Last-Minute News, Rumors, Reports before New York Knicks Philadelphia 76ers NBA Cup Game

The last time the New York Knicks played the Philadelphia 76ers, they raised an NBA championship banner for the first time in 53 years. And then after that, they lost 106-100 in that same building. Tonight is the rematch, 7.30 Eastern Time in Philadelphia. And I'm going to show you why this one goes the other way. Jalen Brunson is back to playing like a Finals MVP, and right now looks like someone who could easily win this year's 2026 NBA MVP award. The Sixers' injury report is only growing, and the Knicks, they finally look like themselves. It's two teams that have spent the first week of the season looking nothing like each other. One team 0-3 starting the season, wondering what went wrong before winning two games. The other one starting 4-1 with a brand new star-studded core. On Wednesday in Chicago, Jalen Brunson scored 38 points, hit six threes, and went 13-25 from the field. That's the same guy who scored 45 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. So here's the case for the Knicks tonight and why it starts with the night that everything did go wrong. But things are not going wrong for the full season for the Knicks. When we look at them, they do have a 9% chance on Kalshi right now to win the 2027 NBA Championship. And if you believe in the Knicks, Kalshi is the place for you. I want to thank Kalshi for sponsoring today's video. On Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcomes of events across sports, politics, and even the weather. For example, the Knicks winning that 2027 NBA Championship If you want to trade $25, you can get over $250 in a max payout. It's a great deal for you. And guys, if you are interested in trying out Cal Street, click the link in our description. It's also in our pinned comment down below. And sign up using code DIGESTNBA and you can get $55 when you trade your first $25. Let's start with October 20th because that's the main reason tonight matters. When we look at the 76ers, we know they beat the Knicks 106-100 at Madison Square Garden on the night where the Knicks raised their NBA title banner. Now, Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points, and LeBron had 14 in his Sixers debut. The newcomers were a big part of it. Anthony Simons hit three threes, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit two, and Jalen Brown made his debut for Philadelphia as well. So think about that. The Sixers went and rebuilt the entire top of the roster over one summer. On an opening night, they looked like a team that had been playing together for years. That's what the Knicks are walking into. Brunson had 21 points on 31.6% shooting. Towns had 19 points and 12 rebounds, but found himself in early foul trouble. That loss started a three-game losing streak. Philadelphia, Boston, and Orlando. The champions of the world were 0-3, and fans did begin to panic. Since then, they've won two straight, Detroit and then Chicago. So, the Knicks are 2-3 heading into Philly right now. The Sixers are 4-1. They trailed Cleveland by 29 in their home opener and still won. They trailed Detroit by 21 in their only loss. Now, Are the Sixers a great team or a team that lives dangerously? A team that keeps digging holes against the champion doesn't usually get lucky twice. And guys, do you really think a team that's 4-1 but trailed by 29 and by 21 in two of those games, is that a sign of toughness or a sign that maybe they're a little bit fake right now? And maybe they'll get it together. I think there's not enough basketballs on the court for those guys. Frankly, I just think the Knicks are going to play better as a team and be able to handle them because now the Knicks look locked in. They look like a team again with Jalen Brunson at the helm, and they are absolutely balling out right now. Jalen Brunson also started this season like he forgot how to shoot. Coming off a wrist surgery, his first five games he shot 31.6% against Philadelphia, 41.2% in Boston, 42.9% against Orlando, and 27.8% against Detroit before shooting 52% against Chicago. Across those games, he has scored 129 points, an average of 25.8 a game, and has 25 assists as well. Even in the bad shooting games, he was getting his points. The problem was the efficiency, and the problem was the losses. Now the efficiency is back, and wouldn't you know it, so are the wins. After the Orlando loss, he said, Then came Chicago. 38 points, 7 assists, 2 steals, 6 of 10 from 3, and After just making four threes in his first four games, and that's exactly what an NBA Finals MVP looks like. The guy scored 45 in Game 5 against the Spurs to win the title, and he was unanimous. All 11 votes went to Jalen Brunson. He had seven assists in each of the last two wins, one turnover against Detroit and two against Chicago. He also passed Gerald Wilkins this week for 15th on the Knicks all-time assist list with 1,943 in a Knicks uniform. This week, after the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association named him Athlete of the Year in Philadelphia, where he obviously has deep roots connected to Villanova, honestly, we just see this as a perfect storm. And one of you right here, EmmanuelAnthony3744, wrote, It's not that Jalen doesn't pass the ball. It's that when he passes it, they always seem to pass right back. Well... 133 points in Chicago says the ball is moving just fine and the Knicks are kind of not going to continue to play Brunson ball like they did in the first couple of games where it does work in the clutch but typically in situations during a full game it's not going to work as well. So is he all the way back? One game doesn't make a month but his 23 points against Detroit came on 28% shooting but the shots are now falling and the Knicks they are 2-0 since then. Also guys, real quick, if you are enjoying this video, make sure to subscribe. We're trying to get to 28K over the next couple of days here as we are just around 25 subscribers away. But on the Sixers injury report, we do see Jalen Brown is questionable with left knee soreness. Dominic Barlow, Jabari Walker, and Taco Fall, along with Ariel Huckporty, are all out. Now, Joel Embiid and LeBron James are not on the report, so expect both to play, and Embiid just had a double-double and a triple-double in his last two games, so it's safe to say he's as healthy as he'll ever be. Now, Maxie, that's also not a slight, it's just obviously he's dealing with a degenerative knee situation, but Maxie's averaging 28.4 points on 46% shooting, and Jalen Brown, if he plays, is averaging 20.