LeBron James posts 18 points, five assists

The 76ers won’t have VJ Edgecombe or Joel Embiid for Sunday’s game, resulting in two changes to the starting lineup. Caldwell-Pope will replace Edgecombe, marking his first start of the season. The other change is James, who returns after sitting out Saturday’s win over the Bucks. He’ll fill the void left by Embiid.

James is good to go after sitting out Saturday’s win over the Bucks. Dean Wade replaced him in the starting lineup, but both may start on Sunday since Joel Embiid (foot) is out.

Embiid said after Saturday’s win over the Bucks that he wouldn’t play Sunday, and the team has now made it official. LeBron James is not on the injury report after sitting out on Saturday, so he may see more playing time at center than he did in wins over the Knicks and Cavaliers.

Saturday went about as well as it could have for the 76ers. LeBron James (sciatica) didn’t play, which put more on Embiid’s plate. The big man did what was expected, recording his 10th career triple-double and dominating his matchup with Milwaukee’s Myles Turner. The 76ers face the Pistons on Sunday, and Embiid won’t play. That leaves it to LeBron to shoulder a heavier workload, provided he’s cleared to play.

Wade is available to make his 76ers debut after missing the first two games of the season. With LeBron James (back) out, Wade will move into the starting lineup, joining Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid.

With the 76ers as the only team with four games in Week 1, it was always unlikely that LeBron would play in all four. With Joel Embiid off the injury report Saturday, it seems like those roles could be reversed Sunday against the Pistons with Embiid sitting out and LeBron active.

LeBron had 17 points in the 76ers’ dramatic 29-point comeback against the Cavaliers on Thursday. With Philadelphia being the only team with four games in Week 1, it’s reasonable to assume James could sit for one of the games this weekend. The 41-year-old forward is listed as questionable for Saturday against the Bucks with a back injury. His status will have to be monitored leading up to game-time.

The 76ers were the only team with a four-game Week 1, which will conclude with a Saturday-Sunday back-to-back. Embiid sitting out one game of a back-to-back, especially this early in the season, is not a surprise. The only issue is that he didn’t reveal which game he’ll miss, with the 76ers hosting Milwaukee on Saturday and Detroit on Sunday. Given the strength of those teams, the Bucks may be the team that misses out on having to deal with “The Process.” Adem Bona or Jabari Walker could get a spot start, and LeBron James may spend a little more time at center as a small-ball alternative.

James was responsible for five of the 76ers’ 14 first-half turnovers, and the offensive inefficiency led to Philadelphia falling into a 29-point hole. LeBron was much better in the second half, recording a 12/7/4/1 stat line with no turnovers. While the field-goal percentage and turnovers could be problematic at times, fantasy managers rostering James don’t have much to worry about right now.

Year 24 for LeBron started off well. He wasn’t explosive as a scorer, but he isn’t expected to be for this team. Facilitating and staying fresh for the playoffs will be LeBron’s priority. Still, he was involved on offense, and if he made a few more shots, he shot enough that he would’ve been over 20 points. LeBron should once again be a productive fantasy player this season and could end up paying off at his early fourth-round ADP.