LeBron James Scores 20 as 76ers Beat Knicks 98-93 in NBA Cup Opener

LeBron James scored 20 points, including a late tip-in, as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the reigning NBA champion New York Knicks 98-93 on Friday, Oct. 30, in an NBA Cup group game at Xfinity Mobile Arena. James, in his 24th NBA season, also had nine rebounds and eight assists. Philadelphia let a 14-point fourth-quarter lead slip, and Jalen Brunson's 3-pointer with 1:32 left gave New York its first lead since early in the first quarter. James answered with a turnaround jumper over OG Anunoby, and his go-ahead basket came with 1:10 left. With 11.9 seconds left he put back a Tyrese Maxey miss to make it 96-91, and V.J. Edgecombe added a 3-pointer. Coach Nick Nurse said it was James's best game for sure. James tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the fifth-oldest player with a 20-point game. The Sixers improved to 5-1 after winning the teams' first meeting, 106-100, on Oct. 20 at Madison Square Garden.

CBS News, the left-leaning outlet, frames the night as James's best game yet with the Sixers. It leads with his age, his record season count and the Abdul-Jabbar milestone, features Nurse's quote, and highlights his plays on Mikal Bridges and Anunoby and his title ambitions. The New York Post, on the right, leads with the Knicks failing to stop him. It centers on Karl-Anthony Towns's remark about adding the greatest player of all time and on Josh Hart's account of helping on Maxey, which left James free for the putback. Both agree on the score and that James, not Maxey or Embiid, decided the finish. Fox News, also on the right, did not cover the game in its article. It reports former player Jason Williams saying James should stand still during the national anthem. Alternative outlets split: Yahoo Sports matches the game recaps, while CBS Sports ran a pregame betting preview with odds.