October 21, 2026 at 5:38 AM UTC

Postgame Report

Maxey, 76ers Spoil the Knicks' Banner Night With a 106-100 Win at the Garden

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Philadelphia closed the third quarter on an 11-0 run and held off two Knicks rallies, as Tyrese Maxey scored 28 and LeBron James and Jaylen Brown won their 76ers debuts on the night New York raised its title banner.

The Knicks got their rings, and the 76ers got the game. On the night New York raised its first championship banner since 1973, Philadelphia beat the champions 106-100 at Madison Square Garden. The 76ers trailed by 10 in the second quarter, took over with an 11-0 run to close the third, and held on through a fourth quarter in which the Knicks got within one. Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points. LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, both making their Philadelphia debuts, combined for 33.

The evening began with a 30-minute ceremony. Walt Frazier handed out the rings, and a blue banner reading "2025-26 World Champions" rose to the rafters while Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley and the widow of Willis Reed looked on. Jalen Brunson told the crowd, "The joy that this city had this summer, we would love to replicate that again." It was an expensive night to be in the building. The cheapest tickets had climbed past $2,000, a record for a regular-season game.

Maxey made sure the party did not set the tone. He hit a 28-foot three on Philadelphia's first possession, assisted by Joel Embiid, and another from 26 feet 43 seconds later for a 6-0 lead. New York lost Karl-Anthony Towns almost as quickly. He was called for two fouls in the first 3:14 and did not return until the middle of the second quarter. Andre Drummond took his minutes and kept the Knicks in it. Drummond scored 10 points in the first half, and Brunson's floater with 3.3 seconds left in the first quarter gave New York a 25-23 lead.

The Knicks' bench took control early in the second quarter. Drummond scored twice inside, Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet hit threes, and Jordan Clarkson's layup made it 38-28 with 8:10 left in the half, the biggest lead of the night. Philadelphia got back within four, but Brunson made six free throws in the final 2:13, three of them after he was fouled on a three-point try. New York led 58-54 at halftime. Brunson had 15 points and Maxey had 16.

James took over at the start of the third quarter. He caught an alley-oop from Brown, then scored on two straight layups, and the last of them gave Philadelphia a 64-63 lead with 7:11 left. The Knicks answered. Josh Hart hit a three and a driving layup, and a Towns three from 25 feet made it 72-66 with 4:43 left in the quarter.

Then Philadelphia's bench changed the game. Anfernee Simons made three threes in about three minutes, the last of them giving the 76ers a 77-76 lead with 1:22 left. Brown added a pull-up three with 48.9 seconds left. On the final possession, after a Knicks turnover with 1.5 seconds left, coach Nick Nurse sent James back in to throw the inbound pass. Brown curled off a screen and made a fading 25-footer at the buzzer. The 76ers outscored New York 17-4 over the last 4:23 of the quarter, the last 11 points in a row, and led 83-76.

Maxey's three-point play with 10:26 left in the fourth made it 87-78, Philadelphia's biggest lead. The Knicks came back once more. OG Anunoby and Alvarado made threes on consecutive possessions to cut it to 88-86. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope answered with threes at 7:10 and 6:04. Towns then made a 28-footer with 4:37 left that cut the lead to 96-95.

The final minutes belonged to Philadelphia's defense. After Brunson missed a jumper, Embiid made a three with 3:31 left. Towns hit another three to make it 100-98 with 2:40 left, but Embiid found VJ Edgecombe for a dunk on the next trip. With 1:55 left, Maxey stepped in front of an Anunoby pass meant for Mikal Bridges and finished the break with a two-handed dunk for a 104-98 lead. "Whenever Tyrese darts into the lane and steals one," Nurse said, "I'm not that surprised." On New York's next trip, James came from the weak side to block a Bridges layup. Brunson scored with 41.3 seconds left to make it 104-100. Embiid missed a step-back three, Brunson missed a pull-up three with 9.7 seconds left, and James rebounded and made two free throws to finish it.

Maxey made 9 of 19 shots and added five assists, three steals and three blocks. It was his sixth straight season opener with at least 20 points, which ties the 76ers' record held by Julius Erving and Hal Greer. "It's my job," Maxey said. "They've all been on me about being aggressive. Every last one of them." Brown had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, and James had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Embiid shot 4 of 15 but had 13 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. NBA.com reported that New York scored 85 points per 100 possessions with Embiid on the floor and 126 with him off it. Embiid also said he suggested that James guard Towns so he could roam on defense while in foul trouble.

The 76ers won despite making only 11 of 40 threes. They had 28 assists to New York's 21 and committed 10 turnovers to the Knicks' 14. "We're still new to each other," James said. "We had some turnovers that were kind of unforced. We had some moments with an open look and we didn't take it. We cleaned that up in the second half and that's the sign of a good team." Brown put it more simply: "We're not even at the tip of the iceberg in terms of chemistry."

For New York, Brunson scored 21 points but made 6 of 19 shots, and all 8 of his free throws. Towns had 19 points and 12 rebounds in 23 minutes. Drummond finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds off the bench, and the Knicks outrebounded Philadelphia 53-45. The rest of the lineup struggled to score. Anunoby made 1 of 9 threes, Bridges scored 4 points, and the Knicks shot 37 percent from the field. Nurse was not ready to make much of it. "Listen, it's one game," he said. "They're a hell of a team."

Sources

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