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Steph Curry said “night, night” to Klay Thompson. Plus: Joel Embiid’s season debut!

by November 13, 2024

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If you don’t have NBA Cup group game fever, it’s time to take your pulse!

Joel Embiid is back

Insights from his season debut

Ever since the Clippers announced Paul George’s move and signed with the 76ers, we’ve been excited to see what this Sixers team looks like in the East. Can they make a deep run for the first time in Joel Embiid’s career? Can George solve their problems? Will Philly finally be a title contender? Embiid had picked up a technical foul and a three-game suspension before he even stepped on the court. But last night he finally made his debut for the 2024-25 seasonwhich helps set up the second annual NBA Cup against the Knicks.

As you would expect for Embiid — and most big men coming back from a serious injury — it was a mixed bag. The 2023 MVP had eight points, four assists and two rebounds in the first half, but he didn’t make his first 3-pointer until there was 8:59 left in the third quarter. He looked slow on both ends of the court and had a bit of a matchup problem early on as Karl-Anthony Towns used his reach to pull Embiid away from the rim on defense.

Embiid finished with 13 points on 2 of 11 shooting to go along with five assists and three rebounds in the Knicks’ 111-99 win. He shot 1 of 5 from deep and made just two shots in the paint. The 2-8 Sixers were minus-7 in 26 minutes when he was on the court, but they were plus-1 in the first three quarters he played. The Knicks pulled away with a dominant fourth point, behind 10 of Jalen Brunson’s 18 points, seven of Towns’ 21 and eight of OG Anunoby’s 24 points. So what does that mean?

It takes a minute: The Sixers didn’t have Tyrese Maxey, so we haven’t seen the debut of their new big three yet. Embiid will also need some time to get into game shape, but Philly was better when he was on the floor for most of the game.

This team needs Embiid on the field because of course: It’s not just that the Sixers have built one team at a time the concept That Embiid is the central figure who dominates games – that is their reality. The 76ers have a 439-439 record (.500 winning percentage, including playoffs) since selecting the 30-year-old in 2014, but with Embiid they are 317-176 (.643 winning percentage). That means they are 122-236 (.341 winning percentage) without him.

Assuming Embiid doesn’t play in back-to-back games tonight against 12-0 Cleveland, his next game will likely be Friday in Orlando (6-6).

The last 24

The Cavaliers take a 13-0 lead tonight

📺 Honey, is KFC still open? Cavaliers (12-0) vs. 76ers (2-8) as the Cavs look to continue their unbeaten streak. 7:30 p.m. ET on League Pass.

📺 League Pass Geek Out! Clippers (6-5) vs. Rockets (7-4) as both teams really had fun early in the season. 8pm ET.

📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. Suns (9-2) vs. Kings (6-5) with Kevin Durant still out, but the Suns will look to build on their best record in the West. 10:00 p.m. ET on League Pass.

🏀 Cooper Flagg dropped 26 points at Kentucky! He also turned it over on consecutive clutch possessions as Duke lost. That was fun.

🏀 Warriors rise. In Law Murray’s Power Rankings, Golden State (9-2) is near the top. Who is No. 1??

🩼 Hollinger is worried. The current pool of injured players after Chet Holmgren’s pelvic fracture could be turned into a dream team. Prohibit injuries.

😱 Fear of the deer or fear of the deer? Sam Amick and Eric Nehm discuss the Bucks’ 3-8 start. Is it repairable??

🏀 Ausar Thompson is back! The Pistons’ second-year winger has been cleared to play after a blood clot issue. He hasn’t played since March 9th.

Splash reunion

The return of Klay’s Bay Area delivers

Leading up to Klay Thompson’s return to Chase Center last night, we heard a lot of comments like “It’s just another game” and “We all want to win.” But the moment the Warriors’ PA announcer left Thompson last to introduce the Mavericks’ starting lineup, everyone knew there was more energy. The tributes to him throughout the evening were phenomenal, first-class organizational material.

Even with basketball on the floor, the entertainment didn’t stop. It has grown. It glowed. It was exactly the show everyone in the building was hoping for. Thompson was great. He had 22 points on 7 of 17 shooting from the field and hit 6 of 12 from long range. We know he’s very comfortable with these rims and sightlines. He scored eight of his points in the fourth quarter as the Mavs (5-6) pushed the Warriors (9-2) and showed them they are still the kings of the West.

