Category: Basketball

Observations after Sixers kick off road trip by blowing out Nets  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK — For the first time in the 2025-26 season, the Sixers could breathe easily in the final minutes Sunday night.

They earned a 129-105 win over the Nets at Barclays Center and improved to 5-1. Brooklyn fell to 0-6.

Kelly Oubre Jr. tallied 29 points. Tyrese Maxey had 26, seven assists and six rebounds. 

The Sixers were down Joel Embiid (left knee injury recovery), Paul George (left knee surgery recovery), Jared McCain (right thumb surgery recovery) and Dominick Barlow (right elbow laceration). 

McCain worked out about two hours before tip-off.  

Jared McCain working out here in Brooklyn: pic.twitter.com/KTcF1kyPss

— Noah Levick (@NoahLevick) November 2, 2025

“I know that (George) had a good workout yesterday — both him and Jared — that was live-ish, 3-on-3,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame. “It was good. He is progressing and we’ll just see how it goes.”

Nurse acknowledged that the Sixers were expecting Barlow to have a smoother, quicker recovery. The 22-year-old forward has been out since suffering his injury in the Sixers’ win last Saturday over the Hornets.

“I think there’s (an update) coming here early this week, but it’s been kind of difficult,” Nurse said. “It’s nothing super serious, but it’s just been a little bit longer or more difficult than we maybe initially thought to get this thing healed up, this cut healed up right on his elbow. He’s got to wear this straight kind of brace because it’s right where it bends and all this stuff. 

“But nothing super major. Just need to get that thing healed up and get him going.”

The Sixers will cap their three-game road trip with a back-to-back Tuesday night against the Bulls and Wednesday against the Cavs. Here are observations on their win over the Nets:

Oubre’s scorching start 

Outside of Adem Bona at center, the Sixers’ starting lineup was the same as in their 109-108 loss Friday night to the Celtics.

The team’s defense was again not sparkling out of the gate. Michael Porter Jr. slipped free for a dunk on an out-of-bounds play and Terance Mann scored a fast-break layup that put the Nets up 15-9. Mann’s hoop was preceded by a spectacular, audacious slam attempt by VJ Edgecombe that he narrowly missed. 

Oubre was immediately aggressive. The lefty wing was extremely effective driving past defenders and converting in the paint, often with the help of well-controlled jump stops. He’s made major improvement in that area since joining the Sixers. Oubre now generally appears less rushed once he blows by his man, which has enabled him to make sounder decisions and better capitalize on his burst. 

By the 1:30 mark of the first quarter, Oubre already had 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting. He had zero misses inside of the arc. 

Oubre also knocked down a pair of first-quarter three-pointers, including a heat check corner jumper. The swish confirmed he was still scalding.  

Sixers’ offense humming 

The Sixers’ defense was much improved to open the second quarter. Edgecombe turned a steal into a transition slam that gave his team a 47-37 lead.

Foul trouble did become problematic for multiple Sixers, especially with Nurse sticking to an eight-man rotation in the first half. Big men Bona and Andre Drummond each had three personals by around the midpoint of the second period. 

Offensively, the Sixers remained excellent. They shared the ball, rarely turned it over, probed the defense and found high-quality shots on a regular basis.

Edgecombe was a standout in the second quarter and nailed two catch-and-shoot triples in a row. He missed long on his attempt at three straight, but Trendon Watford grabbed the rebound and dished to the 20-year-old with a head of steam. He jammed in a gargantuan dunk. 

Finally playing with a lead

The Sixers’ advantage passed 20 points on a Maxey three early in the third quarter. He made four long-range shots Sunday and is now just three away from moving past Robert Covington for second place on the Sixers’ all-time list. 

Over their first five games, the Sixers had shined brightest when battling back into games and wiping out deficits. They hadn’t been accustomed to playing with sizable leads. Brooklyn kept the contest competitive in the third quarter and the Sixers’ turnovers began to pile up.

However, it was always evident that the Sixers had superior talent and the Nets’ odds of winning were slim on a poor three-point shooting night (7 for 38).

