The NBA will open its season on Oct. 20 with a three-game NBC/Peacock slate, and the marquee matchup puts the New York Knicks against the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. It is the first chance to see LeBron James in a Philadelphia 76ers uniform after he left the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency this summer.
For James, the night marks the start of a record 24th season and his fourth team, a turn that keeps pushing the league into unfamiliar territory. The opening game in New York is the one that will draw the most attention, but the full schedule also sends the Detroit Pistons against the Boston Celtics at 3 p.m. ET and the San Antonio Spurs against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
That Knicks-Sixers meeting carries more than opening-night polish. Philadelphia was swept by New York in the playoffs last spring, but this is being framed as a far different group, one built around James, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Joel Embiid. Brown came from the Boston Celtics in a summer trade and averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and five assists last season, while Maxey was All-NBA, Edgecombe made the All-Rookie team and Embiid remains a former MVP.
The hard part is fitting all of that together. Philadelphia’s last trip through the matchup ended in a sweep without James and without a healthy Embiid, and this version is expected to look nothing like that one. The opener will not solve every question, but it will show whether the pieces can share the floor without flattening one another, which is the real test waiting behind the bright lights at Madison Square Garden.
What happens on Oct. 20 should tell the league a lot about the Sixers before the season settles into its usual grind. If the mix works, the opening-night stage will have been more than a showcase for James’ latest beginning; it will have been the first proof that Philadelphia can turn a crowded roster into something coherent.
