Taps micHello, hello, is this thing on?

Welcome back, everyone, to Philadelphia 76ers basketball. The squad tipped off their preseason schedule Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center when they hosted the New Zealand Breakers of Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL). (Yes, they’re the only New Zealand team in the otherwise all-Australian league.)

The Sixers were comfortable throughout the entirety of this one, ultimately crushing the Breakers 139-84, but this sort of preseason kickoff isn’t planned for high-octane competition. This was an opportunity to put all the pieces of the Sixers squad, new and old, and see how everything is beginning to mesh. Neither Joel Embiid nor Paul George took part in this one, so fans will have to wait a little longer to see an accurate representation of the Sixers’ 2024-25 starting five. That being said, 19 Philadelphia players got to take the floor in Monday’s contest for their chance to get back into the groove of the game and maybe stand out to head coach Nick Nurse. Six ended up scoring in double-digits.

Now, of course, the NBL isn’t exactly on the same level as the NBA, so we won’t put too much stock in what we saw from the Sixers’ tonight, but quite a few players had some impressive aspects to their game Monday night. Plus the Phillies are off tonight and I need to remember how to write about basketball games anyway, so let’s do a Bell Ringer!

The Sixers will next take on the Timberwolves Friday night in Iowa at 7 p.m. ET. Until then, let’s look at what stood out tonight.

Tyrese Maxey

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Maxey played all 12 minutes of the first period and didn’t seem to need even a moment to shake the rust off, especially shooting-wise. He quickly racked up 15 points by way of shooting 4-for-5 from beyond the arc with his long range shot looking silky smooth. He also had three assists in the frame. Light work for the young guard hoping to improve even more as a player coming off his first All-Star season in 2023-24. Maxey was rewarded for his efforts with the rest of the evening off.

Andre Drummond

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Andre Drummond wasted no time in his first time back in a Sixers uniform, winning the tip-off, scoring the first bucket of the game and officially kicking off a new years of Sixers basketball. He was fighting for every rebound and was active on defense. He shot 5-for-7 from the floor with seven rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in 14:19.

Most surprising, however, was Drummond sinking a corner three just a few minutes into the game. As we all were expecting Drummond to do, right? After sinking one, Drummond attempted another triple just moments later. It missed, but the idea of him taking those shots is certainly interesting. To give some context, Drummond has played in 864 games across 12 seasons in the NBA. He has attempted just 120 triples total—and 31 of those were from the backcourt. Now, he is a career 12.5% three-point shooter, so no getting too excited yet, but just the prospect of Drummond hitting even the occasional three here and there could be a huge addition to what he already brings to this Sixers squad.

Ricky Council IV

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RC4 seems to be picking up right where he left off in the NBA Summer League: physicality, high energy all over the court, athletic high-flying dunks, drawing fouls and hitting shots. Council did all of the above to go 5-for-5 from the floor (one triple) and 2-for-4 from the line for 13 points in 22:16 on Monday.

Council continues to turn heads with his skillset every time he’s given an opportunity with the Sixers. He has the pace and the moves with the ball to get around defenders and, if all else fails, he has zero fear in charging straight into them to finish at the rim and draw fouls. It will be interesting to see how RC4 factors into Nurse’s rotation if he keeps up this level of play.

Guerschon Yabusele

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I am extremely curious to see how Guerschon Yabusele performs as the Sixers continue preseason, and tonight only made me more eager to see it play out. On Monday night, Yabusele shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the field (including a 27-foot triple) for 15 points and looked aggressive, confident and steady through contact in 16:30 on the floor.

The question remains, however, whether these things will hold up against an actual NBA squad with actual NBA-sized players. Friday night will be the first real test for Yabusele when the Sixers take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jared McCain

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McCain stumbled a bit out of the gate but recovered quickly on Monday night. He was subbed in late in the second period and almost instantaneously picked up a pair of fouls on defense and he missed his first jump shot attempt. The rookie stayed confident, however, firing off and sinking his next three jumpers, all from beyond the arc. One of those triples, the first of two back-to-back in the video below, featured little to no dip of the ball in the catch-and-shoot motion—very Nic Batum-like (so long, sweet prince).

Was it perfect? Nope, not even a little. McCain ended up with 15 points on just 5-for-14 field goal shooting in 27:39 on the floor. But, though the shots aren’t all falling just yet, he’s shooting often and confidently, especially for a rookie. He also showed good aggression on the glass, pulling in seven rebounds, two on the offensive end.

Reggie Jackson

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Like a true veteran about to enter his 14th season in the NBA, Jackson got in the game and went right to work really without even the slightest hitch. He was subbed into the game for the first time in the second half and, in just 9:40 on the floor, Jackson put up 15 points. He shot 5-for-7 from the floor, 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 from the line. He tacked on two assists and a steal, showed off some crossover moves for good measure and said goodnight. This is likely exactly what the Sixers will want from Jackson this season: to come in off the bench and provide a quick, simple scoring boost. So far, so good.