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NEW YORK — All-Star LeBron James discussed beating the New York Knicks in his Philadelphia 76ers debut that led to a 106-100 victory at Madison Square Garden. Despite James accusing the Knicks of a championship whistle on the night New York raised its first championship banner in 53 years, it was the 76ers who had the last laugh in a six-point win against the defending champions.
After the game, James discussed the 76ers’ flaws that kept the game relatively close throughout before pulling ahead for good down the stretch.
“I thought in the first half we played good first-stop defense, but we gave up some second-chance points,” James said. “They got some threes off of us not closing with a defensive rebound so. I was really conscious about that [in the second half].”
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The Knicks converted seven second-chance points off of 14 offensive rebounds against the 76ers. James also mentioned that the 76ers didn’t shoot well from beyond the 3-point arc, connecting on 11 of 40 attempts from deep. However, the defense, which was a team effort, helped keep the Knicks at bay down the stretch.
Philly held the defending champions to 100 points, which for All-Star Jaylen Brown, was a key to their success.
“Defense is what kept us in it. Defense is what we’ll have to continue to hand our hat on,” Brown said after Tuesday’s win. “If we keep a team within 100 [points], we’ll always give ourselves a chance to win. So, it’s non-negotiable. We gotta play defense.”
In their respective 76ers debuts, Jaylen Brown finished with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting, including a pair of threes, eight rebounds, six assists, one block, and one steal. LeBron James added 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, as well as one block, and one steal against the Knicks.
The 76ers will host Cleveland Cavs on the second leg of their first back-to-back of the regular season on Wednesday.
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