LeBron James Saved His Best Philadelphia Sixers Game For The Defending Champion New York Knicks

LeBron James in his Philadelphia 76ers No. 23 jersey© Instagram/ @kingjames

LeBron James has spent the first weeks of his Sixers career easing into things. On Friday night, he stopped. The 41-year-old scored 20 points with nine rebounds and eight assists, hit the go-ahead fadeaway with 1:10 left and sealed it with a tip-in, as Philadelphia beat the defending champion Knicks 98-93 in an NBA Cup group game. It was his best game as a Sixer, and it came against the team that won the title last season. The Sixers are now 5-1.

LeBron's Best Game As A Sixer

He took over in the final minutes. Jalen Brunson hit a three to put the Knicks up 90-89 with 1:32 left, and the Knicks fans who made the trip finally had something to cheer. Then LeBron answered. His fadeaway put Philadelphia back in front, and V.J. Edgecombe buried a three for a four-point lead.

The Knicks didn't go away. After a close foul call and a challenge, it was a three-point game with under 40 seconds left. LeBron grabbed an offensive rebound off a Maxey miss and put it back with a tip-in, which put the Sixers up five and sealed the win.

He had shown signs earlier. He made two threes in the first half and shrugged off Josh Hart on a drive. He bullied his way past Mikal Bridges in the post for a bucket, and in the third quarter he chased down OG Anunoby to block his shot. He finished with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and came one assist short of a triple-double, if you count the 8-and-9 line as close.

Some had worried about how he looked on offense early on. This looked like a player easing into the season, the way he did in his last few years with the Lakers.

How The Sixers Won Without Jaylen Brown

Philadelphia played without Brown, who missed his first game of the season with left knee soreness, called patellar tendinopathy. The team hasn't said if he will miss more.

That simplified things. The Sixers ran the offense through LeBron and Joel Embiid early, and Tyrese Maxey got easier looks. He scored 27 points, 18 of them in the first half on 8-of-12 shooting, and he's averaging 28.4 a game, fourth in the league. Anfernee Simons added 21 off the bench, and Edgecombe had 13. Embiid had a quiet night, with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on 3-of-12 shooting.

The Sixers are 5-1 even though their regular starting five has started together only three times. Maxey is the only player who has started every game.

It's also two wins out of two against the Knicks this season, after the opening night win in New York in LeBron's debut. The defending NBA and Cup champions are 2-4 now, only months after lifting the trophy. Brunson scored 24 and appeared to roll an ankle late, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 12 rebounds.

The building felt like the playoffs again. Sixers fans packed the arena and seemed to keep their tickets off the resale market, while Knicks fans only dotted the crowd. When a few “MVP” chants for Brunson went up at the free-throw line, Philly fans drowned them out with boos.

The Sixers play at Charlotte on Saturday, and the Knicks host Brooklyn on Monday, each one starting from a very different place.