LeBron, Sixers slam sloppy Knicks
LEBRON James fires 20 points in the Philadelphia Sixers’ 98-93 victory over the defending champion New York Knicks in the NBA regular season.
JESSE D. GARRABRANT/agence france-presse
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — LeBron James scored 20 points including a late tip-in to help seal the Philadelphia 76ers’ 98-93 victory over the National Basketball Association (NBA) champion New York Knicks on Friday.
The 76ers notched their second win of the young season over the Knicks after spoiling their championship banner-raising with a victory at Madison Square Garden on opening night.
The win had a double edge as Friday’s games marked the start of the fourth edition of the NBA Cup, the NBA in-season tournament won by the Knicks before they went on to beat the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals for their first championship since 1973.
Group-stage Cup games will be played throughout November, all counting in the regular-season standings. Quarter-finals will be played 4 and 5 December and semi-finals on 8 and 9 December before the final on 11 December at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Tyrese Maxey scored 27 points to lead the Sixers, who took control early against the sloppy Knicks.
They led by 14 in the third quarter and weathered a late Knicks surge.
Jalen Brunson’s step-back three-pointer put New York up 90-89 with 1:32 remaining.
James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, answered with a basket that put Philadelphia back in front and pushed the lead to 96-91 with a tip-in off a Maxey miss with 11.9 seconds left.
James, 41, added nine rebounds, eight assists, one steal and a vintage chase-down block in what 76ers coach Nick Nurse called his best game since joining as a free agent in June.
“I thought he was really good all the way through,” Nurse said. “When we got some downhill stuff he used his size and knocked them around a little bit for some layups... kind of pushed and organized it.
“He’s been good, but that was his best game, for sure.”
Brunson led New York with 24 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who fell to 2-4.
The Dallas Mavericks, fueled by 35 points from Kyrie Irving and 33 from Cooper Flagg, rallied to hand the Houston Rockets their first defeat of the season 116-111.