The Sixers expanded their lead early in the fourth quarter and pulled away from Brooklyn without any trouble. Grimes dished a behind-the-back assist to Watford, whose and-one layup made it 109-93. Both Grimes (22 points,13 assists, seven rebounds) and Watford (16 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) had very productive nights off the bench.

Second-round pick Johni Broome entered for his NBA debut with 4:43 left and the Sixers’ win secure. He had four points and two rebounds. Kyle Lowry also played the first minutes of his 20th NBA season and sunk a corner three.

Embiid fined once again for DX chop celebration vs. Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK —The NBA has not stopped fining Joel Embiid for his signature celebration. 

The league announced that Embiid has been fined $50,000 “for making a lewd gesture” during the Sixers’ loss Friday night to the Celtics.

Embiid’s been fined on multiple occasions for his DX chop celebration, a professional wrestling-inspired move the NBA has previously called “obscene.” He used it Friday in the first quarter after converting an and-one leaner.

The star big man responded to the latest fine by tweeting that the NBA “better starting fining the refs for doing the ‘lewd’ ‘blocking foul’ gesture since I’m not allowed to do it.” 

Yall better start fining the refs for doing the “Lewd”, “blocking foul” gesture since I’m not allowed to do it #NFLhttps://t.co/WCkaPCOl9I

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) November 2, 2025

After scoring 20 points in a season-high 25 minutes against Boston, Embiid’s been ruled out with a “left knee injury management” designation for the 4-1 Sixers’ Sunday night matchup with the 0-5 Nets.

Referee explains why Russell Westbrook wasn't called for flagrant on Giannis originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Following the Kings’ 135-133 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night at Fiserv Forum, Crew Chief Mitchell Ervin clarified why Russell Westbrook wasn’t hit with a flagrant foul after wrapping up Giannis Antetokounmpo on a hard play near the rim.

In a Pool Report interview with Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ervin said the officials reviewed the sequence under the “player altercation” trigger and determined the contact didn’t rise to a flagrant level.

After review, this was ruled a common foul on Russell Westbrook pic.twitter.com/UMlYs05euC

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 1, 2025

“During that review, there was no windup, impact or follow through by Westbrook and the contact by Westbrook was at shoulder level,” Ervin said. “Therefore, a common foul was ruled on the play.”

Ervin added that because the incident was reviewed as a “player altercation,” the crew was able to examine every part of the scrum for possible unsportsmanlike conduct.

“Player altercation — I could have said a double trigger,” Ervin explained. “I could have said player altercation and flagrant foul review. During a player altercation review, we really have an opportunity to review the play and any acts within the scrum at the end — we could review everything and any possible unsportsmanlike act after the foul.”

A few possessions later, tensions flared again when DeMar DeRozan fouled Milwaukee’s Gary Trent Jr. What looked like a standard shooting foul quickly escalated when Trent was hit with a technical for his reaction.

“The technical foul on Trent Jr. was assessed for unsportsmanlike flail after the personal foul assessed to DeMar DeRozan,” Ervin noted.

Gary Trent was assessed a technical foul for this contact on DeMar DeRozan pic.twitter.com/TtTl4saqd4

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 1, 2025

The third quarter wasn’t the only stretch that saw tempers flare. Earlier in the game, Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis was assessed a technical foul after shoving Domantas Sabonis in the back, leading to a brief scuffle between the teams.

Bobby Portis received a technical foul for this altercation with Domantas Sabonis 😯 pic.twitter.com/w74paEc8wA

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 1, 2025

Later, Bucks guard Cole Anthony was ejected with less than 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Bucks guard Cole Anthony is ejected after receiving his second tech 😳 pic.twitter.com/6GD1YB63nV

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 1, 2025

From the opening quarter to the final minutes, the officiating crew was tested on multiple fronts. In a later sequence before Bucks guard AJ Green’s last free throw — when Westbrook appeared to grab Antetokounmpo — Ervin said officials “did not observe that part of the play” and determined no foul or violation occurred.

