76ers 106, Knicks 100. Philadelphia takes the third quarter and opening night.

Philadelphia won the basketball game after New York celebrated the championship. The 76ers beat the Knicks 106-100 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, taking control with a 29-18 third quarter and holding off a late challenge. Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points on an opening night that ended with the visitors protecting the lead.

New York led 58-54 at halftime. That made the third quarter the clearest dividing line in the game. Philadelphia finished the period on an 11-0 run, with Jaylen Brown making consecutive 3-pointers, and went into the fourth ahead 83-76. An evening that had tilted toward the Knicks now required a comeback.

The quarter that changed the night

The 76ers did not run away with it. Karl-Anthony Towns hit a 3-pointer that brought New York within 96-95. Joel Embiid answered with a 3 of his own, and Philadelphia did not surrender the lead. That exchange mattered as much as the earlier run: the Knicks reached a one-possession game, then watched the gap open again.

Brown finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. LeBron James had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Embiid supplied 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Maxey's 28 led the scoring, but Philadelphia had several ways to sustain possessions and answer New York's pressure.

Jalen Brunson scored 21 points on 6-for-19 shooting. Towns had 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Knicks shot 37 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point range. Those figures help explain why recovering the lead was difficult, without turning every missed shot into a verdict on the offense's future.

A loss to examine, not a season to pronounce

The ring ceremony and the result belong to different seasons. Tuesday honored a completed championship. The loss exposed work for the next campaign, particularly the stretch in which a four-point halftime lead became a seven-point deficit. There is no need to blame the celebration for the shooting or pretend one game settles the title defense.

New York had a chance late and did not finish the comeback. That is the fair judgment of opening night. Philadelphia leaves with the win, and the Knicks leave with a specific quarter and a decisive late exchange to examine before visiting Boston on Friday.

Correction, October 21: James had seven assists in the NBA's official box score. An earlier version used the six assists listed in the game recap.