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On this date in 2004, the Houston Rockets were down 76-68 with 44.2 seconds left. The San Antonio Spurs had this one seemingly locked up. Tracy McGrady did not agree. He went off for 13 points in the final 35 seconds to pull out the 81-80 win. It was one of the greatest flurries we’ve ever seen. You should watch this a few times a year. Also, check out Jim Jackson’s massive blazer on the bench.
Extreme elimination
Do-or-die time in the NBA Cup
Tonight, the NBA Cup gets serious. We’ve advanced to the elimination games, and teams can feel that trip to Las Vegas coming. All players have to do is win their next game, and they’ll move on to Sin City, where they’ll be one win away from playing for $500,000 each. Or for $200,000 each if they lose in the title game. Turns out that getting to that NBA Cup championship is pretty lucrative.
The Cup is becoming more popular in its third iteration. The league announced that viewership on Amazon Prime, NBC/Peacock and ESPN broadcasts of this year’s group-play games was up 90 percent from last year. Amazon was primarily the home for primetime NBA Cup action, and it did a great job engaging fans.
Now we’ll see if a heaping spoonful of drama added to these do-or-die games over the next week keeps planting seeds of acceptance for this as a calendar event to invest in. Let’s dive into tonight’s Eastern Conference elimination games. (We’ll preview the Western Conference games in tomorrow’s Bounce.)
Miami Heat at Orlando Magic. 6 p.m. ET on Prime Video: These two teams have dramatically increased their pace this season. The Heat have taken the league by storm with their tempo, mostly because they’ve never played this way. The Magic have struggled to find consistency, but some of that is probably the injuries to Paolo Banchero and now Franz Wagner.
- Who should carry the Heat? Norman Powell. The Heat are monsters offensively with him on the court, and with his quick-strike ability on offense, he could really test that Orlando defense. He’s scored 28 points in each of his matchups against the Magic this season and has 18 free-throw attempts.
- Who should carry the Magic? Desmond Bane. I know Banchero is the obvious choice, but I think Bane getting into the teeth of the defense and making things happen is the key. He hasn’t shot the ball well in his two games against Miami. So he’s due for a big performance.
- Who is the X-Factor for both teams? Kel’el Ware could dominate the rim at both ends of the floor for Miami. Jalen Suggs harassing Powell and/or Tyler Herro (assuming he plays with the toe injury) into rough shooting nights would be big for Orlando.
- Who needs this trip to Vegas more? The Magic. They’re still trying to get into the conversation for the elite in the East. Going to the NBA Cup in Vegas and playing for it all would be great reinforcement for Jamahl Mosley’s coaching.
- Who wins? Erik Spoelstra should have a great plan devised, so I’m going with Miami.
New York Knicks at Toronto Raptors. 8:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video: If you told anybody going into this season the Knicks and Raptors would be neck and neck in the East, they’d wonder why New York is struggling so much. That’s how greatly Toronto (15-10) was underestimated. Now we’ve got two teams looking excellent on both ends of the floor throwing down for a chance to go to Vegas.
- Who should carry the Knicks? Jalen Brunson. No need to get cute here. Brunson is their star, and we’ve seen him carve up opponents in big, clutch runs. The question is whether the Raptors put Scottie Barnes on him.
- Who should carry the Raptors? Brandon Ingram. This is some of the best basketball we’ve seen the former All-Star play. Barnes is Toronto’s best player, but Ingram’s ability to score all over the floor will be needed against OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.
- Who is the X-Factor for both teams? Anunoby can get a little revenge against his old team on both ends of the floor for New York. Jakob Poeltl will need to battle Mitchell Robinson on the boards.
- Who needs this trip to Vegas more? Toronto. You don’t want to see momentum broken early in this season, and the Raptors have a good thing going.
- Who wins? I like this Raptors team.
About last night
Suns 108, Wolves 105: It didn’t matter that Anthony Edwards scored 40 on 15-of-21 shooting. Phoenix’s defense held Minnesota to 11-of-42 from deep and beat the Wolves for the second time this season.
Spurs 135, Pelicans 132: Dylan Harper’s 22 points off the bench led an impressive 68-point bench performance by San Antonio. That helped overcome 30 points, 10 rebounds, 10 dimes and four blocks for Derik Queen. He’s the first rookie big man in NBA history to have a 30-point triple-double.
