The Bounce Newsletter 
| This is The Athletic’s each day NBA publication. Sign up right here to obtain The Bounce instantly in your inbox.
We had one recreation final night time: 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 Last Night” part.
Let’s Go to Las Vegas!
NBA Cup kicks into excessive gear tonight
Tonight, we’ve obtained 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 on the subject of this spherical of the event. (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 recreation occasions are Eastern and all betting odds courtesy of BetMGM.
Magic at Bucks, 7 p.m. on TNT: Milwaukee is the one group left on this event 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 method into recreation form. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are enjoying effectively. And the Bucks have received 10 of their final 13.
Orlando is in a unique 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 in opposition to Phoenix on Sunday night time. 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 recreation.
- Milwaukee projected excessive temperature on Saturday: 37 levels 🥶
- Orlando projected excessive temperature on Saturday: 75 levels ☀️
- Season sequence: They haven’t performed but.
- Bucks odds: +150 to make last, +450 to win NBA Cup
- Magic odds: +800 to make last, +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 recreation tremendous sizzling. 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 essentially the most dominant group within the NBA throughout this 12-game stretch. They’re additionally principally 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 may have a little bit of a psychological edge, provided that they took down the Thunder within the second spherical of the playoffs in May.
The Thunder have been the very best group within the West all season, and you could possibly argue that they’ve been the very best group within the NBA. Their plus-11.9 web score 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 daily.
- 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 sequence: The Mavs are 1-0 in opposition to the Thunder, beating them 121-119 on Nov. 17 in OKC. Dallas didn’t have Dončić in that recreation, and the Thunder have been lacking Holmgren, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein.
- Mavericks odds: +275 to make last, +700 to win NBA Cup
- Thunder odds: +125 to make last, +275 to win NBA Cup
- Prediction: Mavericks in an awesome recreation.
Here’s a full viewing information for this week’s video games.
The Last 24
Will the NBA create a league in Europe?
🏀 NBA European League. The NBA and FIBA could be making a European skilled league quickly. Details right here.
☘️ Celtics evolving. Boston is making an attempt to alter the best way it performs regardless of final season’s success. Jared Weiss explains.
👋 Kawhi again? It seems just like the two-time finals MVP is getting nearer to a return to the courtroom. When may it occur?
🧘 NBA Bye Week. John Hollinger says the bye week, which is presently underway, may actually change issues for some groups. Which groups will profit?
Rank ‘Em!
Top three, center three, backside three
It’s Tuesday! You know what which means: We’re again to sorting by means of the very best and worst groups within the NBA with some good, old style rating! But we wouldn’t simply depart you with the top-three and bottom-three groups within the NBA. We additionally provide the controversial center three — group Nos. 14, 15 and 16. (Here are this week’s NBA Power Rankings from Law Murray, if you wish to do a deep dive.)
Top three: Celtics (19-5), Thunder (18-5), Cavaliers (21-4)
Teams like Dallas, Memphis and Houston are sometimes within the combine. Golden State and New York are as effectively, after they get themselves proper. We’ve seen some great things from Orlando regardless of the accidents. But it’s onerous to think about groups persistently unseating Boston, OKC and Cleveland. They have the three greatest information and web scores in basketball. They’ve all been a little bit banged up too, so this might get so much scarier for the remainder of the NBA.
Middle 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 recreation the place Nikola Jokić performed — and performed effectively. He’s been effective, however the remainder of the group 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 performed effectively and are creeping towards extra of what we’re used to seeing, particularly with wins over the Lakers, Suns and Cavs this week.
Bottom three: Jazz (5-18), Pelicans (5-20), Wizards (3-19)
The Wizards received a recreation! Not solely that, however they beat the Nuggets when Jokić went for 56 factors! It ended a 16-game shedding streak, and for that they … are nonetheless the worst group in basketball. But 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 maintain 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 recreation of the season, returning to the courtroom after lacking the earlier seven video games. He performed effectively, as you’d anticipate 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 ultimately contending for the championship.
Instead, it was form 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 simply 7-15 to start out an important season, Embiid responded:
“Depressing. Just making an attempt to determine it out. There’s no harm. Just between the swelling … we’ve obtained to get it found out. That’s it.
“I’ve been saying it for the previous couple of months. It’s been extraordinarily miserable. It’s one thing that hasn’t been found out, and it’s been extraordinarily annoying, as a result of I’d like to play each single recreation.”
The excellent news is the Sixers have received 4 of their final 5 video games heading into this “bye week” for thus many squads. The troubling information is the affirmation that they don’t know what’s mistaken with Embiid’s knee. They can’t determine the swelling. Progress at all times appears to be adopted by a setback, and, very similar to Kawhi Leonard’s state of affairs, it’s onerous to know if it might probably ever be mounted. It can solely be managed, which offers loads of mistaken gas for folks railing in opposition to load administration and ignoring the circumstances 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 are attempting to place themselves to achieve success when he’s not there, after which thrive if he may 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.
📫 Love The Bounce? Check out The Athletic’s different newsletters.
(Top photograph: Joshua Gateley / Getty Images )
