Your NBA Cup matchups and picks. Plus, why Joel Embiid makes us unhappy.

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We had one sport final evening: the Knicks beating the Raptors 113-108 in Toronto behind 24 factors, 15 rebounds and 6 assists from Karl-Anthony Towns. That’s it. That’s your complete “About Final Night time” part.

Let’s Go to Las Vegas!

NBA Cup kicks into excessive gear tonight

Tonight, we’ve bought our first set of single-elimination video games to ship groups to Las Vegas to play for the NBA Cup this weekend. Six of the eight groups competing for this getaway are contemporary blood in the case of this spherical of the match. (Right here is an up to date view of the NBA Cup bracket.)

Let’s break down East and West matchups for tonight, together with the native temperatures in comparison with the projected excessive of 61 levels in Las Vegas this coming Saturday (for potential additional motivation). All sport occasions are Jap and all betting odds courtesy of BetMGM.

Magic at Bucks, 7 p.m. on TNT: Milwaukee is the one crew left on this match to have beforehand made it to Las Vegas for the semifinal. And for the primary time this season, they’re just about wholesome. Khris Middleton is again and dealing his means into sport form. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are taking part in properly. And the Bucks have received 10 of their final 13.

Orlando is in a distinct spot. Its two greatest gamers are out — until Paolo Banchero offers us a shock, Royal Rumble-esque entrance tonight. And but, the Magic have thrived as of late. They went 13-7 with out Banchero earlier than the Franz Wagner harm. Then, they received with out each of them towards Phoenix on Sunday evening. Orlando’s protection is nice regardless of who’s on the ground.

• Bucks accidents: None
• Magic accidents: Banchero (indirect) and Wagner (indirect) are out. Jonathan Isaac (hamstring), Gary Harris (hamstring) missed the final sport.
• Milwaukee projected excessive temperature on Saturday: 37 levels 🥶
• Orlando projected excessive temperature on Saturday: 75 levels ☀️
• Season collection: They haven’t performed but.
• Bucks odds: +150 to make closing, +450 to win NBA Cup
• Magic odds: +800 to make closing, +2500 to win NBA Cup
• Prediction: Bucks in an unpleasant thriller.

Mavericks at Thunder, 9:30 p.m. on TNT: Dallas (16-8) comes into this sport tremendous scorching. The Mavs have received seven straight video games and 11 of their final 12, all behind nice play on each ends of the ground. Dallas has been a top-10 protection, top-two offense and probably the most dominant crew within the NBA throughout this 12-game stretch. They’re additionally largely wholesome proper now after Luka Dončić missed some video games, and there’s nonetheless loads of room for them to develop with Klay Thompson’s jumper getting extra Klay-like. The Mavericks additionally might have a little bit of a psychological edge, on condition that they took down the Thunder within the second spherical of the playoffs in Could.

The Thunder have been the very best crew within the West all season, and you could possibly argue that they’ve been the very best crew within the NBA. Their plus-11.9 internet ranking is definitely higher than Boston’s final season (plus-11.7). OKC has the very best protection in basketball — and that’s whereas lacking some guys. Fifteen of their 18 wins are by double digits, however they’re 0-3 in video games determined by one possession.

• Mavericks accidents: Dante Exum (wrist) is out. Naji Marshall (sickness), Jaden Hardy (ankle) are day after day.
• Thunder accidents: Chet Holmgren (hip), Jaylin Williams (hamstring), Ousmane Dieng (finger) and Nikola Topić (ACL) are out.
• Dallas projected excessive temperature on Saturday: 61 levels 🧥
• OKC projected excessive temperature on Saturday: 52 levels 🧣
• Season collection: The Mavs are 1-0 towards the Thunder, beating them 121-119 on Nov. 17 in OKC. Dallas didn’t have Dončić in that sport, and the Thunder have been lacking Holmgren, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein.
• Mavericks odds: +275 to make closing, +700 to win NBA Cup
• Thunder odds: +125 to make closing, +275 to win NBA Cup
• Prediction: Mavericks in an important sport.

Right here’s a full viewing guide for this week’s video games.

The Final 24

Will the NBA create a league in Europe?

🏀 NBA European League. The NBA and FIBA is likely to be making a European skilled league quickly. Details here. 

☘️ Celtics evolving. Boston is making an attempt to vary the best way it performs regardless of final season’s success. Jared Weiss explains.

