The 76ers’ new look provides a glimpse of what could happen against the defending champion Knicks

NEW YORK — The bottom line is that the New York Knicks didn’t do it to want leave VJ Edgecombe alone.

For example, all things being equal, one would imagine they would prefer to cover a player who averaged 16 points per game and converted 61 percent of his point-blank tries as a rookie for the Philadelphia 76ers, and who has the kind of rocket propulsion in his calves that allows him to elevate and blast over defenders at the rim. He’s not the type of guy you generally like to leave open.

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It’s just that, well, Tyrese Maxey had the ball early in the game, and he’s an All-NBA blitz who looked like the best player on the court for most of Tuesday’s season-opening contest at Madison Square Garden. So when he dribbled a high ball screen late in the fourth quarter, after watching him weave his way through their defense multiple times, the Knicks decided to blitz him to try to get the ball out of his hands.

That strategy worked well for the Knicks during their second-round sweep of the Sixers last spring, as they blasted their way through the Eastern Conference en route to the NBA title they spent early Tuesday evening celebrating. This time, however, Maxey was ready, sliding the ball through the blitz to a now healthy and visibly thinner Joel Embiid, who had set the ball screen and was ready to take the ball from Maxey at the foul line and extend the play.

Embiid, you may recall, was the MVP of the entire stinking league a few seasons ago and can still look like one of the most dominant offensive players in the world when he’s right. The Knicks didn’t want to let him run wild either; they would have Really I prefer someone to help the low man as he steps up to stop the ball, pinching the corners to protect the paint.

The fact is, however, that after Philadelphia’s stunning summer makeover, one of those corners was occupied by Jaylen Brown, who averaged 28.7 points per game last season. The other was occupied by LeBron James, who, as you may have heard, is the leading scorer in the history of the sport.

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You don’t want to leave either of them those neither do single guys. And so…

…VJ gets a layup or is fouled.

“If I can score like that the whole game,” Edgecombe said, smiling to reporters after the game, “that suits me perfectly.”

You’d think the rest of the Sixers would be too.

Those inside buckets helped keep New York at arm’s length late in the fourth quarter Tuesday — a night where the Knicks started with a coronation, but ended with the bitter taste of a 106-100 loss to their Atlantic Division rivals.

“That’s what we wanted to do: be a little spoilery,” said Brown, who went to Philadelphia in a blockbuster trade with the Boston Celtics this summer and finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in his first trip as a Sixer. “Obviously what the Knicks have accomplished is great. But it’s a new season, a new year.”

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And the 76ers are a new team. Brown and James (14 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists) bring a combination of offensive firepower, defensive versatility and hard-earned experience at the highest level to a franchise that hasn’t advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 2001. Two lesser newcomers, guards Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, played crucial roles Tuesday, combining to knock down five 3-pointers to help the team’s offense Philly got unstuck and put the defending champions on their heels.

“It was unbelievably huge tonight,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “I thought we were generating a bunch of wide open 3s and nobody could throw one. And those guys kind of broke through and moved the scoreboard for us.”

Both teams struggled to advance the scoreboard early on. A Knicks team perhaps a little emotionally drained after receiving their championship rings and watching a banner raised to the rafters at Madison Square Garden shot just 37 percent from the field in the first quarter. A Philly team still getting to know each other wasn’t much better, shooting just 40.9% in the opening period. Both teams missed 15 of their first 19 3-point attempts, trading stagnant possessions, fouls and free throws in a tough affair.

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After entering halftime trailing by four, the Sixers began to shift into high gear in the third. They scored just 12 field goals in 27 tries, but all 12 were assisted — proof that, despite many pundits’ doom-laden dictum that “there’s only one ball,” Philly’s players were determined to share the wealth.

“We’re getting into some action,” Nurse said. “We take the next read, and guys are just trying to read where the ball is supposed to go. I think we’re just making good decisions, and I think you could tell almost anyone about that. Obviously, I thought Joel made some huge ones, LeBron made some big ones, but I think Tyrese made some big ones, too. So, again, just keep trying to make the right play.”

They showed that commitment on the other end as well. The Sixers held New York to 18 points on 5-for-21 shooting in the third quarter, which they closed with a 14-2 run capped by a buzzer-beating triple from Brown that sent Philly into the fourth with seven points; they would maintain the lead throughout the fourth, keeping Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Co. at bay.

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“This third quarter just gives you a glimpse of what we can become,” Embiid said.

The Sixers held the champs to just 14 points in the paint after intermission. For the game, they forced 14 Knicks turnovers and turned them into 22 points, including a number in the blink of an eye. They scored 1.8 points per play in transition Tuesday and an absurd 2.2 points per steal, according to Cleaning the Glass — a level of offensive efficiency after a change of possession that can help you overcome a shaky shooting night.

They spun on a rope, closed in hard on shooters and forced Drivers to attack Embiid, who was hobbled and largely immobile when these two teams met in the playoffs but looked noticeably more agile on Tuesday. He blocked three shots, altered several others and came away with two steals — an impressive and encouraging performance for a player who needs to be great defensively for Philly to get where it wants to go and who didn’t hesitate to say Tuesday that he feels like he’ll return to All-Defensive form this season.

“I told Tyrese after the game: We’ve been playing these guys for two years, and it was — tonight was a little different than the past,” Embiid said.

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What seemed different to you?

“We have the talent,” Embiid said. “I just think we’re more focused in everything we do. Just being locked in on every possession. Defensively, I think a lot of that is on me, and I’m going to take care of that. If I want to (be on) the All-Defensive team like previous seasons, everything changes. If I can (do that) every night, which I will, everything changes.”

The ceiling could be even higher if Maxey – who scored a game-high 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting with 5 assists – continues to play like the No. 1 option even when surrounded by All-Stars. Just as notable as his relentless pace with the ball in his hands, the seventh-year guard also added three blocks and three steals – the last of which led to a quick dunk that gave the Sixers a six-point lead with 1:52 left.