Tuesday night featured the first group play games from the NBA cup. The first game between the 76ers and Knicks was Joel Embiid's season debut, while the night cap featured Klay Thompson's emotional return to Golden State.
76ers vs Knicks
Both of these teams are considered to be at the best of the Eastern Conference, but early on both have struggled a little bit out of the gate. The 76ers are not healthy so far this season, but took a step in the right direction with Joel Embiid joining the team for the time this season. The 76ers offense and defense have really struggled with Embiid out of the lineup. The Knicks on the other hand have been healthy, but they need to figure out their defense. Opponents are scoring a lot in the paint against them. While both offense and defense ratings are in the top half of the league, I don't think this is what they had envisioned from the start. Let's dive into the recap.
Recap
The Knicks put out a lineup of Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Karl Anthony-Towns, and Josh Hart. The 76ers matched up with Paul George, Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre, Kyle Lowry, and Caleb Martin. The first play of the game saw Joel Embiid assist Paul George on a flex cut for Embiid's first action in the 2024-2025 regular season. The flex action was used a lot for the 76ers as it was an easy way for Embiid to post after setting the down screen. The Knicks however, jumped out to an early due to KAT's shooting and finishing. KAT is shooting 53% from three this year, a career-high, and only taking close to 5 a game. I really like KAT only taking about 5 threes a game. I think he's gotten better at being on balance on his drives which has increase his finishing around the basket and he's been able to get to the free throw line. With him and Brunson on the same team, the Knicks should be able to get to the line a decent amount this year, but that hasn't been the case. The Knicks are 28th in the NBA in getting to the foul line. The beginning of the first was pretty sloppy on both sides. Paul George took on the matchup of guarding Jalen Brunson and did really well on him. He didn't fall for all of the little fakes, spins, and pivots Brunson likes to use. He did a really good job of containing him and forcing him into some tough shots early in the game. It was also encouraging to see because this is why the 76ers got George for in free agency. He needed to be one of their best perimeter defenders and take on the challenge of guarding other teams best offensive players. If he's able to sustain this throughout the year The 76ers can get back into the Eastern conference picture. George also played really well on the offensive end putting in 11 easy points in the quarter. Both and he and Embiid have been on a minutes restriction so far this year. The first quarter ended with the Knicks leading 27-25. The second quarter saw the Knicks go on a bit of a run. The Knicks are the slowest playing teams in the NBA ranking 30th in pace. I think part of it is that Brunson wants to set up plays and Thibs is known for attacking mismatches and running other teams weaker defenders off of the court. However, the occasional Josh Hart rebound and push in transition is something I really like. He is fantastic at grabbing the rebound and pushing the ball. Most of the time he is able to get a good look for himself or a teammate. I think incorporating these more frequently is good for the Knicks. They are one of the best half court teams in the NBA given they're 13th in points per game, but play the slowest of any team. A quick Josh Hart transition push won't hurt anything either. The 76ers however, were able to get back into the game. Jared McCain has been really good for them the last couple of games. He had 27 points in their overtime win vs the Hornets Sunday, and has provided a nice boost off of the bench for Philadelphia this season. Him and George were able to close the 9 point Knick lead to 54-50 at halftime. George has 17 first half points along with Embiid putting in 8, all on free throws. Embiid was 0/3 in the first half. Towns had 12 and Anunoby had 11 in the first half for the Knicks. Brunson finished with 4 points on 1/7 shooting. Towns played really good defense on Embiid in the first half, he forced Embiid into a lot of really tough jumpers and didn't let him get comfortable and gave him nothing easy around the basket. Towns has to stay out of foul trouble and not do any of his dumb fouls . The start of the third quarter saw Brunson roll his ankle on the first play. He was taken back in the locker room, but did return. Both teams were able to hang tough throughout the entirety of the third quarter. The Knicks used some really nice actions to get Towns going downhill. Instead of popping to the three point line Towns would catch it at the nail and rip and attack on a controlled drive. He has the spacing around him to be able to drive and get to the basket when he wants to. Also a noticeable thing this season has been Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby lack of shot creation. I was expecting a little bit more juice from Bridges in being able to take on these challenges. I think he showed in Brooklyn that he's capable of it, but we just have seen it to any type of level next to Brunson and Towns, or when they go to the bench. I think the Knicks expected him to have a little bit more in his bag to flash. The third quarter saw George and McCain keep the 76ers in it. the quarter ended with the Knicks leading 78-75. Embiid really looked timid in this one. He was constantly settling for jump shots and didn't really attacking off of the bounce either. He was also popping to the three point line a lot, instead of the nail, where he likes to caught and go to work. I'm not sure if the first game he was trying to feel it out or anything. The 76ers did start to double in the second half, but very minimal in the second half. The game was close until a Knicks challenge overturned a call and pushed their lead to 85-76 and eventually 89-77. A couple Hart transition pushes and some solid defense from Towns and the rest of the Knicks saw them take a 111-99 win in the NBA cup. Paul George finished with a season-high 29 points and 7 threes. McCain had 23 off of the bench and Embiid finished with 11 points on 2/13 shooting. For the Knicks OG Anunoby had 24 points while KAT had 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists, Josh Hart had a tripe double and Jalen Brunson had 18 on 5/15 shooting. The Knicks move to .500 with a record of 5-5 and the 76ers fall to 2-8 on the season.