In a game defined by its physical tone and frequent reviews, Ervin’s comments helped clarify the officials’ decisions on several key moments. It wasn’t pretty, but after a hard-fought 48 minutes, Sacramento ended a decade-long win drought in Milwaukee and secured its second win of the season. The Kings now prepare to face the 3-2 Denver Nuggets on Monday.

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Beneath his feet, confetti decorated the turf. Behind him, the video boards congratulated his team on its latest championship.

The Dodgers owner who lives and breathes championships smiled broadly. Magic Johnson always does, of course. This time, he had an impish twinkle in his eye.

“They said we ruined baseball,” Johnson said. “Well, I guess we didn’t.”

If you are not in Los Angeles, you might be screaming in frustration. The team with all the gold makes the rules, and the new rule is that the Dodgers win every year, and now their most famous owner is mocking you?

He is not.

Read more:In a World Series finale for the ages, Dodgers cement their dynasty in win over Blue Jays

He is, however, issuing a subtle warning to all of baseball’s owners: Don’t let your desperation for a salary cap destroy a sport on the rise — in no small part thanks to the Dodgers.

The NBA was not much more than a minor league 45 years ago. This is crazy to imagine now, but the NBA Finals aired on tape delay, on late-night television, most often at 11:30 p.m. The NBA audience was so small that advertisers would not pay prime-time rates for those commercials, so the games were not broadcast in prime time.

Johnson helped change that. The rivalry between his Lakers and Larry Bird’s Celtics revived the NBA, and then Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls became global sporting icons.

From 1980-88, either the Lakers or the Celtics won the NBA title in every year but one. From 1991-98, the Bulls won six titles.

The Celtics and Lakers and Bulls did not ruin the NBA.

“What the Celtics and Lakers were able to do, and Michael Jordan’s Bulls, was to bring in new fans — fans that were, 'Oh, I don’t know about the NBA,'" Johnson said, “but the play was so good, and the Celtics and Lakers and Bulls were so dominant, people said, 'Oh man, I want to watch them.'

“It’s the same thing happening here.”

The NBA leadership could not believe its good fortune. Baseball’s leadership appears intent on lighting its good fortune on fire.

“My phone was blowing up with people who hadn’t watched baseball for a long time,” Johnson said. “They were watching this series.

“This was good for baseball around the world.”

Read more:Party time: Dodgers' championship parade and rally on Monday

The World Baseball Classic is four months away. The World Series most valuable player, the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is from Japan.

So is the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, the closest baseball has ever had to its own Jordan. The Dodgers rescued him from purgatory in Anaheim and surrounded him with a star-studded roster, and now he makes more money from pitching products than pitching baseballs. To the Dodgers, he doubles as an All-Star and cash machine.

The league — and all the owners complaining about the Dodgers and their spending — happily profited from this traveling road show. The Dodgers get the same share of international merchandise and broadcast revenue every other team does.

The Dodgers led the major leagues in road attendance, again. The league sent the Dodgers to Seoul last spring and Tokyo this spring, meaning that, for two years running, they were one of the first two teams to report to spring training and one of the last two playing at season’s end. The league’s television partners rushed to book the Dodgers, even for games at times inconvenient to the team.

“MLB put us in every hard situation you can think about,” infielder Miguel Rojas said. “We never complained. We were trying to come through for the fans, for baseball, and everybody should be recognizing what we are doing.”

With the Blue Jays in the World Series, Canadian ratings for the World Series increased tenfold. The Dodgers did not destroy the Jays. They survived them, and barely at that.

Read more:'I'm just really elated.' How Dave Roberts helped the Dodgers dig deep to win World Series

The Dodgers have not ruined competition, despite the spotlight.

“They have a great team,” Toronto infielder Ernie Clement said. “There's no denying it. They're one of the best teams probably ever put together, and we've taken 'em to seven games, so that's got to say something about us.”

Toronto manager John Schneider said his team, which won more games than the Dodgers this season, had chances to sweep the World Series.

