Mathias Lessort makes a physical debut for 76ers

LAS VEGAS – Mathias Lessort showed a glimpse of what the 76ers will get in the future.

The 50th pick in the NBA displayed his rugged style Tuesday in an 88-83 NBA Summer League loss to the Boston Celtics at the Thomas and Mack Center.  The Frenchman had four points, four rebounds,  one steal, one assist, one turnover and one block in 13 minutes, 20 seconds of action.

"I showed I play with energy," he said. "That's my strength. I think that's what I brought to the team tonight."

This marked Lessort's first summer-league appearance after receiving FIBA clearance  Tuesday morning.  The reserve power forward had been training with the Sixers since the draft and was dying for the opportunity to play.

However,  the clearance took longer than expected.  As a result, Lessort was unable to compete in the summer-league training camp two weeks ago. So he remained in Philadelphia and Camden when the team competed in last week's Utah Jazz Summer League.

Lessort flew to Vegas on Thursday with the coaches and staff members who had stayed behind to work out players at the team's practice facility.  But with the clearance still on hold, Lessort missed the Sixers' first two games here.

The 250-pounder's strength was noticeable against Boston.

Lessort, who is listed at 6-foot-9 but is actually about 6-7, kept pushing taller Celtics post players off their spots. Early on, his aggressiveness got the best of him as he picked up three fouls in his first 4 minutes, 58 seconds on the floor. Then he seemed to settle down and had only  one more foul the rest of the way.  The 21-year-old had six pass deflections in the first half.

"He just disrupted the game," said assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, who is coaching the summer-league team here. "It was great for him. For him to have and sit and wait and finally get an opportunity, I think he made the most of it."

Another Frenchman, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, paced the Sixers (1-2) with a game-high 16 points on 4-for-13 shooting after missing Sunday's loss to the San Antonio Spurs with a lacerated lip. The shooting guard suffered the injury, which required five stitches, in the third quarter of Saturday's game against the Golden State Warriors.

Melo Trimble and Jonah Bolden had 13 points apiece for the Sixers. Alex Poythress had nine. Jayson Tatum and Jabari Bird both had 15 points for the Celtics (3-0).

No one really knew what to expect from Lessort.  But Pierce has expectations for the Sixers as they open the playoffs on Wednesday. They'll face the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center..

"Mathias now has to follow up what he did tonight,"  Pierce said. "Provide the same energy, stay within himself. That's his role. He's an effort, energy guy. He's an athlete. He's a rebounder. He has to follow up his performance tonight."

That's fine with Lessort, who wants to display the things he showed last season for Nanterre 92 in the French Pro A  league. He averaged 10.2 points and 7.4 rebounds.

"I think I can get more rebounds," he said. "I can get more [touches] … show that I can finish on the glass and show that I can shoot … and just show who I am and what I can do."

Lessort is scheduled to go back overseas for at least another season.  He is nearing a deal with Brose Bamberg in Germany, but he's in Vegas to get accustomed to the Sixers' style of play and coaching.