Knicks open their title defense against the 76ers as the NBA season starts Tuesday

The New York Knicks begin their title defense on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden against the Philadelphia 76ers, the team they swept in the second round in May. The 2026-27 NBA season opens with three games, all on NBC, and two of them are rematches of playoff series from last spring.

Boston plays at Detroit at 3 p.m. Eastern. Philadelphia plays at New York at 7. Oklahoma City plays at San Antonio at 9:30.

76ers at Knicks, 7 p.m.

New York won its first championship since 1973 in June. The Knicks beat San Antonio 4-1 in the Finals and closed it out 94-90 in San Antonio. They went 16-3 through the playoffs: 4-2 in the first round, then sweeps of Philadelphia and Cleveland, then the Finals.

The 76ers got to that second round as the East's seventh seed at 45-37. They beat second-seeded Boston in seven games, winning Game 7 109-100 in Boston. Then New York beat them four straight, by 39, six, 14 and 30 points. The last of those was 144-114 in Philadelphia.

The Knicks finished the regular season 53-29, third in the East. Jalen Brunson led them at 26.0 points a game over 74 games.

The 76ers who walk in on Tuesday look different. Jaylen Brown, who scored 28.7 a game for Boston over 71 games last season, is now on their roster. So is LeBron James, who averaged 20.9 points and 7.2 assists for the Lakers over 60 games. Tyrese Maxey is still there.

Philadelphia starts with the busiest schedule in the league. The 76ers are the one team with four games in the first week, Tuesday through Sunday.

Celtics at Pistons, 3 p.m.

Detroit had the best record in the East last season at 60-22. The Pistons beat Orlando in seven games in the first round, then took the first two games of the second round against Cleveland at home. The Cavaliers won four of the next five, the last of them Game 7 in Detroit, 125-94.

Cade Cunningham averaged 23.9 points and 9.9 assists over 64 games for Detroit.

Boston went 56-26, second in the East, and lost that first-round Game 7 at home to Philadelphia. Jayson Tatum played only 16 regular-season games last season, averaging 21.8 points and 10.0 rebounds.

The 3 p.m. tip makes it the first game of the season. The two did not meet in last season's playoffs.

Thunder at Spurs, 9:30 p.m.

The night ends with the two best records in the league last season. Oklahoma City went 64-18, San Antonio 62-20. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31.1 a game over 68 games for the Thunder. Victor Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks over 64 for the Spurs.

They met in the Western Conference finals, and it went seven. The road team won Games 1 and 3, and the home team won the next three. Then came Game 7 in Oklahoma City, and the Spurs won it 111-103. San Antonio then won one game in the Finals against New York, Game 3 in New York, 115-111.

What is next

After Tuesday's three games, Wednesday brings 11 more, including Golden State at the Lakers and Minnesota at Miami, both on ESPN.

For fantasy managers, Franco Medina has the week-one schedule, including why Philadelphia's four games matter.

Result: the 76ers beat the Knicks 106-100 on banner night, with LeBron James scoring three straight baskets in the third quarter of his Philadelphia debut.

Result: the Pistons scored 23 straight and came back from 22 down to beat the Celtics 121-113.

Result: the Thunder beat the Spurs 116-104 in the Western final rematch.