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| Philadelphia spoiled New York's title banner night. AP |
QUEZON CITY—Philadelphia silenced Madison Square Garden hours after New York City's most-awaited NBA moment finally happened, delivering a 106-100 shock defeat to the Knicks to open the season on Wednesday (Philippine Time).
The newly retooled 76ers got a significant showing from new acquisitions Jaylen Brown and LeBron James, who helped superstars Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid spoil the Knicks' championship banner celebration.
Maxey led Philadelphia with 28 points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals, and three blocks, while Brown added 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists, one steal, and one block.
Held to five points in the first half, James came alive for nine of his 14 points in the last 24 minutes while also tallying nine rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and one block.
Jalen Brunson led New York with 21 points alongside five rebounds and three assists, but he was 6-for-19 from the field.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 points, 12 rebounds, one assist, two blocks, and one steal, and Andre Drummond put up 12 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and one steal.
Sixers fans celebrated their team's season-opening win loudly during a watch party organized by GameX at the Victoria Sports Tower here.
The watch party is a promotional activity for its new "Otso Panalo" promo where an eight-number combination by just guessing the last digit of both teams' scores per quarter could win them up to PHP8 million.
In Detroit, the Pistons survived an explosive Boston Celtics debut by Paul George for a 121-113 win.
Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren each delivered 22 markers to lead Detroit amid a 38-point blast from George.
Duncan Robinson added 21 points, two rebounds, two assists, and one steal, while Ausar Thompson put up 11 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
Jayson Tatum had 13 points, four rebounds, and 11 assists, but he missed a crucial jumper that could have kept Boston in the game.
