LeBron's clutch tip-in seals Sixers' 98-93 NBA Cup win over champion Knicks

Jalen Brunson's step-back three-pointer gave the New York Knicks a 90-89 lead with 1:32 remaining Friday night, silencing the South Philly crowd for just 22 seconds. Then LeBron James — 41 years old, in his first season with Philadelphia — hit a 12-foot fadeaway jumper, VJ Edgecombe drained a top-of-the-key three, and James tipped home a Tyrese Maxey miss with 11.9 seconds left to close out a 98-93 Emirates NBA Cup win at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

The victory gave the 76ers a 5-1 record, their second win over the defending-champion Knicks already this season, and a 1-0 start in NBA Cup Group B play. New York, which won the NBA Cup last season before going on to beat the San Antonio Spurs for its first NBA championship since 1973, fell to 2-4.

We’ve been in some close games this year, and we’ve actually prevailed; teams have made runs, teams have gotten up on us, we’ve gotten up on teams, and they’ve come back, and we’ve kept our cool; it’s very encouraging.— LeBron James

Maxey led all scorers with 27 points on 10-for-19 shooting. James finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists — two assists and one rebound shy of what would have been his 126th career triple-double. Anfernee Simons added 21 points off the bench, giving Philadelphia three 20-point scorers. The Sixers shot 49 percent from the field.

James's two closing baskets were the punctuation on what Sixers head coach Nick Nurse called his best game since signing as a free agent in July. The sequence began when James, posting up OG Anunoby, got to his fadeaway to reclaim the lead. Then, with the game effectively decided, he converted Maxey's missed layup into a tip-in.

I had a one-on-one at the block versus OG, and I was able to get to my fadeaway and knock that down. Rese draws so much attention. He went for the layup and missed it a little bit, and I was able to get the tip-in, being at the right place at the right time.— LeBron James

I thought he was really good all the way through tonight. He got some downhill stuff, used his size and knocked them around a little bit for some layups. I thought he was a little quicker to make some decisions to shoot the 3-ball as well. Obviously, he made a couple big plays down the stretch. That was his best game for sure.— Nick Nurse, Sixers head coach

The game was largely Philadelphia's to lose. The Sixers built a 14-point third-quarter lead, held the Knicks to 44 first-half points — New York's lowest first-half total of the season — and limited Brunson to just seven points before halftime. Joel Embiid contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists before absorbing an apparent hit to the face from Josh Hart's arm late in the second quarter; he returned for the fourth.

Dean Wade, starting in place of the injured Jaylen Brown (left knee patellar tendinopathy), tied his career high with three steals in the first quarter alone. James singled him out afterward.

The stat sheet doesn’t always determine winning plays and the things he was doing tonight defensively. And the things he was doing offensively, getting us extra shots and things of that nature. Just being in the right place at the right time. You can always count on him. … Dean is a perfect player for every team. He can play for any team and he's always going to make winning plays.— LeBron James

Simons, meanwhile, buried three triples in the third quarter and has made a massive impact across the last two games, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. The Sixers used a nine-man rotation that included rookie Labaron Philon Jr.

For the Knicks, Brunson finished with 24 points and six assists. Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 22 points and 12 rebounds. New York held a 20-7 edge in second-chance points, which kept the game competitive deep into the fourth quarter.

If you get into a possession game with them late, they've made an art of pulling those out. It was very important that we answered immediately; it was a pretty good shot and a pretty quick answer to take the lead back. That's always huge momentum-wise.— Nick Nurse, Sixers head coach

James brings particular relevance to the NBA Cup: he was named the inaugural tournament MVP in 2023 when the Los Angeles Lakers won the first edition. Philadelphia's Group B also includes the Cavaliers, Pacers and Heat — and the Sixers' next Cup game is against Cleveland next Friday. The Sixers went 7-8 in the tournament's first three years without advancing out of group play.

I like the Cup. I think it's been a cool addition to what we are doing. We haven't played very well in it, so it is a goal for us to play better in it and try to advance out of pool play and see what happens.— Nick Nurse, Sixers head coach

One night later, the Sixers showed a different kind of resilience. Without both James and Embiid, Maxey erupted for 38 points and Simons added 19 off the bench as Philadelphia battled back to beat the Charlotte Hornets 109-104 on Saturday night, pushing the team's record to 7-1 on the young season.

We're resilient. We ain't going to just give up.— Tyrese Maxey

Why it matters — Philadelphia's 7-1 start — built around a 41-year-old LeBron James still delivering clutch moments — positions the Sixers as a genuine Eastern Conference threat and sets up a compelling NBA Cup run against a group that includes the defending champions and two former tournament MVPs.

Reported by yahoo.com, sixers.com, aljazeera.com, nbcsportsphiladelphia.com