As many expected, opening night of the 2026–27 regular season will feature the 76ers heading to Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks. The game will take place in 70 short days, on October 20.
A CAN'T-MISS TRIPLEHEADER TO OPEN THE SEASON.
— NBA (@NBA) August 11, 2026
🍿 Jayson Tatum, Paul George and the Celtics visit Cade Cunningham and last year's top-seeded Pistons
🍿 LeBron James and Jaylen Brown make Sixers debuts vs. Jalen Brunson and the Knicks on their championship banner raising night at… pic.twitter.com/jazcOOP8PB
In what has become an annual occurrence, the reigning NBA champions will have a home outing on the first night of the regular season. So, it’s no surprise that the Knicks are part of the regular season opening night schedule. They will have their ring ceremony and championship banner raised with the Sixers in attendance.
The 76ers aren’t a team that Knicks fans cheer for. They still aren’t. There will be only one reason to cheer for anything Sixers-related in what should be a lively arena: Ariel Hukporti receiving his ring.
Hukporti didn’t play much, but he had a memorable moment in the NBA Finals
Selected with the 58th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Hukporti played his first two seasons with the Knicks. A free agent this offseason, the 24-year-old joined the 76ers on a one-year deal worth $3.4 million.
Spending his time with New York as the team’s third center behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson, Hukporti was never really a part of the team’s rotation when everyone was healthy. The 7-footer made 79 regular season appearances for the Knicks in his two years and made six starts, five of which came in 2025–26.
Hukporti appeared in 10 playoff games for a total of 76 minutes during the team’s championship run. With the Knicks cruising through the Eastern Conference playoffs with plenty of blowout victories, much of Hukporti’s action came in garbage time.
During the NBA Finals, he appeared in two of the five games for a total of just five minutes. Despite his limited time on the floor against the Spurs, Hukporti had a memorable moment. When New York was trailing by 14 points late in the third quarter of Game 5, Hukporti came out of nowhere to impressively block Luke Kornet from completing an alley-oop.
The Knicks, of course, came back in the game and finished off the Spurs’ championship dreams. Now, much like Robinson who is now with the Celtics, Hukporti is rostered on an Atlantic Division rival.
Hukporti will get his well-deserved cheers prior to tipoff when he is presented with his championship ring. He will forever be a 2026 NBA champion. It will be all boos for Philadelphia for the rest of the night in what will be LeBron James' first ever regular season game with the 76ers.
Add us as a preferred source on Google