Sixers Spoil the Knicks' Ring Night, 106-100, Behind Maxey and a Third-Quarter Surge
On the night New York raised its championship banner, Tyrese Maxey's 28 points and an 11-0 run to close the third quarter gave Philadelphia's remade roster an opening-night statement at Madison Square Garden.
Madison Square Garden got its party — the rings, the banner, and Jalen Brunson telling the crowd, "The joy that this city had this summer, we would love to replicate that again," per CBS Sports. Then Philadelphia got the win. The 76ers beat the champion Knicks 106-100 in Tuesday's season opener — the first real look at a Sixers roster rebuilt around Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, LeBron James and the newly arrived Jaylen Brown.
The third quarter flipped it
New York led 58-54 at halftime behind Brunson's late first-half scoring, but Philadelphia won the third quarter 29-18 — closing it on an 11-0 run capped by a Brown three at the buzzer for an 83-76 lead the Sixers never gave back. Sofascore's recap credits Philadelphia with 12 assists and zero turnovers in that quarter alone. Karl-Anthony Towns (19 points, 12 rebounds) kept firing late and cut it to one possession in the final minute, but Embiid answered, and James — 14 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists in his Sixers debut at age 41 — iced it at the line in the closing seconds.
Maxey led all scorers with 28 points, adding five assists, while Brown had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in his first game since the summer blockbuster that sent him from Boston to Philadelphia in a deal involving Paul George and draft picks, as reported by NBA.com.
Champagne hangover, or just a bad shooting night?
The Knicks won the rebounding battle comfortably — Andre Drummond had 12 points and 14 boards off the bench — but shot just 37% from the floor and coughed it up 14 times to Philadelphia's 10. Brunson needed 19 shots for his 21 points. The formula that won New York a title was built on cleaner offense than this; one night into the defense, that is a note, not an alarm.
Philadelphia hosts Cleveland on Thursday, while the Knicks visit Boston on Friday.