PHILADELPHIA — Jared McCain didn’t do much to celebrate it, but the number had loomed large since summer.

Twenty-three was the figure. That’s how many games McCain played as a rookie before his head hit the court against the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 13, 2024, and, though surviving a concussion check, he came away with a torn meniscus in his left knee.

Surgery ended his promising rookie season one shy of two dozen games.

So one of the first objectives this summer — even delayed by a torn thumb ligament on the eve of training camp — was to blaze new territory in his pro career by getting past 23 games.

The first Game No. 24 of his NBA career came Jan. 3 at Madison Square Garden. And while McCain didn’t do much to mark the occasion, it’s a hurdle he knows he’s cleared.

“I think that was one of the top ones, just being able to go past what I did last year,” McCain said Thursday before Game No. 26, a 131-110 win over Washington. “I think that was the best thing about it, and finally doing that, it’s a mini-accomplishment that I can have as a win for myself.”

McCain’s sophomore season hasn’t been easy. He’s grateful to stack granular wins as he tries to build back up to the pace of last December when the 16th overall pick in the 2024 Draft became a Rookie of the Year frontrunner.

This year’s challenge has been way different. McCain, as thoughtful an NBA player as there is, understands the reasons why, offering a more nuanced view than just panic at seeing numbers that were large last year dwindle this year.

Much of the reason for that, he knows, is the team around him. He’s the second-unit point guard on a 20-15 76ers team. Last year, the 76ers started 7-16 on the way to a 24-58 disaster.

Given the option of contributing more points to a worse team or contributing fewer points to a winning one, it’s not much of a choice for McCain.

“Last year, we weren’t that good at all, and I was able to have a bigger opportunity in different ways,” he said. “So I’m just looking at this year, you’ve got to look at it differently. You have to. Because we’re winning way more, and it’s a part of this process of as a young player, going through it. I look at it as I’m playing on a winning team, and that’s all that really matters.”

McCain has struggled, which he will admit.

He averaged 15.3 points, 2.6 assists and 25.7 minutes per game last year. This season, it’s down to 18.8 minutes, 6.7 points and 1.8 assists.

His overall shooting percentage has fallen nearly 12 points to 34.4, and he’s struggling at 31.9 percent from 3-point range after hitting at a 38.3 percent clip last year.

Some of the output skews lowers due to physical limitations from the injuries. He played with a knee brace that he loathed for much of his first dozen or so games, as well as a brace on the injured thumb. He’s only now getting back to full explosiveness, a differentiator for the 6-3 guard.

Some numbers aren’t as worrisome as they appear. His rebounding is way up per 100 possessions, from 4.7 last year to 6.3.

His assist number is actually relatively flat when you control for time on court — 5.0 per 100 possessions last year, 4.5 this year — he’s averaging a full steal more per 100 possessions at 2.2 this year.

He has at times looked tentative to pull the trigger on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. He hasn’t gotten long stretches to settle into games.

For the 76ers, that’s due to more roster health and the emergence of rookie VJ Edgecombe, both clear net positives.

He has a coach that understands the toll taken by 10 months between games, Nick Nurse reiterating this week that McCain just needs time.

McCain, who talks openly about his mental skills routine, is aware of and actively engaged in contextualizing all those numbers.

“You’ve got to look at it like that,” he said. “It’s tough when you obviously want to put up the same numbers or more and do what I did last year. But it’s different. It’s a different team, and you’ve just got to take the small wins as you can, and try to do my best to just help this team win.”

McCain is focusing on the process. He’s making an effort not to get frustrated on the court, after missed shots or short stints.

He’s trying to be more aggressive, even when playing off the ball. He’s not fixating on headline numbers and instead trying to focus on things like plus/minus or how he affects teammates as a fuller measure of his production.

In the series of firsts, this is one of the first instances as a pro that McCain has struggled. He’s embracing it, he’s working through it, and he’s hopeful that they’re temporary, backed by confidence in the player he knows himself to be.

Having a milestone like Game No. 24 is a boost to that.

“I think you’ve got to take any small win that you can,” he said. “And that’s one of those I talked to my family about, just happy that I’m past it and trying to get through a whole season now, just be healthy is kind of the main thing is.”