Preview: Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks: Player props, injury report and prediction | NBA

New York Knicks raise their first championship banner since 1973 before facing a rebuilt Philadelphia 76ers side fronted by new signing LeBron James at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, in the headline fixture of an Opening Night tripleheader shown live on NBC.

The occasion carries real edge since these Knicks eliminated that 76ers team with a four-game sweep in last season's East semi-finals, a series New York went on to finish as Eastern champions and, eventually, NBA champions over San Antonio.

Form and outlook

Form Guide

Philadelphia 76ers

45-37 · 7th East (2025-26)

Last 5 (2025-26 play-offs)

W L L L L

115.9PPG

116.1Opp PPG

114.3Off. rating

114.4Def. rating

New York Knicks

53-29 · 2026 NBA champions

Last 5 (2026 NBA Finals vs. Spurs)

W W L W W

116.5PPG

110.1Opp PPG

118.7Off. rating

112.3Def. rating

Philadelphia go into the opener having lost four straight to this opponent, all in that May sweep, and the gap in last season's underlying numbers was stark since the Knicks posted a plus-6.4 net rating to the 76ers' minus-0.1.

That 76ers roster no longer really exists, though, since Philadelphia sent Paul George to Boston in a three-team deal to land Jaylen Brown, then added LeBron James as a free agent in July, a rebuild aimed squarely at restarting the Knicks rivalry with different pieces.

New York's core, by contrast, is almost unchanged from the team that beat San Antonio in five games in June, with Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns all back after that title run.

The one subtraction of note is centre Mitchell Robinson, who left for Boston in free agency, trimming New York's rim-protecting depth behind Towns even as the rest of the rotation stayed intact.

Both sides have been shaky shooting the ball in preseason, Philadelphia making just 27.8% of threes across four games and New York only 25.3% across five, numbers so far off either team's regular-season norm that they read as early rust rather than a real trend.

How that settles matters for a conference that reshuffles every summer, and how the regular season builds toward playoff seeding means a slow start for either team could cost home-court advantage come spring.

On paper New York enters with the better rested, more cohesive group, and that is before factoring in the emotional lift of raising a championship banner in front of their own crowd.

Team news and rotations

Centre depth is Philadelphia's biggest early-season worry since Hukporti's Achilles injury, suffered in the preseason opener against this same opponent, is season-ending and leaves Joel Embiid with a thinner safety net behind him.

Embiid himself played just 38 games last season and only two in preseason as his minutes are managed, so his workload through the first few weeks is worth tracking regardless of what the injury report says on game night.

LeBron James arrives having sat out Philadelphia's preseason opener for rest before making his 76ers debut, and at 40 years old how long he intends to keep playing will shadow every update on his workload this season, even on opening night.

New York's only real doubt is Hart's ankle, and with Miles McBride and Landry Shamet both in reserve, a late scratch would not meaningfully disrupt a rotation that barely changed from the title-winning group.

Key matchups

Key Matchups

Engine vs. engine

Jalen Brunson

NYK

VS

Tyrese Maxey

PHI

26.0PPG

28.3PPG

6.8APG

6.6APG

Brunson is the reigning Finals MVP running an unchanged title offence, while Maxey now has to share the ball with Brown, James and Embiid, so his usage rate this season is the one to watch.

Battle of the bigs

Joel Embiid

PHI

VS

Karl-Anthony Towns

NYK

26.9PPG

20.1PPG

7.7RPG

11.9RPG

Embiid's scoring rate outstrips Towns's when healthy, but he played only 38 games last season, and New York's superior rebounding number hints at where second-chance points could decide a close night.

Player props

Player Props to Watch

Tyrese MaxeyPHI

PointsUnder 26.5

28.3Season PPG

14.7Pre-season (4 GP)

Maxey is no longer Philadelphia's lone shot-creator with Brown, James and Embiid all drawing touches, and his preseason scoring dropped sharply as that new pecking order took shape.

Jalen BrunsonNYK

PointsOver 24.5

26.0Season PPG

16.3Pre-season (5 GP)

Finals MVPs tend to show up for banner nights, and Brunson faces a 76ers defence still bedding in several new faces, the kind of matchup he punished regularly last season.

Karl-Anthony TownsNYK

PointsUnder 18.5

20.1Season PPG

9.3Pre-season (5 GP)

Towns's scoring dipped as Brunson and Anunoby carried New York's preseason offence, and Embiid gives him a genuinely physical test at the rim on opening night.

Head-to-head

New York's dominance of this fixture last season was total by the end, closing out the semi-final sweep with a 30-point blowout after Philadelphia had actually won two of the four regular-season meetings.

Both rosters look different enough now that last season's results carry only narrative weight rather than predictive value, though the manner of that sweep, four straight losses by an average of 22 points, still says plenty about where the gap stood before this summer's rebuild.

The two sides' only meeting since has gone the other way, Philadelphia routing New York 120-97 in their preseason opener on October 5, though that game is most notable for Ariel Hukporti's season-ending Achilles injury rather than any real form reading, since both benches were still finding their new-look rotations.

Philadelphia's two competitive wins both came at Madison Square Garden before the Knicks found their best form, a reminder that the version of New York facing them tonight, freshly crowned and largely unchanged, is a sharper proposition than the one they beat twice last winter.

Tips and prediction

None of this is to say Philadelphia's new pieces cannot cause problems, since Brown, James and Embiid are all capable of a big individual night, but cohesion usually beats talent on paper in an opener.

New York enter healthier, more settled and with far more recent winning basketball behind them, and that should be enough to see off a 76ers side still working out its rotation.