, the team will be out on the floor Monday night as they host the defending champion New York Knicks.

It’s hard to preview much of this one because we don’t know who will play. The Sixers are relatively healthy as we saw during the Blue X White Scrimmage on Saturday. Nick Nurse said last week he wanted to see all the starters during the preseason at some point, but he wasn’t sure when that would happen.

The Sixers are in a unique and tricky spot. On one hand, they need as many reps as possible given literally half the roster is new. The starters will especially need time together to see how it all works with Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James and Joel Embiid. Then again, it’s a long season, and they’ll need James and Embiid to be as healthy as possible for when the games start to matter. Perhaps we’ll learn more at shootaround or when Nurse talks pregame.

As we’re all painfully aware, the Knicks are coming off a dominant run to their first championship since 1973. Unlike the Sixers, their group has been together so long, building early chemistry likely isn’t as important as making sure they’re all healthy after a long summer. Jalen Brunson is fully cleared after undergoing left wrist surgery back in July. Again, though, you’d have to imagine the Finals MVP and his shooting wrist will be eased into action.

It should still be a fun night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. You should get to see newcomers like Dean Wade and former Knick Ariel Hukporti, who will both potentially have big roles this season. Rookie Labaron Philon, who could push for minutes this year, will also get a taste of higher level NBA competition.

It does seem more likely we’d get to see the full starting five, including James and Embiid, at home than on the road, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Update: 1:53 p.m. ET: Sixers fans will in fact not see the full new starting five in the preseason opener, but they will see some new faces. Tony Jones of the Athletic has reported that LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Anfernee Simons, Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona are all out for the preseason opener vs. the Knicks.

There is no reason to be concerned about those first three names, they were always going to have a light preseason. Simons and Barlow both sat out the Blue and White scrimmage over the weekend, it seems they’ve picked up some training camp bumps and bruises, but the team hasn’t officially announced any injury for either player. Bona of course sprained his foot over the summer and the team hopes he will be back soon.

So while 60% of the starting lineup will sit this one out, it will be worth tuning in to see Jaylen Brown’s first game as a Sixer. With Simons out as well, rookie Labaron Philon Jr. should get a lot of run in this one as well.

Game Details

When: Monday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBCSP+/NBA TV
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow:@LibertyBallers