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. For the Knicks... Tommy B reports that Jose Alvarado is out with an ankle sprain, and the good news is Towns, who played through a left wrist injury on Wednesday, is not on the report and is good to go. Tyler Kolek also has more than 20 assists and zero turnovers in his first three games, per Basketball Reference. He's the only player to do that in the last 40 years. Now, some other Knicks news you might have missed this week. On Wednesday, Shams Charania reported the Knicks plan to decline Pacome Dadiara's fourth-year option worth $5.37 million, which makes him an unrestricted free agent in June. I made a whole video on that one, so go check it out right now after this video. It also clears salary space for next season, and with the Knicks watching the second apron, that matters. We're going to do a full breakdown on that. The Knicks also added Dalton Knecht. The Lakers waived him October 19th. He agreed to a two-way deal with the Knicks, which doesn't account for the cap at all. Don't expect him to play tonight. He's still getting warmed up with Westchester before he gets it going in New York. I also did a video on that. It's not out yet. It's coming out tomorrow, on Saturday, on Halloween. On top of that, we also do look that an anonymous NBA executive questioned whether Karl-Anthony Towns should get a max contract, framing him as a third option rather than a franchise player. And that's one executive talking, not a report on what the Knicks plan to do. And honestly, a guy who just put up 19 points and 13 rebounds to win a game on Wednesday is making a strong case against that executive, especially when you consider how important he was to the Knicks winning the NBA Finals. And Jose Alvarado, meanwhile, is going to be out, and his target return is November 4th, so expect to be out another game. One of you right here, DominicMezapel4252 wrote, play Tyler Kolek more to keep the ball moving. He had 9 points and 9 assists in 18 minutes in Chicago. And Jordan Clarkson had 18 points in 16 minutes off the bench. The bench is helping. And guys, honestly, I think Mike Brown should continue to play Kolek. Play him next to Jalen Brunson. Kolek himself did say that he likes playing next to Jalen Brunson and that the two work well together because they can both handle the on-ball duties. Which puts less pressure on each of them, which kind of lets them play their game better and have the flow better. And I know some people will be concerned about the defense, but honestly, I think it's good to experiment with a few stretches. Kolek says he also locks in way more on defense when Brunson's out there because he understands it's a huge assignment for him. And if you could show that, he'll obviously get on the floor even more than he already is. But here's where the Knicks are going to win this game. Reason one is Jalen Brunson. The shots are falling again. That's the biggest swing so far. Reason two, the Knicks can punish a slow start. Against Detroit, they were down 13 at the garden, then outscored the Pistons 62-25 over the next two quarters. Reason three, the Sixers are thin outside of their stars. Only two of their rotation players shoot about 45%, and Brown is a question mark anyway. Now, reason four is that the Knicks' top guys are healthy. Townsend, 19 points and 13 rebounds in Chicago, and Oche Ukeze at 23. Andre Drummond added 11 rebounds and 15 minutes in Chicago. Which matters against the Joel Embiid who just posted that triple-double and then that double-double. The one problem is Mikael Bridges, who's averaging 5 points and 27% shooting. Mike Brown has said publicly that he has to keep shooting. If Bridges gets going tonight, this one is over. And I do think this is a nice bounce back for Mikael, who obviously goes through cold snaps. We've seen it before, but he steps up at the right time and this is a big game. So this is certainly the right time for that. Now. There is a lot of ifs, obviously, with all this. But the Knicks have been a different team when they play with pace and when the ball moves. And if Brunson stays aggressive and the role players hit their open shots, I like the Knicks for this game. So the recipe is simple. One more thing, the Knicks are NBA Cup champions and this is their first Cup game since being crowned. If the Sixers win this series and... Obviously, that's a big thing. A Sixers win gives them the season series fully, and the Knicks win obviously ties it one-to-one. Bet on MGM? Well, it's interesting to see what they got, because they got the Sixers favored by 3.5 points per the Liberty line, but I'm taking the Finals MVP in this one. My prediction is that the Knicks are going to win by six, like the 76ers did, but we'll expect a little bit more scoring. 114-108. This is a revenge game. The Knicks know that the NBA Cup obviously doesn't matter a ton, but it does matter for team morale and stuff like that. And it does get you a little bit more amped. And the Knicks obviously won the Cup last year. A little bit of a target on their back. Their group stage, their group is just insanely good. It just is what it is. Not really going to complain about it. But at the same time, it certainly makes the game feel a bit bigger. And we know what the Knicks do against the 76ers in bigger games. The Knicks win. So before I head out, I do want to give... A shout-out to Alan1841iffy on our Knicks-Bulls preview that we did, saying, thank you, I knew we were going to win the first three games. Those teams caught us by surprise. That's the whole case for tonight, and I hope you're right again. Tell me in the comments, though, who wins tonight, Knicks or Sixers? Give me your score prediction. If you do get it right, I will shout you out on the channel. Give me the score, and who knows, I'll give you some sort of silly prize. I'll mail you a coffee cup, not a used one. That's frigging disgusting. Like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications. What a weird way to end this video. But hey, I'm kind of a weird guy and it's awesome that the Knicks are champions. My hair looks ridiculous. Tried to do soap, who cares? Get the hell out of here and go do something fun with your life. Stay safe out there. Halloween is here. Have a lot of fun, guys. Obviously a fun time of year. If you are going to be going out and celebrating, well, make sure to be safe, be smart, don't do anything dumb. When people wear costumes, they get a little crazy. So just be careful out there and just stay smart. Go away now. Go. Leave. Leave. I want to go eat bagel bites like a 25-year-old that I am.