The Philadelphia 76ers sent an opening-night message that they intend to challenge the New York Knicks for the NBA title after adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, rallying for a 106-100 victory.
Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points and Brown had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists in his first game since being acquired from Boston. James began his NBA-record 24th season with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
The 76ers got three three-pointers from Anfernee Simons and two from fellow newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, as the reserves took advantage of open looks when the Knicks were caught focusing too much on Philadelphia’s bigger names.
Jalen Brunson scored 21 points but the NBA finals MVP shot just six for 19 from the field.
Brunson told fans inside Madison Square Garden during a pregame ceremony, when the Knicks raised their NBA championship banner and received their rings: “The joy that this city had this summer, we would love to replicate that again.”
Maybe they can, but they will have to play a lot better than they did on Tuesday, when they shot 37% overall and 33.3% from three-point range. Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 12 rebounds.
The Knicks dominated the 76ers in a second-round sweep in last season’s playoffs as they galloped towards their first NBA title since 1973.
In the offseason, Philadelphia traded for Brown and signed James after the NBA’s career scoring leader decided to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, giving the 76ers the potential to be one of the best teams in the league.
They certainly didn’t have a smooth start but improved as the game went on. The Sixers closed the third quarter with an 11-0 run, capped by Brown’s second straight three-pointer at the buzzer, which gave Philadelphia an 83-76 lead.
Maxey’s three-point play early in the fourth made it 87-78. The Knicks cut the deficit to 96-95 when Towns made a three-pointer, but Joel Embiid answered with one of his own and the Sixers stayed ahead.
Embiid finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Brunson, wearing gold sneakers for the occasion, couldn’t help the Knicks recover by hitting the kind of big shots he made when they repeatedly came back to beat San Antonio in five games in last season’s NBA finals.
The festive pregame party gave way to a first half filled with long stretches of fouls and missed shots, leaving little reason for the cheers to continue. The Knicks went ahead by 10 during one good stretch, but their lead was down to 58-54 at halftime.
Oklahoma City Thunder 116-104 San Antonio Spurs
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder opened their season with a 116-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, the team that ended their hopes of defending their title last season.
San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama scored 12 points but shot just one for 13 from the field. It was his fewest field goals since going two for five against Minnesota on 10 May. Wembanyama’s lone field goal came on an alley-oop pass from De’Aaron Fox as time expired in the third quarter. Wembanyama missed his first 12 shots, including an alley-oop attempt blocked by 7ft 3in rookie Aday Mara.
Jared McCain added 20 points on six-for-eight shooting from three-point range as Oklahoma City led for all but the opening five minutes of the game.
Last season, the Spurs beat the Thunder 111-103 in Oklahoma City in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
Nearly five months apart did not cool this heated rivalry.
Three minutes into the second quarter, Fox received a flagrant foul 1 for tossing Chet Holmgren to the court after they became entangled in the paint. The body slam led to a huge scrum, with Wembanyama and Jaylin Williams having to be separated after pushing each other. Wembanyama, Williams, Jalen Williams and Kenrich Williams each received a technical foul for the dust-up.
Oklahoma City went on a 9-0 run after the scuffle, with Jalen and Kenrich Williams accounting for five points. Harrison Barnes’ three-pointer ended the run, but the Thunder responded by scoring 13 straight points, capped by Cason Wallace’s three-pointer for a 59-33 lead.
Oklahoma City outscored San Antonio 31-16 in the second quarter to take a 65-44 lead at halftime.
The Spurs opened the second half on a 23-9 run to pull within single digits after trailing by 26 in the first half.
Gilgeous-Alexander and McCain stepped up when San Antonio pulled close, combining for 25 points in the second half.
Boston Celtics 113-121 Detroit Pistons
Duncan Robinson scored 15 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Detroit Pistons reeled off 23 unanswered points to beat the visiting Boston Celtics 121-113 in the NBA’s regular-season opener on Tuesday afternoon.
Jalen Duren and Cade Cunningham scored 22 points apiece for the Pistons, who led the Eastern Conference with 60 wins last season.
Javonte Green came off the bench to score 19 points in 18 minutes, while Ausar Thompson added 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Paul George scored a game-high 38 points on his Celtics debut. Payton Pritchard and Derrick White scored 17 points apiece, but Jayson Tatum was held to 13 points on six-for-23 shooting, although he contributed 11 assists.
The Celtics led by 13 at halftime thanks to a second-quarter surge. Detroit held a 39-35 advantage early in the quarter before Boston reeled off 15 unanswered points.
George scored the Celtics’ final eight points of the half as Boston took a 58-45 lead into the break.
George showed no signs of cooling off in the third quarter, hitting three three-pointers in a 52-second span to give Boston their biggest lead at 72-50.
Green entered the game shortly afterward to slow George down. He not only did that but also gave Detroit an offensive spark, scoring 11 points in the quarter, including three three-pointers, as the Pistons pulled within three in the closing seconds.
George opened the fourth quarter with a layup to give Boston a 90-82 lead. The Celtics soon stretched their advantage to 12 points, but Detroit began another comeback, sparked by a three-point play from Thompson.
Robinson scored 11 straight points to pull the Pistons within one at 99-98. He then set up a three-pointer for Green before Duren converted a three-point play. Robinson hit another three-pointer with 5min 13sec remaining to put Detroit ahead 107-99.
Green capped the 23-0 run with another three-pointer, extending the Pistons’ lead to 112-99 with 3min 33sec left.
Boston rallied to within four points, but Green made two free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining to seal Detroit’s opening-day victory.