Reaction
This game tonight was a great game for Towns. He played really well against Embiid and didn't have too many dumb fouls. He drove the ball well and under control and ultimately shut down Embiid down. Brunson was a little bit off in this one, but everyone else played well. I still would like to see a little bit better shot creation from Bridges though. He showed he's capable of it in Brooklyn and I think that's something that can really unlock the Knicks offense. The defense also looked a lot better tonight. They were engaged and rotated well to take away easy catch and shoots for the 76ers. I still really like this Knicks team.
It has been a rough start for the 76ers, but hopefully tonight is a turning point. Getting Embiid back was a success, but he didn't look great. I expected him to be super aggressive first game back and he just wasn't he did a poor job of attacking the basket and let Towns off the hook a couple times. I think using him and George in some ball screens more can juice up the offense better as well. the 76ers will be a working progress the entire season it feels like and I'm starting to lose a little more confidence in them solely because of health. They are lucky that the East hasn't been great to start the season and there's still time for them to catch up.
Mavericks vs Warriors
This game is probably the most anticipated matchup of the regular season given the circumstances. One of the bigger surprises in free agency, was Klay Thompson signing a 3 year 50 million dollar deal to go to the Dallas Mavericks and left the Golden State Warriors and his splash brother Steph Curry. I won't go into how each team is playing before hand because the entire pregame and night felt like a special celebration for Klay Thompson. Thompson embodies everything meant to be a Warrior on and off the court. You could feel how much everyone had missed him during the game and pregame as well. The Warriors as an organization perfectly tributed and celebrated Klay. It was really awesome to see. Let's dive into the game recap.
Recap
The Warriors put out a lineup of Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, De'Anthony Melton, and Trayce Jackson-Davis. The Mavericks put Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, and Daniel Gafford to match up against them. The very first play of the game saw Klay matched up with Steph Curry under the basket where Curry fouled him. It was a little signal to acknowledge they were in fact matching up with each other and not on the same team. By the same measure it felt like they wanted to beat each other very badly. The game started out very fast. The Warriors did a good job of limiting only Luka to hurting them and shut off Kyrie and Klay early on. The Mavericks were without PJ Washington again as he is battling injury. The Mavericks bench also got a rude awaking from Jason Kidd in a press conference, where he said no one off of the bench gives them any energy. The Warriors started by blitzing Luka in ball screens something that has been accustom when they've faced elite handles and scorers in pick and roll. They did the same thing against the Celtics with Tatum and tried to with Mitchell and Garland vs the Cavs. They also held Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 6/17 in their last outing Monday. The Warriors defense has been elite. They get up and in people and force teams to have to make enough tough shots to beat them. Early on Kyrie hit a lot of tough shots at the beginning, but the Warriors defense really showed itself throughout the opening quarter. The Warriors movement on offense is also a thing of beauty. Draymond does such a good job of finding cutters and guys who slip screens when they pressure out on Curry. The split actions they have with Hield have also been money this year as well. It's clear Hield loves to fly around on offense similar to how Klay use to. Curry also got off to a good start in this one as the Warriors lead 33-27 after the first quarter. I think early on Luka is still foul baiting a little too much. I think at times he has some easy layups to finish to trying to draw the extra contract to getting him n trouble. His finishing and shooting percentages are down a little early on as he begins the year. Remember he didn't play at all in preseason or training camp as he recovered from a calf injury. In the second quarter he got absolutely rolling though. He started dicing up the Warriors 1 on 1 and they didn't blitz the ball screens with Looney in the action either. This gave the Mavs a little room to get back in the game and start to take a lead. On defense they also made a lot of the actions for the Warriors a little bit more challenging. They started switching a lot of actions and rebounded well. The Warriors this season have been one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA. Kevon