What happened: Brown cut to the basket and finished off a feed from James early against New York. The basket put Philadelphia ahead 8-5 in the 7 p.m. ET tip on opening night.

Why it matters: The sequence offered an early look at Philadelphia's reworked core built around a nine-year Celtic now in Philadelphia alongside James. Their two-man chemistry will define creation duties through the opener.

What to watch: Philadelphia's use of Brown on cuts off James will be worth tracking the rest of the night.