{"id":940998,"date":"2026-10-21T06:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T06:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/940998\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T06:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T06:48:16","slug":"nba-opening-night-winners-and-losers-new-look-76ers-impress-jayson-tatum-victor-wembanyama-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/940998\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA opening night winners and losers: New-look 76ers impress; Jayson Tatum, Victor Wembanyama struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026-27 NBA season tipped off on Tuesday with an action-packed tripleheader to begin the 82-game marathon.<\/p>\n

The day began in the afternoon with the Pistons hosting the Celtics. The Celtics, thanks to a red-hot start from Paul George, jumped out to a lead that grew as large as 22 points in the third quarter. But that lead wouldn’t last as Detroit stormed back with a second-half outside-shooting onslaught in a 121-113 victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pistons were led by Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren with 22 points apiece, but Duncan Robinson (21 points) and Javonte Green (19) keyed the comeback. Robinson and Green went a combined 10 of 17 from 3-point distance. For Boston, George led the way with 38 points, but Jayson Tatum struggled mightily, scoring only 13 points on 6 of 23 shooting.<\/p>\n

Later on in New York City, the Knicks raised a championship banner and received their championship rings, but the night was spoiled by the new-look 76ers, who pulled out a 106-100 victory at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 28 as both LeBron James and Jaylen Brown debuted in a 76ers uniform as part of a star-studded starting five. James had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while Brown pitched in 19 points, eight boards and six assists. Joel Embiid had a double-double, going for 13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks. Jalen Brunson led the way for the Knicks with 21, but New York shot just 37% from the field and especially struggled in the third quarter as Philadelphia flipped a halftime deficit into a seven-point lead going into the fourth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the nightcap, the Spurs hosted the Thunder in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals. The Spurs took that series in seven, but Tuesday night’s opener was dominated by Oklahoma City. The Thunder led by as many as 26 late in the first half and withstood a second-half push from the Spurs in an eventual 116-104 win.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the best player on the floor as he put up 32 points. The other star for OKC was Jared McCain, who scored 20 off the bench while connecting on six of his eight 3-point tries. It was a tough night offensively for the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama, who missed his first 12 field goal attempts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are the winners and losers of the NBA’s opening night:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Winner: New-look 76ers lock in during second half<\/p>\n

The start of the game for both teams was ugly. Both teams shot under 41% from the floor during the first quarter and despite getting clean looks, couldn’t put the ball in the hoop. The third quarter is where everything changed for Philadelphia. It could be a sign of great things to come. LeBron James looked great in his role and even had a stretch where he was the small-ball five.<\/p>\n

Jaylen Brown hit big shots in the third quarter to give Philly an advantage. Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 28. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anfernee Simons came off the bench and provided a spark. Joel Embiid finished with a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds) despite having a rough shooting night. This game could very well be a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals. If that’s the case, basketball fans should be looking forward to May. — Cameron Salerno<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Loser: Third-quarter stretch costs Knicks<\/p>\n

The end of the third quarter is something the Knicks will look back on as a reason why they started the season with a loss. After the Knicks, with a chance to cut Philly’s lead to two, turned the ball over with 1.5 seconds remaining in the third, Jaylen Brown responded by knocking down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to stretch the lead to seven points. The Knicks weren’t able to recover after that swing. Despite recording more second-chance points (28 to 7) and winning the battle on the glass (52 to 45), the Knicks weren’t able to walk away with a win after a magical night that saw the franchise raise its championship banner.\u00a0— Cameron Salerno<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Winner: Paul George<\/p>\n

The Celtics lost, but at the very least, they got phenomenal early returns from Paul George after the controversial trade that sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia. That trade will be re-litigated over and over this season, but after George scored 38 points, a record for a player making his Celtics debut, it’s hard not to be excited about what he can do in this system. George seemed tentative at times offensively in Philly, unsure of his role between Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, but it’s clear he’s quickly gotten the message that you are supposed to let it fly in Boston. George went 12-of-21 from the field and 7-of-12 from deep, and his willingness to hoist from 3 will be welcome in Joe Mazzulla’s system.\u00a0— Robby Kalland<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Loser: Jayson Tatum<\/p>\n

While George was sensational, unfortunately for the Celtics, their other star had a brutal shooting performance. Tatum went 6-for-23 from the field and 0-for-7 from 3 in a game the Celtics just needed him to be average as a shooter to win. Tatum’s control over the game as a facilitator was terrific in the first half and he finished with 11 assists, but scoring 13 points on 23 field goal attempts cannot happen for Boston’s best player. There’s been concern about Tatum’s shot form and Tuesday’s performance won’t quiet the rumblings that he’s regressed with his mechanics.\u00a0— Robby Kalland<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Winner: Pistons shooters<\/p>\n

This game was decided by Javonte Green and Duncan Robinson going nuclear in the second half. That duo combined for 40 points and knocked down 10-of-17 3-point attempts to lift the Pistons out of the mud and carry them from a 22-point deficit to a 10-point lead. The Pistons were patient this summer, believing they had a roster that could still contend in the East. Green and Robinson were two of the players they were banking on to provide spacing. And after a rough start shooting as a team, those two carried the load with Boston focused heavily on slowing down Cade Cunningham.\u00a0— Robby Kalland<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Loser: Wemby can’t find his shot<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama had an uncharacteristically bad game on the offensive end of the floor against Oklahoma City. The Spurs star missed his first 12 shots from the floor and finished with just 12 points in the loss to OKC. On defense, Wembanyama had a handful of highlight plays, but the Spurs as a team couldn’t stop Oklahoma City in the first half. They allowed the Thunder to stretch their lead to as many as 26 points late in the first half.\u00a0— Cameron Salerno<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Winner: Aday Mara shines in Thunder debut<\/p>\n

One of the biggest winners of opening night was Aday Mara. The No. 12 overall pick out of Michigan was one of the best shot blockers in college basketball and was also extremely efficient in making shots around the rim. Those two characteristics were on display during a sequence in the third quarter, when the 7-foot-3 Mara denied an alley-oop attempt on one end and caught a lob on the offensive end of the floor. Mara is also an elite passer for his size. He is going to play significant minutes this season, especially in matchups against the Spurs.\u00a0— Cameron Salerno<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026-27 NBA season tipped off on Tuesday with an action-packed tripleheader to begin the 82-game marathon. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":940999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[1222,49,48,8028,459,2901,3555,1528,2696,82],"class_list":["post-940998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-boston-celtics","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=940998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/940999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}