Looney is a good example of this. He only plays about 16 minutes a game, but averages 8 rebound a game, with 4 of them being offensive. He's always around the bucket and getting some easy rebounds and more possessions for the Warriors. Klay also started to catch a rhythm in the quarter as well. He hit back to back threes got the Mavs going along with Luka. The Mavs look so much better when they run with pace and Kyrie and Thompson are flying down the floor. Luka as done a good job of kicking the ball ahead when he needs to and Gafford and Lively have been really good as always rim running. The Warriors however, were able pull within 4 at halftime as a they were down 63-59 at the break. Luka led the Mavs with 22 on 9/17 shooting and Klay added 11. Curry led the Warriors with 14 points on 6/10 shooting. In the third quarter the game momentum really started to shift as the Warriors defense and transition offense started to get going. They were flying around and forcing a lot of deflections and possession killers throughout the quarter. The Mavs were unable to get any sort of rhythm and the Warriors benefitted really well from it. The Warriors movement on offense cannot be overstated how fast it is. The pace to it almost forces teams to switch because they are so far behind in any action. They cut fast they set pin downs really fast and ball just seems to always move with them. Add in Steph Curry and the movement for his teammates becomes 10x better. He's able put so much attention and pressure on the defense that they'll leave for man to cover him, even if they think he'll get open on an action. The plays I did like from the Mavericks were Kyrie and Luka post ups and super high pick and rolls. The really high pick and rolls are good for both guys. It puts the defense he such a compromising position while the big is essentially treating it like a deep drop coverage. This gives Luka and Kyrie time to attack and make the right play playing 4 vs 4. The Warriors intensity on both ends of the floor gave them a 96-89 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Mavericks open the quarter on a run to pull within the lead of the Warriors. It still cannot be overstated how many catch and shoot, shots Klay gets next to Luka Doncic. He's not moving a ton off of screens which I think is good because the threat of his shooting ability will pull his defender away from needed rotations when Luka and Kyrie drive into the paint. He's getting 6 catch and shoot threes a game and shooting 45% on them so far this year. A number that has improved from last year's 37%. He getting much more space to shoot and the Mavs are using him as a screener as well for the bigs to put the defense in rotations. The Mavs got a three points from Klay and a dunk from Gafford to put themselves up 112-105 with about 4 minutes to go. After a Warriors miss Curry decided to take over the game. He keep up with a huge steal on Luka and hit Melton for a transition three to put the game at 112-108 Mavs. a Curry mid range jumper and a Mavs bucket moved the score to 114-110. The next possession down Curry hit a three to cut it to 114-113 and Green got a huge block on Gafford and then Klay turned the ball over with about 2 minutes left. A Curry layup put the Warriors up 115-114. The Mavs then got a post up for Kyrie and he kicked it out to Klay, but a great contest from Draymond forced a miss. The next Mavs possession saw great defense from Wiggins on Luka. Curry then hit a deep three over Lively put the game at 118-114 for the Warriors he also gave his signature night night celebration after he hit it and was pretty hyped up after the big shot. Grimes hit a three with under 20 seconds left, but Curry then hit two free throws and Mavs could not tie it in the end. The Warriors would go on the win the game 120-117. Curry finished with 37 points on 14/27 shooting and scored the last 12 points for him team. Kuminga added 16 points and Hield chipped in 14. For the Mavs Luka lead the way with 31 points, 6 assists, and 8 rebounds. Klay had 22 points in his return and hit 6 threes. Kyrie ended with 21 points on 8/13 shooting. The Warriors get to 9-2 and 1-0 in group play for the NBA cup, while the Mav drop to 5-6 overall and 0-1 in group play.
Reaction
This game was awesome. Curry went on an unbelievable scoring stretch to get the come from behind win. I think this is another game the Mavs wish they could have back. They've had some late leads early on a haven't been able to pull out the wins. Their end of game defense in the last 4 minutes were really poor, but sometimes great players just make great plays and that's what Curry. The Warriors are really good and it was fun to see the matchup between him and Klay as opponents for the first time.
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