“People were calling it David versus Goliath,” Schneider said, shaking his head from side to side. “It's not even... close.”

The Dodgers make a lot of money, pour the money back into the team, and win. They give the people what they want.

“People want the best,” co-owner Todd Boehly said.

Granted, not every team can spend like the Dodgers. Most cannot, and baseball should be able to find ways to share the wealth without risking its tenuous but growing popularity by locking out players in pursuit of a salary cap.

After all, isn’t a compelling product with stars from home and abroad good for baseball?

Read more:Plaschke: Back to back! Dodgers nab dynasty-defining victory over Blue Jays in World Series Game 7

“You bet,” controlling owner Mark Walter said. “I think they think so, too.”

It was time to go. The parade was 36 hours away, and Johnson had to rest his throat.

“I’m hoarse,” he said. “I’ve never been hoarse.”

So we’ll leave you with one bit of sports trivia, in response to the mistaken notion that a salary cap assures competitive balance: In the Magic, Bird and Jordan years, the ones that lifted the NBA into popular culture, did the NBA have a salary cap?

It did then. It does now. On to the quest for a three-peat.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Warriors can't wait to regain momentum after two tough losses to Bucks, Pacers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

All momentum the Warriors built winning four of their first five games in an eight-day span was popped and deflated with two losses in three days against two undermanned teams. 

These are the types of losses the Warriors have been trying to avoid. The kind that aren’t supposed to happen with Jimmy Butler on their side. The Warriors have been laser focused on starting strong to avoid sprinting through the end of the regular season. That team didn’t show up in Milwaukee or Indiana as the Warriors have now suffered their first losing streak of the young 2025-26 season. 

First after finding out an hour before tipoff that the Milwaukee Bucks weren’t going to have Giannis Antetokounmpo, former Warriors second-round draft pick Ryan Rollins had the best game of his career with 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting and 5 of 7 on threes, eight assists and only one turnover to beat his first team. Steve Kerr joked the Warriors “are like 0-12 the last couple years when opponents sit their stars,” after the loss. 

He didn’t have any comedic quips Saturday night after losing to the previously winless Indiana Pacers. 

The Pacers weren’t sitting any stars. Tyrese Haliburton, their biggest star, is already out for the season after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. But four other key Pacers were out to injuries, leaving Pascal Siakam, Aaron Nesmith and a point guard on a two-way contract who would be in G League training camp right now if Indiana was healthier to hand the Warriors a loss that had frustrations voiced in postgame press conferences. 

Rollins’ career high was the opening course of putting a sour taste on the start of the Warriors’ mini road trip. The plate grew for the Pacers. Nesmith scored a career-high 31 points after averaging 11 going into Saturday’s game. The 25 points Quenton Jackson scored, an undrafted 27-year-old, were two fewer than he had totaled between his three previous games this season, and set a new career high. Plus, Jackson handed out a career-high 10 assists and didn’t record one turnover. 

He and Rollins both had these kinds of dream-like performances while also guarding Steph Curry. 

Kerr after the Warriors’ loss in Milwaukee used fatigue, mental and physical, as a reason for a bad night. His players didn’t agree. And the coach didn’t use anything that could be mistaken for an excuse after losing to what was an 0-5 Pacers team. 

“We know the West is loaded, and it feels like we just gave away two games that if we are locked in and focused, playing the way we know we can play, then we should have won them,” Kerr said. “We got to pick those games up along the way, but at the end of the season, I mean, the last three years it’s the same thing. I mean, one or two games. 

“We have to find a way to be sharper and to be better.” 

Whatever’s on his mind, Kerr gets his point across. His words are deliberate and can feel purposeful getting messages across to his team. This loss felt like one of those moments.

“There’s going to be some tough nights. There are always tough nights during the season,” Kerr said. “This should not have been one of them. We had the day off yesterday. We didn’t do shootaround this morning. We had plenty of rest, but the execution down the stretch was awful. And it’s a shame because our young guys played their ass off.” 

