Observations after Philon and Broome help Sixers win summer league opener originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers are up and running with a victory to kick off their summer.
The team earned a 101-93 win over the Pistons on Thursday night in its first game of the Las Vegas summer league.
Dante Maddox Jr. scored 21 points and Isaac Johnson added 20.
Johni Broome tallied 19 points and 13 rebounds. No. 22 pick Labaron Philon Jr. had 18 points and seven assists.
The Sixers’ second game of the summer will be Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET against the Pacers. Here are observations on their opener:
Philon on his game off the bat
Philon couldn’t have started any better. He drilled a three-pointer on the game’s first play.
On the Sixers’ second possession, Philon assisted a Broome pick-and-pop jumper. Next time down, Philon grabbed a long offensive rebound and swished another three-ball to put the Sixers up 9-2.
Philon’s ball handling appeared to be at a different level to everyone else on the court. He displayed an advanced ability to string together moves and was ultra-confident using all sorts of crossovers, behind-the-backs and tricky changes in paces. Even when the end product wasn’t a highlight, Philon’s handling allowed him to consistently create space and be comfortable.
The 20-year-old’s passing was another plus. He regularly recognized when he’d drawn the defense’s attention and could feed an open teammate.
Philon cooled off as a shooter (6 for 19 from the floor, 4 for 10 from three-point range), but his offensive skills certainly popped and he helped the Sixers ice the win by canning a jumper in the final minute.
Maddox and Johnson show off shotmaking
Maddox split point guard duties with Philon and had a hot start as well, sinking two early three-pointers and scoring 10 first-quarter points.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Maddox was MVP of the BNXT League last year, posting 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game for Belgian team Okapi Aalstar. He shot 44.5 percent from beyond the arc on nearly seven attempts per game in a highly productive first professional season.
Once the Sixers turned to their bench, Johnson was a standout. He racked up 14 points in the first five minutes of the second quarter and nailed three triples.
Johnson is clearly a skilled center. The 7-footer played his final college season at Hawaii last year and averaged 14.1 points and 5.8 rebounds. Strong first impression of the summer.
Broome does his thing to start Year 2 summer
Broome began the game at center and later shared a frontcourt with Johnson.
It remains obvious that Broome won’t win many battles with conventional athleticism, although he did throw a dunk between two defenders late in the second quarter off of a Philon dish.
Broome usually has most of his success via instincts and physicality. The No. 35 pick in the 2025 NBA draft has proven that those traits enable him to post big numbers in the G League and summer league.
Of course, the major question is whether Broome can become an NBA contributor. He’s surely below Joel Embiid, Adem Bona and Ariel Hukporti on the Sixers’ current center depth chart.