LeBron James got his Philadelphia 76ers career off to a sensational winning start as his side beat the reigning champion New York Knicks 106-100 at Madison Square Garden on NBA opening night.

James began his NBA-record 24th season with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points and James' fellow Sixers debutant Jaylen Brown had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists in his first game since being acquired from Boston.

Jalen Brunson scored 21 points but the NBA Finals MVP shot just 6 for 19 from the field.

Brunson told fans inside Madison Square Garden in a pregame ceremony when the Knicks raised their NBA championship banner and received their rings that: "The joy that this city had this summer, we would love to replicate that again."

Maybe they can, but they will have to play a lot better than they did Tuesday in shooting 37 per cent overall and 33.3 per cent on 3s. Centre Karl-Anthony Towns was the standout, with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

The Knicks dominated the 76ers in a second-round sweep in last season's playoffs, early on during their streak of 13 straight victories as part of a 16-3 finish with the highest point differential in NBA postseason history.

Philadelphia then went out and traded for Brown - the NBA's scoring champion last season - and signed James after the NBA's all-time scoring leader decided to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, setting the 76ers up with the potential to be one of the best teams in the league.

They certainly didn't have a smooth start but played better as the game went on. The Sixers closed the third quarter with an 11-0 run, capped by Brown's second straight 3-pointer that came at the buzzer and gave Philadelphia an 83-76 lead.

Maxey's three-point play early in the fourth made it 87-78. The Knicks cut it to 96-95 when Towns made a 3-pointer, but Joel Embiid answered in kind and the Sixers stayed ahead.

Embiid finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Brunson, wearing gold sneakers for the occasion, couldn't help the Knicks recover by hitting the type of big shots he did when they repeatedly came back to beat San Antonio in five games for their first championship since 1973.

The festive pregame party gave way to a first half filled with long stretches of fouls and missed shots, not leaving much reason for the cheers to continue. The Knicks went ahead by 10 with one good flurry but it was down to 58-54 at halftime.

While the opening game of the regular season is merely one of 82 that the 76ers will have to play, they could have hardly got off to a better start than defeating the reigning champions on the road in at the first time of asking.