The crunch time basketball was exceptional. In the last 10:09 minutes of the game we saw three ties and seven lead changes. The Mavericks took a 112-105 lead with 4:33 left and led 114-108 with 3:29 left. That’s when Steph Curry decided to put everyone to bed. The 36-year-old went on a 12-3 run to close out the game as the Warriors won 120-117. Dallas couldn’t do anything about it and Luka Dončić couldn’t keep up with him and missed the decisive attempt. After the game, Thompson talked about what it was like facing Curry:

“It hurts to be on the other side of one of his turmoils. The guy ended up getting hot and taking some ridiculous shots. On the other hand, it sucks.”

Basketball gods, I don’t ask much of you: They have to make this a playoff series in the West. The deeper in the playoffs, the better. That’s what the NBA is all about – and the Emirates NBA Cup, which we’ll discuss in more detail below. 🙏

In the meantime, it might be time to check out this excerpt about Curry from our upcoming book, The Basketball 100. Where does he check in?

Return of the NBA Cup

The group play phase is unpredictable

The second annual NBA Cup is here and the first night did not disappoint. As a reminder, we’ll be recapping the in-season tournament every Tuesday and Friday until December 3rd. Because of the special courts, you know the games are NBA Cup competitions. If you missed it, here’s what you need to know from the first night of group play:

What about the courts? Shot! They’re definitely not as bad as the ones we faced last season. Still, the bar was super low. Some of these blue fields really push the limits of your eyes’ ability to adapt.

Give me the gray courts all day long. No more blue dishes. And Boston: I don’t know which Tetris snapshot you wanted to recreate, but I don’t need that either.

Do they feel like different games? I do think that the specialty courses naturally make them feel like different games. We also had some pretty incredible upsets as some of the best teams in the league were beaten by…how can I put this… lower Teams? Was that nice enough? Is this due to NBA randomness? Or parity? Or because these guys know a trip to Las Vegas is on the line? Here are the rest of the results:

The NBA Cup is unpredictable

Hawks 117, Celtics 116: Surprise No. 1 this evening! No Trae Young, no Bogdan Bogdanović, no De’Andre Hunter? No problem. The Hawks went to Boston and played on the green field, and Jalen Johnson’s triple-double (18-13-10) contributed to the win. Dyson Daniels had 28 points and six steals. We had 15 games this season with five or more steals by a player… Daniels had four of them.

Piston 123, heat 121 at TDC: An absolutely absurd ending in Detroit! Tyler Herro hit three 3-pointers in the final 82 seconds of regulation to come back from a nine-point deficit and force overtime. Then, in overtime, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra completely blew it. Yes, Spo! The Pistons executed a perfect inbounds lob to Jalen Duren, tying the game at 121 with one second left. Spo then called for a time out. One problem: The Heat had no more timeouts. Malik Beasley hit two free throws to end the game as Miami lost its chance to win. The Heat wasted 40 points from Herro. The MVP of the game was the producer who switched to Jalen Rose, who was shocked in the crowd when Spo called overtime.

Blazers 122, Wolves 108: Four of the Blazers’ double-digit scorers came off the bench, including Robert Williams III, who added 19 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in 25 minutes. The Wolves shot 21 times.

The other NBA Cup results

Suns 120, Jazz 112: No Kevin Durant, no problem in Salt Lake City for the Suns. Devin Booker had 31, Bradley Beal had 24 and the Suns cruised to another road win. The Suns are tied with the Thunder and Warriors for the best record in the West at 9-2.

Magic 114, Hornets 89: The Magic were really good without Paolo Banchero. They completely shut down a strong Hornets offense that got 35 points from LaMelo Ball. Franz Wagner responded with 32 points.

Bucks 99, Raptors 85: The Bucks survived 32 points from Gradey Dick and an absence from Damian Lillard (concussion protocol) to earn this huge victory in group play. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 23 points, seven assists and four blocks.

🏆 ONE NIGHT IN 🏆

The #EmiratesNBACup got off to a brilliant start! pic.twitter.com/GqiyKcVEPa

– NBA (@NBA) November 13, 2024

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(Top photo: Noah Graham / Getty Images )

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