Jaylen Brown scored 22 first-half points against the full New York Knicks lineup, leading the Sixers to a comfortable 120-97 victory with Joel Embiid, LeBron James, and Tyrese Maxey watching in street clothes.

Here’s what I saw.

Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe, pretty good

The other veteran stars sat out for a variety of reasons, so Jaylen Brown had an opportunity to play the sort of role he served on last year’s No. 2 seed Celtics. Turns out, he’s still pretty damn good at that, as he led all scorers in the game before taking his seat on the sidelines for the second half.

Anyone who watched Brown torture the Sixers for years had to be over the moon watching the wing do his thing for Philadelphia. The Knicks have arguably the best wing defense combo in the league between OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, but Brown did an outstanding job of forcing switches and then hitting New York’s pain points out of those looks. He had Karl-Anthony Towns on an island in the first half, waited for him to take a half step backwards and canned a pull-up three over his head. With Knicks guards like Jalen Brunson or Jordan Clarkson making attempts to defend him, he shot over them from the midrange or burrowed his way inside, where he had a few tough finishes through contact.

Questions about their offensive style will remain, because Brown did play iso-heavy ball for most of the first half, focusing more on winning favorable matchups than trying to swing the ball or get others involved. This wasn’t a particularly inventive night on offense, but dwelling on that would really be reaching for a reason to be upset. Brown was the best player on the floor and carried himself like it in the halfcourt, while playing a more democratic style when Philly tried to push the pace on the break. To me, that’s the right balance for the group they had available.

Brown would ultimately finish with 22 first-half points in 17 minutes on a hyper-efficient 8/13 from the field, which is more impressive when you consider that he started off with a couple misses before eventually finding the bottom of the net. He certainly has the look of a man who can carry a significant scoring load when Embiid and James get nights off this season, and if this is a preview of what is to come, this is going to be a thrill ride of a season.

Alongside Brown, VJ Edgecombe could not find his touch on threes against New York, missing all of his attempts after a scintillating shooting summer for his national team. But he did everything else at an A+ level, serving as the team’s de facto point guard as he filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, four rebounds, and seven assists. The most noteworthy part of his game was Edgecombe’s decisiveness moving downhill, with the second-year guard seizing on even the slightest bit of space from loose or late Knicks rotations. Attacking teams out of those situations is going to be a huge portion of his offense while playing with the full starting lineup, and his combination of speed and instincts is a killer combination from the wings.

Falling in line behind that duo, the Sixers cruised against a Knicks team playing all of their regulars in the first half, with Philadelphia building a 14-point lead before both teams emptied the benches. Good night of work.

Fingers crossed for Ariel Hukporti

Ariel Hukporti has shown some promising signs early in the preseason, flashing some nifty playmaking at the center position to set himself apart from Adem Bona. Monday night was an opportunity to show and prove against his former teammates in New York, but his night was cut short early by a non-contact injury.

We will all hope that Hukporti’s injury is not as bad as it looked, because the mind immediately drifted to the Achilles based on how it happened and where he grabbed after he went down. That would be a pretty serious long-term issue for the Sixers, who were facing questions at the backup center spot with Hukporti, and it’s also a short-term problem with Adem Bona still out due to a foot sprain. The Sixers can theoretically have anyone eat minutes as a small-ball center during the preseason without caring about wins and losses, but they’re going to have to cobble together a plan to at least get to the season opener.

With Hukporti down less than five minutes into this game, it became a bit difficult to gauge what the Sixers are going to look like on the defensive glass. The Knicks are maybe the worst team in the league to go against with a shorthanded frontcourt, so even as Philly strung together stops and rotated well, New York was able to extend plays over and over again against height-challenged lineups. Maybe that holds against the “real” Sixers, but I’d like to see how it looks with Joel Embiid and LeBron James in their respective spots on the floor. In any case, get well soon, Ariel.

Jabari Walker builds a bit of momentum

Philadelphia’s reserve forward is in a perilous spot, playing on a deal that isn’t fully guaranteed for a team with a lot of pressure to make every roster spot count. But Walker is doing everything he can to show he might deserve an actual role on this team, let alone that spot on the roster.

After a nice outing in the Sixers’ Blue & White scrimmage, Walker came out firing against the Knicks, going 3/5 from downtown with a release that looked noticeably faster compared to a year ago. Perhaps that’s as simple as Walker seeing the roster and knowing spot-up jumpers may be all he gets this season, but the volume and speed of release are an important early sign for a player who has been reluctant to get jumpers up as a pro.

His trademark energy and commitment to rebounding was there, too, with Walker pulling down 11 rebounds (9 defensive) in just over 19 minutes of action. He might not have the off-the-bounce game or switchability of a guy like Dominick Barlow, but if he ends possessions and makes threes, Walker will have a very strong case for backup frontcourt minutes.

Everything but the makes

I am admittedly a Labaron Philon optimist, but this felt like an offensive game that had everything outside of easily makeable shots. Philon created separation with his handle, fired some beautiful dimes through tight passing windows, and just could not seem to get anything to drop. If he had been hoisting tightly contested shots all night, maybe I’d have concern about his frame limiting his impact, but almost all his shots were clean looks that I’d bet on him to make on another night.

You can certainly see why Nick Nurse has been happy with his performance as a lead ball-handler in camp. Philon’s No. 1 focus appears to be managing the team and playing setup man, and he led a backup group in the second half that moved the ball well and played with good pace in the half-court.