Pacers 116, Kings 105: Andrew Nembhard had 28 points and 12 assists to take down Russell Westbrook’s 24-12-14 locker combination triple-double.
The last 24
Possession is the new law of the NBA
🏀 New obsession. Fouls and free throws are way up this season. Why? NBA teams are following the Thunder and playing “possession ball,” John Hollinger writes.
🏀 Speaking of. Part of valuing the ball is teams crashing the offensive boards like never before. You can thank New Zealand for that.
🏀 Sigh of relief. We feared Franz Wagner’s season might be over. Magically, it’s just a high ankle sprain.
💸 Big fine. Desmond Bane hilariously threw a fastball at OG Anunoby to “save possession.” He got fined $35k for it.
🎧 Tuning in. Today’s “NBA Daily” welcomes Jon Krawczynski to talk about the Timberwolves’ odd season so far.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Report cards!
Grading the West at the quarter-season mark
We’re one quarter of the way through the season, and that means it’s time to give out some grades. We handed out the East report cards yesterday, and it was universally accepted as 100 percent accurate. Do not fact-check that. Today we tackle the West, which feels like the Oklahoma City Thunder and then everybody else. And an incredibly deep race to fill out the 10 playoff/play-in slots.
We list the teams in order of standings, their grades and something the teacher (me) wants to see improvement on.
Biggest West surprise: The Suns. Many of us thought Phoenix would be decimated in the win column after trading away Kevin Durant. The Suns weren’t any good last season, and it was mostly because they couldn’t win when Durant was out. But this team has defied the odds. The Suns are disruptive on defense. They can really crash the boards and put up 3-pointers. And even missing Devin Booker with an injury hasn’t slowed them completely.
Biggest West disappointment: The Clippers. It’s not even the Chris Paul drama, although that certainly didn’t help with people ragging on this organization for yet another thing gone wrong. LA was a nice surprise last season when it remained really good after prioritizing roster flexibility over keeping Paul George. This season? The Clippers stink. Their once great defense is nothing but a wet paper towel. They’ve lost their identity completely.
Biggest West storyline: The Thunder being historically unbeatable. It’s going to continue to be a topic all season. They’re up to 23-1, the second-best 24-game start in NBA history. The margin of victory is at a pace we’ve never seen before. And the Thunder still aren’t completely healthy. They can very easily set the record for wins in a season (73), maybe even obliterate it.
Favorite to win the West: Duh. It’s Oklahoma City. Maybe we need to change that prompt and account for its dominance. Let’s try this …
Favorite to challenge the Thunder in the West: The Nuggets. Nikola Jokić and a healthy version of their renewed roster feel like they could pose some issues for the Thunder. Big Honey and a weaker version of this roster pushed them to seven games last postseason. But this Thunder team is better too.
Will Steve Kerr and Jonathan Kuminga ever see eye to eye? (Ed Szczepanski / Imagn Images)
Same old drama
Warriors, Kuminga at odds again
Once again, Steve Kerr doesn’t seem to love playing Jonathan Kuminga, even when two of his star players are out. In Sunday’s 32-point win over the Bulls, Kuminga was a DNP-Coach’s Decision. And since returning from a knee injury that cost him seven straight games, Kuminga’s minutes and production have been knocked down.
Last summer, Kuminga was a restricted free agent. He either wanted to get paid or go somewhere else. Kerr hasn’t wanted to play the 23-year-old forward as much as you’d expect, mostly because he doesn’t seem to like the way he plays in the Warriors’ system. Teams were interested in signing him to an offer sheet, but nothing materialized because Golden State said it would match it.
Kuminga is on a two-year deal with a team option for the second season. The idea was to either fit him in or help find him a new home. I talked with my venerable cohost Marc Stein on SiriusXM NBA Radio about thison Monday. Marc reminded us that Phoenix and Sacramento were very interested this summer. And if the Warriors made Kuminga available, that list of suitors should grow.
Kuminga handled the latest DNP really well, as Kerr talked about how much he needed to play Pat Spencer and Gui Santos instead. At a certain point, it’s best for everyone to move on to their next step. I just wonder if it’ll happen before the Feb. 5 trade deadline or if it’ll be another summer saga.
