Knicks Raise Title Banner & Get Rings. Then Lose. Philly 106 NY 100

October 22, 2026 LouV 2026-27 0

In the first game of the season, the defending NBA Champion NY Knicks raised their title banner to the rafters of Madison Square Garden, and received their championship rings — which are Amazing and were the highlight of the night. But then they shot poorly — in the 2nd half especially — and lost to LeBron James and the 76’ers, 106-100, on a Tuesday night in NYC.

Philly is ramped up to juggernaut status this year with LeBron and Jaylen Brown added to Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe — but still the Knicks led through the first half until a poor 3rd quarter lost them the lead. Philly outscored NY 29-18 in that quarter, with LeBron being the difference maker with several intercepted passes and head’s up passes and scores.

Karl-Anthony Towns was the night’s hero for NY. He hit two big 3’s late in the 4th to put the Knicks within a point with 4:46 left and 2 pts with 2:40 left but Joel Embiid answered with a 3 and Edgecome and Maxey added more points as Philly won out.

Jalen Brunson‘s shot was off in the 4th — he finished with 21 pts on 6-19 shooting. OG Anunoby was 1-9 from 3 on the night, finishing with 10 pts on 3-12 shooting overall, and Mikal Bridges had 4 pts on 2-8 shooting. KAT led NY with 19 pts on 6-9 shooting (3-4 from 3) with 12 rebounds. Josh Hart had 14 pts on 5-10 shooting. And Andre Drummond added 12 pts on 5-13 shooting with 14 rebounds in 24 minutes.

Maxey led Philly with 28 pts on 9-19 shooting (1-9 from 3). LeBron had 14 pts, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Brown had 19 pts on 7-14 shooting. Embiid had 13 pts on 4-15 shooting. Edgecombe had 9 pts. Anfernee Simons came off the bench to hit 2 killer 3’s in the 3rd, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope came off the bench to hit 2 killer 3’s in the 4th.

Coach Brown’s Thoughts

“Our transition defense was not good with our starting team in the 3rd quarter,” said Knick coach Mike Brown afterwards. “All throughout the game, we looked like we were running in mud, whether it was in the front court or in transition. They had 9 fast-break points in the 1st half and in the 2nd half they had 19 fast-break points. And that’s where the game was won and lost.”

“Also offensively — part of us looking like we were running in mud is our spacing wasn’t great,” added Brown. “We were walking everywhere which hurt our spacing, and when we did get into the paint we couldn’t finish. We have to finish with authority or some form of aggression, or do what we do which is spray the basketball.”

“The 76ers added 2 perennial All-Stars,” added Brown. “Greg (Popovich) said you need 3 perennial All-Stars to win a championship. Technically we did it with 2. People might look at it as them having an advantage over us. At the end of the day, we have to go play the right way.”

1. Knicks Raise their Title Banner & Get their Rings

The night began with the NBA Champion NY Knicks raising their NBA Title banner to the rafters.

And then each player received their championship ring.

The rings took the spotlight — as their details were unveiled. They feature a top that pops off revealing a miniature interior of Madison Square Garden with all of its seats underneath, and then with the top back on, a twist causes the Madison Square Garden exterior building to pop up.

2. Knicks Lead by Single Digits throughout 1st Half

The Knicks led throughout the 1st and 2nd quarters. Jose Alvarado was a spark off the bench.

And Andre Drummond came off the bench to dominate offensively and on the boards. He had a double-double at the half.

Karl-Anthony Towns was taking it to Joel Embiid.

Maxey Keeps Philly In It

The Knicks were up by 10 pts with 4 minutes left in the half — but Philly stayed in it — mainly on the play of Tyrese Maxey who was a tough cover. By the half he had 16 pts on 5-8 shooting with 2 steals and 2 blocks.

“Tyrese Maxey keeps getting better whether breaking u off the bounce and scoring in many ways,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines, “Along with knocking down his jumper, moving without ball, creating contact, creating for others, forcing his tempo all while defending hard and playing with confidence.”

3. Led by LeBron, Philly Takes Lead with 29-18 3rd Quarter

LeBron James was a differentiator in the 3rd quarter — intercepting passes, feeding players with passes, and scoring on drives. It is clear his role this season will be that of facilitator, and his goal to be a pain in the ass to the Knicks.

Anfernee Simons also hit two 3’s in the quarter as Philly took over the lead midway thru the period.

Knicks Screw Up in Final Second of 3rd Allows Brown Buzzer 3

The Knicks had the ball down by 4 pts with 1.1 seconds left in the 3rd, when Miles McBride tried an in-bounds pass but threw it away. The ball never touched anything so Philly was given the ball with 1.1 seconds left — and LeBron fed Jaylen Brown who hit a 3 at the buzzer to give Philly a 7-pt lead entering the 4th at 83-76.

4. Philly Goes Up by 9 in 4th Off Pope 3’s

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was a pain in the ass in the 4th — hitting consecutive 3’s midway through the period to put Philly up by 9.

Drummond Looks Slow in 2nd Half

As good as Andre Drummond played in the 1st half, he looked slow in the 2nd half — with Embiid blocking 2 of his shots inside, and LeBron dancing around him in the paint at one point.

“I thought he played with a lot of bounce and energy in the first half on both ends of the floor,” said coach Brown afterwards. “We probably ran him too long, because it looked like in that second half, not just him but especially our five starters, he looked like he ran out of a little bit of gas.”

5. KAT Leads NY Back Within a Pt

But the Knicks looked determined to not let this one slip away on their banner-raising night. KAT took it to the rim against Embiid to pull NY within 96-92 with 5:40 left.

KAT then hit 2 Huge 3’s down the stretch to inch NY closer — one with 4:47 left to make it a 96-95 Philly on top — although Anfernee Simons hit one down the other end to negate it. KAT then hit another huge 3 with 2:48 left to make it a 100-98 game, Philly leading.

But VJ Edgecombe came back with a deuce, and Tyrese Maxey stole a ball off an OG pass and scored for a 104-98 76er lead with 1:52 left.

Brunson missed several chippies off drives in the 4th — but finally hit a floater to make it 104-100 with 41 seconds left, and the Knicks got back the ball when Embiid immediately hoisted up and missed a 3.

But a Brunson 3 with 9 seconds left missed (looked like he might have been fouled) and that was ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401909089

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