LeBron James and 76ers Spoil Knicks' Banner Night at MSG

LeBron James and his new Philadelphia 76ers teammates spoiled the New York Knicks' opening-night celebration, beating the reigning NBA champions 106-100 at Madison Square Garden on the same night the Knicks raised their championship banner.

James, 41, began his record-extending 24th NBA season with the fourth team of his career. He scored 14 points and had seven of the 76ers' 28 assists.

It offered a glimpse of the playmaking role James will fill alongside younger teammates such as Tyrese Maxey, who led the scoring with 28 points.

"I can play a lot better," James told NBC. "I'm still finding my rhythm, obviously it's just over two weeks with a new team. But I like the way we played. I thought we played exceptionally well, especially defensively."

Jaylen Brown — who joined Philadelphia from the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster July trade for Paul George — had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Center Joel Embiid added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 21 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 12 rebounds. But after the 76ers moved ahead in the third quarter, they turned back every Knicks run.

The Knicks ended a 53-year title drought by beating the San Antonio Spurs in last season's NBA Finals.

Before the game, Knicks legends Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe and Walt Frazier handed out championship rings in an emotional ceremony at the Garden. The crowd included famous Knicks fans Ben Stiller and Spike Lee, rock singer Jon Bon Jovi and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Before the franchise's third championship banner was hoisted to the rafters, Finals MVP Brunson told fans the Knicks were "ready to turn the page as a group."

"But one thing I want to say — the joy this city had this past summer, we'd love to recreate that again," Brunson said of a Knicks team chasing the first successful title defense since 2018.

James — a four-time NBA champion and the league's all-time leading scorer — admitted winning on another team's banner night is especially satisfying.

"That's pretty special," he said.

In the final game of opening night, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder opened with a 116-104 win over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

Wembanyama — tipped to end Gilgeous-Alexander's two-year run as MVP — made just one of 13 shots, an alley-oop dunk late in the third quarter. He still made an impact with 13 rebounds and six blocks, scoring 12 points mostly on 10 free throws.

But the Spurs — led by 24 points from Stephon Castle — ultimately had no answer for an OKC side "hungry" after their title defense ended with a Game 7 loss to San Antonio in last season's Western Conference finals.

"Obviously this is the team that knocked us out of reaching our goal," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "But for us, I think it's just we're happy to be back playing. The summer is longer when you don't win a championship, and we felt that this summer."

There was no shortage of tension between two young teams expected to battle for Western Conference supremacy for years to come.

Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox was called for a flagrant foul after throwing Thunder center Chet Holmgren to the floor early in the second quarter, sparking a scuffle that produced several technical fouls.

The Spurs opened the third quarter with discipline and twice cut the deficit to seven in the second half, but the Thunder pulled away again.

The NBA's 81st season tipped off in Detroit, where the Pistons used a fierce second-half comeback to ruin George's 38-point debut for the Celtics — a matchup of the two teams with the best regular-season records last season.

Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren each scored 22 points, and Duncan Robinson had 15 of his 21 in the fourth quarter as the Pistons rallied for a 121-113 win behind a 23-0 run.