SportyTV | NBA: 76ers, Pistons, Thunder win season openers

Tyrese Maxey scored a game-high 28 points, LeBron James and Jaylen Brown debuted with their new team, and the Philadelphia 76ers edged the New York Knicks 106-100 on Tuesday night, putting a damper on the championship celebration at Madison Square Garden.

Before the game, the Knicks players received championship rings from Hall of Famer Walt Frazier and watched as a banner reading “2025-26 World Champions” was raised into the rafters.

Once the ball was tipped, however, the Sixers made it clear that the page had been turned, with Maxey hitting a pair of 3-pointers to give Philadelphia a 6-0 lead just over a minute into the game.

New York led by as many as 10 early in the second quarter, but almost the entire game was a tight, back-and-forth affair.

Twice with the Knicks trailing late, Karl-Anthony Towns hit deep 3-pointers to cut into the deficit, but the 76ers answered both times.

Maxey finished 9 of 19 from the field and added five assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

James tipped off his unprecedented 24th NBA season with 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Brown had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists in his 76ers debut.

Joel Embiid had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 21 points. Towns finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Josh Hart added 14 points.

W. https://t.co/1ZUSym4qTz
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 21, 2026

Thunder stifle Wembanyama in season opener

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder opened their season with a 116-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, the team that ended their dreams of a title defence last season.

San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama had 12 points but was 1 for 13 from the field. It was his fewest field goals since going 2 for 5 against Minnesota on May 10. Wembanyama's lone field goal came on an alley-oop pass from De’Aaron Fox as time expired in the third quarter. Wembanyama missed his first 12 shots, including having an alley-oop attempt blocked by 7-foot-3 rookie Aday Mara.

Jared McCain added 20 points on 6-for-8 shooting on 3-pointers as Oklahoma City led for all but the opening 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 matchup.

Nearly five months apart did not cool this heated rivalry.

Three minutes into the second quarter, Fox received a Flagrant Foul 1 for tossing Chet Holmgren to the court after they became entangled in the paint. The body slam led to a huge scrum with Wembanyama and Jaylin Williams having to be separated after pushing each other. Wembanyama, Williams, Jalen Williams and Kenrich Williams each received a technical for the dust-up.

Got the dub in game https://t.co/7UpSUOSr5R
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 21, 2026

Pistons rally past Celtics in NBA opener

Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren each scored 22 points, Duncan Robinson made five 3-pointers to finish with 21 points, and the Detroit Pistons rallied from 22 points down to beat the Boston Celtics 121-113 in the opening game of the 2026-27 NBA regular season.

The Pistons also spoiled an otherwise sterling Celtics debut for Paul George, who made seven 3-pointers and scored 38 points in his first game since being traded for Jaylen Brown.

Boston led 72-50 in the third quarter, but Detroit turned the tide by finding some outside shooting off the bench.

After not playing at all in the second half, Javonte Green buried five 3-pointers and scored 19 points in the second half to spark the Pistons’ rally.

Jayson Tatum had 11 assists for the Celtics but struggled to find his own offence, finishing 6 for 23 from the floor and with just 13 points.

Detroit won the rebounding battle 49-39 and outscored Boston in the paint 44-34.