New York led by 10, took a 58-54 lead into halftime, and watched the 76ers seize the game in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Maxey scored 28, Towns answered with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the champions start the title defense 0-1.
Rings, then regret
The ceremony went fine. The game did not. The Knicks took a 25-23 lead after one, pushed it to 38-28 when Nick Nurse burned a timeout at 8:09 of the second after a 6-0 New York run, and went to the locker room up 58-54. Then Philadelphia came out of the half and took the lead before the Garden had sat back down. Mike Brown called timeout at 9:46 of the third down 60-58, and again at 7:55 down 63-62. It was a three-lead-change, three-tie game, and the last change went to the visitors.
Towns showed up
Towns finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and an assist, the best line in a Knicks uniform on a night when the shots stopped falling. Grade: B-plus. Drummond gave the bench exactly what it needs: 10 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks and a plus-7 in 15 minutes, the best plus-minus on the roster. Grade: A-minus. Anunoby's night was the opposite. Five points, 0 of 5 from deep, minus-3 in 13 minutes, the worst number on the team. Grade: D. Brunson's line showed 7 points on 3-of-8 with zero assists in 14 minutes, and a minus-1. Grade: C.
Philly closed it
The 76ers got 28 points from Maxey, who went 5 of 8 with two threes in his first 15 minutes and never cooled off. Embiid added 10 points and 4 assists, and LeBron James led the last-period scoring with 4. New York's closing five was the usual group: Brunson, Hart, Towns, Bridges, Anunoby. Hart scored 3 and Anunoby 2 in that stretch. The starters put up 20 points to the bench's 13 in the first-half snapshot, and the second unit outplayed the first on a per-minute basis. That is not how a champion is supposed to look at home with four days off.
The road is Boston
The Knicks had four days off before this one and still looked like the tired team after halftime. Philadelphia had three. Now New York gets three more days before Friday at the Celtics on Prime Video, then the Magic on Sunday at the Garden. Philadelphia rolls to its next game in two days. The record says 0-1, and the standings today list the Knicks as the third seed only because almost nobody else has played yet.
Bottom line
One loss in October is not a crisis. A champion that gives back a 10-point lead to a team it beat in the conference last year, at home, on the night it raises the banner, deserves the questions it will hear this week. The shooting from the wings has to be better. The third-quarter starts have to be better. Boston on Friday will not care about the rings either.
Who scored the most for the Knicks against the 76ers on ring night?
Karl-Anthony Towns led New York with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the 106-100 loss. Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 28 for Philadelphia.
When is the next Knicks game after the 76ers loss?
New York plays at the Celtics on Friday, October 23, on Prime Video, then hosts the Magic on October 25 and the Pistons on October 27.