👋 Kawhi again? It appears to be like just like the two-time finals MVP is getting nearer to a return to the courtroom. When could it happen?

🧘 NBA Bye Week. John Hollinger says the bye week, which is at the moment underway, might actually change issues for some groups. Which teams will benefit?

Rank ‘Em!

Prime three, center three, backside three

It’s Tuesday! You realize what which means: We’re again to sorting by way of the very best and worst groups within the NBA with some good, old style rating! However we wouldn’t simply go away you with the top-three and bottom-three groups within the NBA. We additionally provide the controversial center three — crew Nos. 14, 15 and 16. (Listed below are this week’s NBA Power Rankings from Law Murray, if you wish to do a deep dive.)

Prime three: Celtics (19-5), Thunder (18-5), Cavaliers (21-4)

Groups like Dallas, Memphis and Houston are sometimes within the combine. Golden State and New York are as properly, after they get themselves proper. We’ve seen some good things from Orlando regardless of the accidents. However it’s arduous to consider groups constantly unseating Boston, OKC and Cleveland. They’ve the three greatest information and internet scores in basketball. They’ve all been a bit of banged up too, so this might get lots scarier for the remainder of the NBA.

Center three: Nuggets (12-10), Heat (12-10), Hawks (13-12)

The Nuggets misplaced to the Wizards final weekend, which I’m nonetheless not over. I really don’t perceive how that occurred in a sport the place Nikola Jokić performed — and performed properly. He’s been positive, but the rest of the team has been inconsistent. The Hawks have had some nice success these days, and large wins over huge groups, however they did simply get blown out by Denver. And the Heat have played well and are creeping towards extra of what we’re used to seeing, particularly with wins over the Lakers, Suns and Cavs this week.

Backside three: Jazz (5-18), Pelicans (5-20), Wizards (3-19)

The Wizards received a sport! Not solely that, however they beat the Nuggets when Jokić went for 56 factors! It ended a 16-game losing streak, and for that they … are nonetheless the worst crew in basketball. However they don’t have to fret about matching Detroit’s all-time dangerous run from final season … but? Utah nearly constructed some goodwill right here with a 42-point win over Portland, after which adopted that up with a 44-point loss in Sacramento. As for the Pelicans? Their greatest guys hold getting injured. Watch Cooper Flagg highlights, all people!

Disappointments

Embiid’s regarding remark about his knee

Over the weekend, 76ers star Joel Embiid performed in his fifth sport of the season, returning to the courtroom after lacking the earlier seven video games. He performed properly, as you’d count on from the 2023 MVP. He scored 31 factors and grabbed 12 rebounds within the win over the Bulls. That ought to be trigger for celebration, proper? Embiid on the courtroom is what offers the Sixers and their followers hope of finally contending for the championship.

As an alternative, it was type of simply … unhappy. Asked by ESPN after the sport what the final couple months have been like with him lacking so many video games, and the Sixers going just 7-15 to start a very important season, Embiid responded:

“Miserable. Simply making an attempt to determine it out. There’s no harm. Simply between the swelling … we’ve bought to get it discovered. That’s it.

“I’ve been saying it for the previous few months. It’s been extraordinarily miserable. It’s one thing that hasn’t been discovered, and it’s been extraordinarily annoying, as a result of I’d like to play each single sport.”

The excellent news is the Sixers have received 4 of their final 5 video games heading into this “bye week” for therefore many squads. The troubling information is the affirmation that they don’t know what’s fallacious with Embiid’s knee. They will’t work out the swelling. Progress at all times appears to be adopted by a setback, and, very like Kawhi Leonard’s scenario, it’s arduous to know if it may well ever be fastened. It could actually solely be managed, which supplies loads of mistaken gas for folks railing towards load administration and ignoring the instances of harm administration.

I don’t know if we’ll ever see a wholesome season for the 30-year-old Embiid once more. The Sixers try to place themselves to achieve success when he’s not there, after which thrive if he might be wholesome for a playoff push. It’s at all times miserable when the greats of the sport are battling their our bodies greater than their opponents.

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(Prime photograph: Joshua Gateley  / Getty Photographs )

Zach Harper is a workers author for The Athletic, overlaying the NBA. Zach joined The Athletic after overlaying the NBA for ESPN.com, CBS Sports activities and FRS Sports activities since 2009. He additionally hosts radio for SiriusXM NBA and SiriusXM Mad Canine Sports activities Radio. Observe Zach on Twitter @talkhoops