Sixers beat the Knicks for the second time to kick off the NBA Cup

Led by a dominant LeBron James, the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the New York Knicks 98-93 on Friday in the first round of games that also count toward the group stage of the NBA Cup.

Here are the highlights from Friday in the NBA, which included a stellar performance by Stephen Curry in the Warriors' victory over Luka Doncic's Lakers.

The champions stumble again

NBA courts were once again decked out in vibrant colors for the opening of the fourth edition of the Cup, whose new champion will be decided in the final on Dec. 11 in Indianapolis.

A year ago, the Knicks won that trophy and then capped off a historic season in the Finals with their first championship since 1973.

The title defense, however, has not started the way they wanted the New Yorkers, who have a 2-4 record.

Against the Sixers, one of their biggest rivals, they have already lost twice including Friday's loss on the road in Philadelphia.

The Sixers were without Jaylen Brown but the rest of their star-studded starting lineup filled the void left by the former Celtics forward.

Tyrese Maxey was the leading scorer with 27 points on a quiet night for Joel Embiid, who was held to 10 points.

James came close to his first triple-double against the Sixers with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

The Sixers played their hearts out on defense, holding the defending champions to just 93 points. Jalen Brunson scored 24 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22, but aside from them, only two teammates scored in double digits.

Philadelphia held several leads, the largest by 17 points, but the Knicks took the lead with a minute and a half remaining, before James put Philadelphia back in front with a turnaround jumper.

With a 94-91 lead, Maxey missed a layup that could have left the Knicks with 12 seconds to tie the game.

But LeBron read the rebound better than the New York defenders, snatched the ball out of the air and scored the game-winning basket.

"We just stayed calm," he explained afterward. "We had a couple of big leads, but they're the world champions and we knew they were going to come back, but we were able to weather their runs."

Curry sends Doncic to the floor

In San Francisco, Stephen Curry put on one of his signature performances in the Warriors' 112-95 victory over the Lakers.

The Los Angeles team came out strong and led 38-15 in the first quarter before the home team staged a complete comeback to tie the game at 53-53 at halftime.

Luka Doncic scored 37 points for the Lakers to Curry's 31, but the Warriors' magician was the undisputed star with eight stratospheric 3-pointers and constant ball-handling feats.

In the play of the night, Curry caused Doncic to fall spectacularly to the floor as the Slovenian tried to defend him. The point guard took a second to take in the scene and then immediately sank the 3-pointer, sending the Chase Center into a frenzy.

"I just wanted to create some space; I didn't expect it to be that bad," Curry admitted with a laugh about the play that left Doncic off-balance.

"I just love this game. All my celebrations are because I'm having a great time, especially at this stage of my career," said Curry, 38. "You're just grateful to still be playing at this level, and I want that joy to continue until I retire."

In addition to the win, Golden State's third in a row, Curry also moved up on the list of all-time leading scorers. The point guard reached 26,674 points, knocking Dominique Wilkins (26,668) out of 18th place.