James, entering a record-extending 24th NBA season, made his first appearance alongside new teammates Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, who was acquired from the Boston Celtics. The 41-year-old superstar connected on his lone field-goal attempt and made all eight of his free throws, adding four rebounds, five assists and a steal in 18 minutes and 4 seconds of first-half action.
"It felt a little different," James said. "Obviously, just wearing a new uniform, but the game is the game." He noted the team is still working on complementing each other and that Thursday was "a good sample size for us to build on."
Brown led all scorers with 18 points. Julius Randle had 14 for the Nets, who outscored the Sixers 37-23 in the third quarter to take control.
76ers coach Nick Nurse said he saw "some really good things happening right off the bat" from the starters. He pointed to back cuts and good passing but also turnovers and "clunky segments," attributing them to it being the first preseason game together.
The 76ers have two more preseason games against Boston before opening the regular season against the defending champion Celtics.