Embiid gives 76ers edge over Knicks

Joel Embiid had 27 points and 10 rebounds while remaining unbeaten at Madison Square Garden, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the New York Knicks 109-89 on Saturday night.

Ben Simmons had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists while also leading the defensive effort that forced New York’s RJ Barrett into a miserable shooting performance. Embiid and Simmons have never dropped a game at MSG and the Sixers have won the last 13 meetings overall.

Tobias Harris and Seth Curry each scored 17 points to help Philadelphia improve to 2- 0. New coach Doc Rivers earned his 945th victory, moving ahead of Bill Fitch into sole possession of 10th place.

Julius Randle scored 25 points for the Knicks,. THUNDER 109, HORNETS 107>> Shai Gilgeous-alexander hit a tiebreaking jumper with 1.4 seconds left and finished with 24 points, helping Oklahoma City hold off Charlotte in the Thunder’s opener.

The Thunder led by 13 with 1:50 to go, but Miles Bridges spurred Charlotte with 11 of his 14 points in the final 1:06 — including three 3s in the last 25 seconds. His final 3 tied it at 107 with 10.3 seconds left.

Terr y Rozier had 19 points for Charlotte.

MAGIC 120, WIZARDS 120 >>

Terrence Ross scored 25 points and Orlando overcame Russell Westbrook triple- double in his home debut for Washington.

Westbrook had 15 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assistst to become the fourth player in NBA history to record triple- doubles in his team’s first two games. Magic Johnson (twice), Jerry Lucas and Oscar Robertson previously accomplished the feat.

Westbrook is the first player to do it with a new team after being acquired from Houston in the offseason for John Wall.

CAVALIERS 128, PISTONS 119, 2OT >>

Collin Sexton scored 32 points and three of his teammates had at least 21 points, helping Cleveland outlast Detroit in doubleovertime.

Jerami Grant had 14 of his 28 points in the third quarter for Detroit. Blake Griffin had 26 points.

HAWKS 122, GRIZZLIES 112 >>

Trae Young scored eight straight points down the stretch and finished with 36 to help Atlanta beat Memphis for its second straight victory to open the season.

Ja Morant led Memphis with 28 points and seven assists,

PACERS 125, BULLS 106>> Domantas Sobonis had 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds and Indiana used big scoring runs in the second and third quarters to rout Chicago,

T. J. Warren scored 23 points and Victor Oladipo added 22 to help Indiana beat its Central Division rival for the 10th straight time.

Zach Lavine scored 17 points and Lauri Markkanen had 16 points and nine rebounds for Chicago.