The champs won’t be easing into their title defense.
The NBA announced Tuesday that the Knicks will open the 2026-27 regular season on Oct. 20 by hosting the revamped and revitalized Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. The contest will tip off at 7 p.m. ET and air nationally on NBC and Peacock.
However, the actual game itself will be the second most anticipated part of the evening’s festivities.
Before the regular season tips off, Jalen Brunson and his teammates will receive their championship rings, and the Knicks will raise a new banner to the Garden rafters for the first time since 1973.
Just typing that sentence still feels surreal.
Fifty-three years after Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and the rest of the 1972-73 Knicks captured the franchise’s second championship, Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart will officially take their place alongside them.
Considering the opponent, however, New York won’t have much time to bask in the celebration.
The Sixers will arrive in Manhattan eager to spoil the party, while looking very different from the Philadelphia squad the Knicks swept out of the second round last May.
LeBron James will make his Sixers debut that night, beginning the 24th season of his remarkable career. Jaylen Brown, acquired from Boston earlier this summer, will also suit up alongside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid.
In other words, the Knicks’ first game as defending champions will come against one of the few Eastern Conference clubs that can rival their star power.
The storylines practically write themselves:
Finals MVP Captain Clutch vs. four-time Finals MVP King James.
The champs vs. the shiny new superteam.
A rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals.
Jaylen Brown beginning the next chapter of his career against the franchise that ended his new team’s previous season.
The Sixers attempting to crash the most anticipated regular-season party in Madison Square Garden history.
Get your popcorn ready.
Then, after two days off, the Knicks will travel north to renew acquaintances with another Atlantic Division rival.
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