Calling the Warriors’ next game, which will be their eighth of the season, a must-win is prematurely pushing the panic button. Or is it? The tone is too heavy, sure. The intention must be as close to a gentler must-win as it can get, though. 

The Warriors led by 11 points Saturday night, 104-93, after Curry made a three with just over six minutes left. As if a wave had crashed the Warriors’ sandcastle, everything came crumbling down over the final six minutes. The Pacers outscored them 21-5 until the final buzzer for their first win. In the clutch, the Warriors didn’t execute offensively or defensively, they fouled, they turned the ball over and the Pacers outplayed them in every category. 

That three was the last shot Curry made. He missed six shots, five threes and a floater, had one turnover and even missed a free throw the rest of the game. The Warriors went from being down 73-67 when he was taken out at the 5:45 mark in the third quarter to having a nine-point lead when he came back at 6:26 of the fourth behind players like Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos and Moses Moody. 

Curry was a minus-21 against the Pacers and had five turnovers for his second consecutive game. 

“It’s the frustration of not being able to capture that momentum that we had and sustain the start that we had,” Curry said. “I know we can get it back. Long way to go. You start 4-2 and everybody has been talking about how hard the schedule has been and this and that, but these are two games that you really should have and wanted to have to show for our start. 

“Hopefully it lights a fire in all of us to get back on the horse and figure out how we can win throughout a very difficult stretch coming up and show that we’re a very capable team.”

Again, going full must-win feels like a stretch. The Warriors themselves are teetering on the edges there. 

The Phoenix Suns are another team they’re supposed to beat Tuesday at Chase Center. They’ll be favorites to beat the Sacramento Kings the next day too, even on the second night of a back-to-back. These are chances for bad habits to be corrected and momentum to be created again in time for a date in Denver against the Nuggets on Friday.

The Warriors can get revenge at home against the Pacers in a week on Sunday, and then it’s time for a six-game road trip that begins with games against the two best teams in the West right now: The undefeated reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder (6-0), and two against the undefeated San Antonio Spurs (5-0). 

Last season’s spiral after early success hasn’t been forgotten. The Warriors want to create the identity of a champion now and build as the season evolves. There is no time to wait in getting back on track, and they know it.

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Kings mentally outlast Bucks in fiery win, end decade-long drought in Milwaukee originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It wasn’t pretty, but the Kings, after a fiery 48 minutes, put an end to a decade-long drought in Milwaukee. 

Yes, you read that right. 

Behind star Zach LaVine’s fifth 30-plus-point game of a young 2025-26 NBA season, the Kings, for the first time since 2015, pulled off a 135-133 win over the Bucks on Saturday at Fiserv Forum.

Sacramento’s chances looked bleak early on after giving up a 15-2 lead to open the game. But, in an intriguing turn of events with less than six minutes in the first quarter, Bucks forward Bobby Portis, visibly upset over the previous possession, shoved Kings star Domantas Sabonis in the back.

Bobby Portis received a technical foul for this altercation with Domantas Sabonis 😯 pic.twitter.com/w74paEc8wA

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 1, 2025

Not only would the altercation foreshadow the physical game that was to come, but it would also light a fire under the same Kings team that gave up 47 points in the first 12 minutes.

“Yeah, we like that. At the end of the day, you guys know how I play,” Kings guard Dennis Schröder told reporters. “That’s just motivation. I think that brought us more together. 

“Russell [Westbrook] having Domas’ back right away, making sure he’s right there. I think that shows that we want to become a team, and we’re getting there. I was really happy. I was on the bench. At that time, I couldn’t get on the floor because I would’ve gotten a suspension. But Russell had his back, and I think it fueled us.”

“Yeah, we like that.”

Schröder reveals how the Sabonis-Portis scuffle motivated the Kings in tonight’s win pic.twitter.com/xpjoYG80I4

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 2, 2025

Even though Bucks coach Doc Rivers admitted that the disruption on the floor started well before Portis’ exchange with Sabonis, he did acknowledge the energy shift it caused.

