76ers beat the Knicks 106-100 on banner night as LeBron James scores three straight in his Philadelphia debut

The Knicks led 63-58 early in the third quarter. Then LeBron James scored Philadelphia's next three baskets: an alley-oop dunk from Jaylen Brown, a running layup off another Brown pass, and a running layup set up by Tyrese Maxey. The last one put the 76ers ahead 64-63 with 7:11 left in the quarter. The Knicks did not score in between.

Philadelphia beat the New York Knicks 106-100 on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. It was the season opener for both teams, the first regular-season game of James's 76ers career, and the night the Knicks celebrated their first NBA title since 1973.

Maxey led all scorers with 28 points. James had 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and a late block. The 76ers won the third quarter 29-18.

Banner night

Before the game, Hall of Famer Walt Frazier handed the Knicks their championship rings. The team wore white uniforms with gold trim. A blue banner reading "2025-26 World Champions" went up to the rafters, after a banner for the NBA Cup the Knicks won last December. When they won the Cup, they did not hang a banner for it.

Coach Mike Brown called the Cup banner "a recognition of what our journey was like last year."

The Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals. On the way, they swept the 76ers 4-0 in the playoffs.

New York's early lead

The Knicks led 25-23 after one quarter on a floater by Jalen Brunson with 3.3 seconds left. Their bench pushed the lead to 38-28 at 8:10 of the second quarter: Jose Alvarado hit a three, Landry Shamet hit a 27-footer, and Jordan Clarkson scored inside. It was New York's biggest lead of the night.

Philadelphia cut it to 57-54 with 29.8 seconds left in the half. James was called for a defensive three-seconds technical with 11.9 seconds left, Brunson made the free throw, and the Knicks led 58-54 at halftime.

James answers in the third

Josh Hart hit a three to make it 63-58 at 9:31. James's three baskets came in the next 2:20. He scored six of his 14 points in that stretch.

The Knicks went back ahead and led 72-66 at 4:43. Then Anfernee Simons went to work from three. He made three threes in the last 4:23 of the quarter, all assisted by Brown, the last one for a 77-76 lead at 1:22.

Brown added two threes of his own. The second came from 24 feet as the third-quarter clock ran out, off a pass from James, who had come back in with 1.5 seconds left. Philadelphia ended the quarter on an 11-0 run and led 83-76.

The finish

The 76ers' lead reached nine, 87-78, when Maxey scored on a pull-up and made the free throw at 10:26 of the fourth.

Karl-Anthony Towns brought New York back. He hit a 28-foot three to make it 96-95 at 4:37 and another from 25 feet to make it 100-98 at 2:40.

Philadelphia answered with four straight points. VJ Edgecombe dunked off a pass from Joel Embiid. Then Maxey stole a pass from OG Anunoby and dunked for a 104-98 lead with 1:52 left. On the next trip, James blocked a driving layup by Mikal Bridges.

The Knicks won a coach's challenge with 49.8 seconds left: the call was overturned, and Brown was charged with a turnover. Brunson's driving layup cut it to 104-100 with 41.3 seconds to go. Embiid missed a step-back three, but Brunson missed a pull-up three with 9.7 left. James grabbed the rebound and made both free throws with 7.7 seconds left.

The numbers

Maxey scored 28 on 9-of-19 shooting and made eight of nine free throws in 40 minutes. He had five assists and three steals. Brown scored 19 with eight rebounds and six assists. Embiid had 13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks, and the 76ers were plus-13 with him on the floor. James shot 5 of 13 and missed all three of his threes.

Brunson led New York with 21 points and made all eight of his free throws. He shot 6 of 19. Towns had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Andre Drummond had 12 points and 14 rebounds off the bench, seven of them on the offensive glass. Anunoby went 1 of 9 from three.

Philadelphia shot 42 percent to New York's 37 percent. The Knicks had 53 rebounds to 45 and 14 offensive rebounds to six, but they turned it over 15 times. The 76ers blocked 10 shots and had 24 fast-break points to New York's 16.

There were 19,812 at the Garden.

Scoring

Philadelphia: Tyrese Maxey 28, Jaylen Brown 19, LeBron James 14, Joel Embiid 13, Anfernee Simons 13, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 10, VJ Edgecombe 9, Jabari Walker 0, Adem Bona 0.

New York: Jalen Brunson 21, Karl-Anthony Towns 19, Josh Hart 14, Andre Drummond 12, OG Anunoby 10, Jose Alvarado 8, Landry Shamet 5, Mikal Bridges 4, Jordan Clarkson 4, Miles McBride 3.

By quarter: Philadelphia 23, 31, 29, 23. New York 25, 33, 18, 24.

What is next

The 76ers play their home opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, October 22, at 7 p.m. ET. The Knicks visit the Boston Celtics on Friday, October 23, at 7 p.m. ET. The two teams meet again in Philadelphia on Friday, October 30, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Before the game, we looked at the three opening-night matchups.

Update: the 76ers came back from 29 down to beat the Cavaliers in their home opener.

Update: the Knicks fell to 0-2 as Tatum scored 36 in Boston.