The Philadelphia 76ers sent a message on opening night that they intended to challenge the New York Knicks for the NBA title after adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, rallying to a 106-100 victory on Tuesday.
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 3-pointers from Anfernee Simons and two from newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, as the reserves took advantage of open looks when the Knicks were caught by focusing too much on Philadelphia’s biggest names.
Jalen Brunson scored 21 points, but the NBA Finals MVP shot just six of 19 from the field.
Brunson told fans at 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’d like to replicate it again.”
Maybe they can, but they’ll have to play a lot better than Tuesday, when they shot 37 percent overall and 33.3 percent from three-point range. Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 12 rebounds.
The Knicks dominated the 76ers in a second-round sweep, beginning their 13-game winning streak as part of a 16-3 run with the highest point differential in NBA playoff history.
Philadelphia then traded for Brown and signed James after the NBA career 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 to the match, but they improved as the match 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 lead to 96-95 when Towns scored a three-pointer, but Joel Embiid responded with one of his own and the Sixers remained in the lead.
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 did when they came back repeatedly to beat San Antonio in five games for their first championship since 1973.
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 took a lead by 10 during a good stretch, but their lead was down to 58-54 by 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 1 of 13 from the field. It was his fewest field goals since his double against Minnesota on May 10. Wembanyama’s only basket 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 7-foot-3 rookie Aday Mara.
Jared McCain added 20 points on six-of-eight three-pointers as Oklahoma City led for all but the first five minutes of the game.
The Spurs beat the Thunder 111-103 in Oklahoma City in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals on May 30 in their previous meeting.
Nearly five months apart have not calmed this fierce rivalry.
Three minutes into the second quarter, Fox received a Flagrant 1 foul for throwing Chet Holmgren onto the court after getting tangled in the paint. The body slam led to a huge melee, 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 dusting.
Oklahoma City went on a 9-0 run after the fight, with Jalen and Kenrich Williams totaling five points. Harrison Barnes’ three-point basket ended the run, but the Thunder responded by scoring 13 straight points, capped by Cason Wallace’s three-point basket for a 59-33 lead.
Oklahoma City outscored San Antonio 31-16 in the second quarter to take a 65-44 halftime lead.
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 their efforts as San Antonio closed in, 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 scored 23 unanswered points to beat the visiting Boston Celtics 121-113 in the NBA regular season opener Tuesday afternoon.
Jalen Duren and Cade Cunningham scored 22 points each 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 in his Celtics debut. Payton Pritchard and Derrick White scored 17 points each, but Jayson Tatum was held to 13 points on six-of-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 scored 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 down in the third quarter, hitting three three-pointers in 52 seconds to give Boston its largest lead at 72-50.
Green entered the game shortly after to slow down George. Not only did he do that, but he also gave Detroit an offensive spark, scoring 11 points in the quarter, including three three-pointers, as the Pistons pulled within three points in the final seconds.
George opened the fourth quarter with a layup to give Boston a 90-82 lead. The Celtics quickly extended their advantage to 12 points, but Detroit began another comeback, sparked by a three-point play by Thompson.
Robinson scored 11 straight points to bring the Pistons within one at 99-98. He then set up a three-pointer for Green before Duren converted a three-point play. Robinson made another three-pointer with 5 minutes, 13 seconds 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 3 minutes 33 seconds left.
Boston pulled to within four points, but Green made two free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining to seal Detroit’s opening day victory.
Gn sports
