Tyrese Maxey scored a game-high 28 points Tuesday night for the visiting Philadelphia 76ers, who spoiled the New York Knicks’ ring and banner-raising ceremony with a 106-100 victory in the season opener for both teams.
Prior to the game, the Knicks received their championship rings from Walt “Clyde” Frazier — a member of the franchise’s previous title-winning teams in 1970 and 1973 and an analyst on New York’s television broadcast team — and raised the banner commemorating the long-awaited crown.
“We’re all trying to get the season going, we’re ready to turn the page as a team,” Knicks star Jalen Brunson said before the banner was raised. “But one thing I would like to say: The joy that this city had this summer, we would love to replicate that again.”
However, the 76ers, who were swept by the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals before adding Jaylen Brown and LeBron James over the summer, dampened the festivities by taking the lead for good with an 11-0 run to end the third quarter.
Brown (19 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and James (14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) produced strong debuts the 76ers, who haven’t won the title since 1983.
Brown was acquired from the Boston Celtics in a July 6 trade. James, the leading scorer in NBA history, signed a two-year deal in late July.
Former NBA MVP Joel Embiid had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Sixers while Anfernee Simons (13 points) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (10 points) each got into double figures off the bench.
Karl-Anthony Towns (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Andre Drummond (12 points, 14 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for the Knicks. Drummond, who spent the previous two seasons with the 76ers, was the lone major offseason addition for New York.
Brunson finished with 21 points but shot just 6-of-19 from the field. Josh Hart had 14 points while OG Anunoby added 10 points.
The Knicks held a trio of 10-point leads in the second quarter and trailed just once in the third before Brown had a pair of 3-pointers, including a buzzer-beating shot, to fuel the quarter-ending run that gave the 76ers an 83-76 lead.
Philadelphia extended the advantage to 87-78 on Maxey’s three-point play with 10:26 left before the Knicks went on a 17-9 run and pulled within one on Towns’ long 3-pointer with 4:37 remaining. The 76ers missed three shots on their next possession, but Brunson missed a potential go-ahead jumper and Embiid responded with a 3-pointer.
Towns drained another trey to cut the deficit to 100-98 with 2:40 remaining, but VJ Edgecombe dunked off an Embiid feed and the 76ers maintained a two-possession lead the rest of the way.
