Philadelphia 76ers: 3 takeaways from 2017-18 season opener

Although they came up short, there were some incredibly promising signs for the Philadelphia 76ers in their season-opening game.

Despite falling 120-115 in their season-opening game to the Washington Wizards, the Philadelphia 76ers gave a glimpse of why their future looks so bright. Down 116-113 with 20 seconds, J.J. Redick got a great look out of a timeout for a game-tying 3-pointer. Although the shot rimmed out, the Sixers demonstrated why their fortunes were so highly anticipated entering the season.

Forward Robert Covington led the way with a game-high 29 points, hitting 7-of-11 from 3-point range. In addition, Covington also added seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Having missed his entire first season with a foot injury, Ben Simmons made up for lost time in posting 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals in his NBA debut.

After leading 59-56 at half time, the Sixers struggled in the third quarter, shooting just 8-of-23 from the field for 23 points while giving up 34 points to the Wizards. One notable from the game was the output of center Joel Embiid. On a minutes restriction throughout the preseason on his way back from a knee injury, Embiid was mentioned as possibly playing just 16 minutes this contest.

But with his backup Amir Johnson fouling out in 15 minutes, and another backup Richaun Holmes unavailable, Embiid far exceeded expectations in playing 27 minutes. Naturally he impressed, posting 18 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. The sight of Embiid, Simmons and another first-timer, Markelle Fultz, made for an amazing trade for Sixers fans who have endured quite a lot in recent years.

Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, came off the bench and impressed in notching 10 points and three rebounds in 18 minutes of action.

Despite the loss, head coach Brett Brown was understandably positive about what he witnessed:

"“I was proud of them. I think to come into this building, and play a team like that, a veteran team that’s been in the playoffs, deep in the playoffs some years. And you look up with 1:30 left and be down two, that’s a good reason to be happy with a lot of what you saw….But by in large, my immediate thoughts when leaving the building were there were lots of positives.”"

So after such a promising performance, here are three noteworthy takeaways from the game.