76ers Beat Knicks 98-93 in NBA Cup Opener as Maxey Scores 27

The Philadelphia 76ers beat the New York Knicks 98-93 on Friday night, Oct. 30, at Xfinity Mobile Arena in the first game of the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup, handing the defending NBA and NBA Cup champions their second loss to Philadelphia in 10 days. Tyrese Maxey scored 27 points, and LeBron James hit the go-ahead fadeaway with 1:10 left, the Associated Press reported.

How the 76ers held off the champion Knicks

Philadelphia led for almost the entire night. The Sixers were up 29-21 after one quarter, 53-44 at halftime and 77-68 after three, and they led for 97% of the game, according to the ESPN box score. New York’s largest lead was a single point.

That lead came late. Jalen Brunson hit a 3-pointer to put the Knicks ahead 90-89 with 1:32 left, the AP reported. James answered with the go-ahead fadeaway with 1:10 left, making it 91-90, VJ Edgecombe buried a 3-pointer for a four-point cushion and, after two Brunson free throws, James put back a miss to restore the margin, according to NBA.com’s live coverage.

James, 41, finished with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, nine rebounds and eight assists. The AP called it his best game of the season. Maxey shot 10 of 19, and ESPN’s Dave McMenamin noted that he has now scored at least 26 points in all six of Philadelphia’s games. Anfernee Simons added 21 points off the bench, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and Edgecombe had 13 points and eight rebounds. Joel Embiid scored 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting but added seven rebounds and seven assists.

Brunson led New York with 24 points but needed 22 shots to get them, and the AP reported that he appeared to roll an ankle late in the game. Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Mikal Bridges scored 12.

Philadelphia did it without Jaylen Brown, who missed his first game of the season with a left knee problem. The AP described it as knee soreness, while ESPN reported the diagnosis as left patellar tendinopathy. The team did not say whether he will miss more time. Boston traded Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George in July, a deal detailed in our look at the Celtics’ new-look 2026-27 roster.

By the numbers: shooting beat second chances

The box score shows two very different ways of scoring. New York grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to Philadelphia’s five and took 86 shots to the 76ers’ 75, 11 more attempts. The Knicks still scored five fewer points because they made only 35 of those 86 shots, or 40.7%, while Philadelphia hit 37 of 75, or 49.3%, according to TBR calculations from ESPN’s box score. That is a gap of 8.6 percentage points.

Philadelphia also moved the ball better, with 26 assists on 37 made baskets, or 70% of its field goals, compared with 23 assists on 35 baskets (66%) for New York. Turnovers were nearly even, 14 for the Sixers and 13 for the Knicks.

The 76ers’ scoring was concentrated in three players: Maxey, James and Simons combined for 68 of the team’s 98 points, or 69%. Brunson and Towns combined for 46 of New York’s 93 (49%), and Brunson shot 8 of 22 (36%). Philadelphia’s bench outscored New York’s 28-19, by TBR’s count from the box score. New York actually won the fourth quarter 25-21, but the eight-point hole from the first quarter was too much.

A 2-0 start in the rivalry and a crowded NBA Cup group

The win came 10 days after Philadelphia beat New York 106-100 at Madison Square Garden on opening night, which was James’ 76ers debut. The 76ers are now 5-1, and the Knicks, who beat the San Antonio Spurs in both last season’s NBA Cup final and the NBA Finals, are 2-4.

Both teams play in East Group B, which, according to ESPN’s NBA Cup schedule, also includes Cleveland, Miami and Indiana. Philadelphia plays at Cleveland on Nov. 6, hosts Miami on Nov. 25 and visits Indiana on Nov. 27. New York visits Indiana on Nov. 13, then hosts Cleveland on Nov. 25 and Miami on Nov. 27. Group play runs 60 games from Oct. 30 through Nov. 27, according to NBA.com, and the final will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Around the NBA Cup on opening night

Ten Cup games were on Friday’s schedule. Washington beat Charlotte 95-79, Detroit won 110-94 at Brooklyn, Orlando won 121-114 at Toronto and Minnesota beat the LA Clippers 127-101, according to ESPN’s scoreboard. In the other East Group B game, Miami led Indiana by 20 points in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. In Boston, the Celtics beat the Bulls 125-111 to open their East Group C play; for more on Boston’s rivals this winter, see our Celtics-Knicks and Boston-New York rivalry schedule and our recap of the Celtics’ overtime win over the Nets.

Next up, the 76ers play at Charlotte on Saturday and the Knicks host Brooklyn on Monday, the AP reported.

Sources

• Associated Press recap via ESPN: 76ers beat Knicks 98-93
• ESPN box score: Knicks at 76ers, Oct. 30, 2026
• NBA.com: Emirates NBA Cup live updates, first night of group play
• ESPN: 2026 NBA Cup schedule, format and groups
• USA Today: NBA Cup winners, losers and analysis