The 2026-27 NBA season opened on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, with three games, and the road teams won two of them. The Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics 121-113 at Little Caesars Arena, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the New York Knicks 106-100 at Madison Square Garden, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 116-104 at the Frost Bank Center. The Pistons, 76ers and Thunder are 1-0, and the Celtics, Knicks and Spurs are 0-1. The crowds were 20,178 in Detroit, 19,812 in New York and 19,160 in San Antonio.
The argument that the winners deserved their starts rests on the biggest performances. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points for the Thunder, who led after each of the first two quarters and won by 12, and Chet Holmgren grabbed seven rebounds. In New York, Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points for the 76ers, Joel Embiid had 11 rebounds, and LeBron James led the team in assists with seven. Detroit scored 39 points in the fourth quarter and 37 in the third, 76 of their 121 points in the second half, with Jalen Duren scoring 22 points and Cade Cunningham making eight assists. Ausar Thompson had 11 rebounds, and the Pistons’ second-half performance turned a game that Boston led after two quarters, 58 to 45, into a win. Gilgeous-Alexander also had six rebounds, three steals and three blocks, Ajay Mitchell made six assists for Oklahoma City, and Maxey added three steals and three blocks to his 28 points.
The counter-argument is that the losing sides also had strong individual games. Paul George scored 38 points for the Celtics, who scored at least 25 points in every quarter, and Jayson Tatum made 11 assists. Jalen Brunson scored 21 for the Knicks, Andre Drummond grabbed 14 rebounds, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 12 rebounds, so New York’s top three players all produced, but the Knicks scored only 18 points in the third quarter and lost by six. In San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama grabbed 13 rebounds and Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 24 points, while De’Aaron Fox made seven assists, but San Antonio scored only 16 points in the second quarter, against the Thunder’s 31.
The results matter because they set the early picture of the season. A second-half surge decided each game: Detroit outscored Boston 76-55 in the second half, Philadelphia outscored New York 52-42, while San Antonio outscored Oklahoma City 60-51 in the second half but had trailed by 21 at half-time. Each of the three winners scored 100 or more points and held their opponent below 115. For the Pistons, a win over the Celtics is a strong start, and for the Knicks a home loss is a reminder that the season is long.
Fox’s own line in San Antonio was 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Boston’s Jordan Walsh led the Celtics with six rebounds. Opening night produced three clear results and several individual performances that were not enough to win. The next round of games will show whether the early leaders can keep their form.