LeBron James has been here before, but the 76ers superstar isn’t ready to start talking about another NBA Finals appearance just yet.
Philadelphia improved to 8-1 on Wednesday night with a 112-106 victory over the Detroit Pistons, avenging its only loss of the season.
Despite the impressive start, James was quick to shut down any championship expectations.
“It’s too early to be talking about the Finals and things of that nature on Nov. 4,” James said, according to ESPN. “So we’ll continue just to buy into what we want to do. … We got a good team. Guys vibe with one another, guys like each other, guys enjoy being around each other.”
Interestingly, history suggests Philadelphia could be heading towards something special.
The previous four times James has started a season 7-1 or better, his team has reached the NBA Finals, winning three championships across those appearances.
The 76ers are also off to their first 4-0 road start since the 2000-01 season, when they last reached the Finals.
James believes the key to maintaining that success comes down to consistency.
“Those teams just had consistency throughout the whole year, and every day we wanted to get better, every day,” James said. “We didn’t want to take too many steps backwards. Like I said, it can happen throughout the course of a marathon, but we understood what the assignment was and we all held each other accountable. And I think early on, I kind of see that here as well.”
Philadelphia’s latest victory was powered by Jaylen Brown, who finished with a season-high 30 points and delivered a crucial late block on Cade Cunningham.
Joel Embiid added 26 points and 15 rebounds, while James contributed 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Head coach Nick Nurse echoed James’ cautious approach.
“I wouldn’t read any super long-term stuff into anything, cause it’s early,” Nurse said. “I think we feel like that was another game where it feels like we’re getting a touch better. … But the goal right now is to stretch out those good periods of play and minimize those bad periods of play.”
Philadelphia now heads to Cleveland on Friday, where James will face the franchise that drafted him.
“We know we got a long way to go,” James said.
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