NEW YORK — LeBron James is truly up and running as a Philadelphia 76er. 

James made his Sixers preseason debut Thursday night at Barclays Center and played a strong first half in the team’s 114-108 loss to the Nets. 

The four-time MVP logged 18 minutes and scored 10 highly efficient points, going 1 for 1 from the field and 8 for 8 at the foul line. He added five assists and four rebounds. 

Jaylen Brown was the Sixers’ top scorer with 18 points and Tyrese Maxey tallied 14. 

The Sixers were without Ariel Hukporti (right Achilles tendon tear), Adem Bona (left foot sprain), Anfernee Simons (hamstring), Dominick Barlow (back) and Tacko Fall (left hip strain). Here’s a full rundown on the team’s injury picture.

Next up for the Sixers is their third of four preseason games Saturday against the Celtics in Boston. Here are observations on their defeat to the Nets:

James gets right to work with special passing 

James’ pregame introduction in the Sixers’ starting lineup prompted a massive swell of noise. A bright spotlight will be on the Sixers wherever they go this season. 

Once the action began, the team wasted no time flashing its immense offensive potential. The Sixers started 7 for 8 from the floor.

VJ Edgecombe leaked out for a fast-break layup to get the Sixers on the scoreboard. When healthy, the star-stuffed Sixers should be a menacing team in transition. 

While they don’t appear to have installed a vast half-court playbook yet, the Sixers generally looked sharp out of the gates with both designed sets and improvisation. 

James should be a giant help as an elite passer and world-class offensive organizer. He notched all five of his assists in the first quarter, including a clever one-handed pass that set Edgecombe up for a slam.

“He’s a great, great passer and that was certainly on display tonight … I thought he really read the game well,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said.

On another eye-catching play, Maxey slipped open, James rifled the ball to him, and the Sixers’ All-NBA guard sunk a wing three-pointer. 

“It’s a small sample size,” James said. “We’re still trying to learn each other on the floor, still trying to put each other in positions to be successful and complement each other the best way we can. It’s going to take some time.”

Rotation blueprint 

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dean Wade and Jabari Walker were the first men off of the Sixers’ bench. 

Brown and Edgecombe were the last starters on the floor with the second unit. James then replaced Brown for the final minute and 50 seconds of the first quarter. The starters all came back together for the final few minutes of the first half. 

Labaron Philon Jr. and Justin Edwards joined the rotation in the second quarter. Philon was ready to roll, draining a catch-and-shoot three on his first touch.

Simons, Bona and Barlow should be in the rotation mix once available, but Thursday was a decent indication of Nurse’s current broad blueprint for using his bench and staggering the stars. He’s clearly a fan of the Brown-Edgecombe duo, which impressed Monday in the Sixers’ preseason opener vs. the Knicks.

Rusty first game for Embiid 

Embiid had an odd second quarter and was far from his A-game overall.

He got whistled for a technical foul after expressing vehement disagreement about multiple calls and missed an easy, flat-footed layup in transition. The seven-time All-Star big man posted six points on 1-for-5 shooting, three rebounds, three assists and eight turnovers in 23 minutes.

Of course, preseason rust is common and not automatic cause for deep concern. 

“Jo got 23 minutes there. … That was good to see,” Nurse said. “Good to get him out there. I thought he ran the floor pretty well. He just needs to get some rust off, get out there and get playing. … Obviously, he can play a lot better than that. He’d be the first one to say that. But I’m extremely happy that he was out there with the group and I thought he was playing very hard, which was great to see.”

The Sixers held a two-point halftime lead and kept Embiid, Brown and Edgecombe on the court until around the midpoint of the third quarter. From that point, the Sixers’ bench players closed out the night. They ended the game well and cut Brooklyn’s lead down to 109-108 on a late Edwards three, but the youthful Nets ultimately secured the win.