“The emotional, I agree with you, it definitely changed when Sabonis and Bobby, right,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers told reporters. “But I thought it even started before then …”

“… Again, I’ve always said that I’m fine with all the talking as long as you can play still. If you can’t then we got to keep our focus.” 

The tension carried over into the second half, with Bucks’ Gary Trent Jr. picking up a technical foul in the third quarter and Cole Anthony being ejected with less than 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. 

Bucks guard Cole Anthony is ejected after receiving his second tech 😳 pic.twitter.com/6GD1YB63nV

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 1, 2025

Ultimately, the Bucks failed to keep their focus, making way for the Kings’ core to find their groove despite Milwaukee shooting 59.8 percent from the floor.

Sabonis put up 24 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, while Schröder notched up 24 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Westbrook, who started on the bench, posted 12 points and a season-high 10 assists.

On Saturday, the Kings won the mental game, snapped a three-game losing streak and, most importantly, waved a decade-long drought goodbye.

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What we learned as Warriors' fourth-quarter collapse hands Pacers first win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

Salt meet wound. 

After losing to the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks, the Warriors fell 114-109 against the previously winless Indiana Pacers on Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. 

The Pacers weren’t only without Tyrese Haliburton, but also a plethora of others. They didn’t have Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin, Bennedict Mathurin and TJ McConnell. And it didn’t matter. 

Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith combined to score 58 points, and they were joined by Quenton Jackson, who is on a two-way contract, scoring 25 points with 10 assists. 

Steph Curry scored an ugly team-high 24 points. Curry was a minus-21, and the Warriors were better with him on the bench. 

Jimmy Butler did a bit of everything, scoring 20 points with six rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. Jonathan Kuminga provided 17 points and Brandin Podziemski scored 16. But the desperate Pacers were the hungrier team. 

A 20-5 run in the final 5:46?

That's how the @Pacers closed out their 1st W of the season! pic.twitter.com/z31fmSds2c

— NBA (@NBA) November 2, 2025

Though the Warriors cut their turnovers from 22 the previous game to 16 on Saturday, they still allowed the Pacers to score 17 free points. A number of live-ball turnovers hurt the Warriors. So did the Warriors fouling eight more times than the Pacers and shooting a lowly 27.3 percent from three, going 12 of 44.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ first losing streak of the 2025-26 NBA season.

Steph Struggles

As Curry struggled to find his shot and the Warriors were on the verge of losing to the winless Pacers, coach Steve Kerr called timeout and his biggest star took a seat halfway through the third quarter. The Warriors trailed 73-67 at time, and then were ahead by 10 when he came back in with six and a half minutes left in the fourth.

Kerr wasn’t going to let Curry keep watching from the bench, but maybe he should have. 

Curry played the final six minutes and 26 seconds of the fourth quarter and was a minus-13. In his six-plus minutes of the fourth, Curry scored six points while making only two of his seven shot attempts, including 1 of 5 on threes and even a missed free throw. Curry failed to grab a single rebound and only had two assists as he turned the ball over five times for his second consecutive game. 

The game’s greatest shooter was 8 of 23 from the field and 4 of 16 behind the 3-point line. Trying to get past the Pacers’ pressure-filled defense, Curry looked his age and will have to regroup for Tuesday’s game back at Chase Center against the Phoenix Suns.

The Siakam & Nesmith Show

Already down their biggest star, Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers also were without a handful of other key figures against the Warriors like Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin, TJ McConnell and more. The stage was set for Siakam to be a star, and the Warriors were searching for answers early on. 

Pascal Siakam up to 20 points with this third-quarter bucket 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Q9VkYfniqy

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) November 2, 2025

Siakam scored 10 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting in the first quarter while doing work to the Warriors’ makeshift zone defense. All of Siakam’s five shots were around the rim, with his furthest being an 11-foot floater. He then opened the second quarter making a 16-foot jump shot before finally missing a shot, which was his first 3-point attempt of the night. That’s when Nesmith joined the party for the Pacers. 

Nesmith scored six points in the first quarter and then really got going in the second, making two two-pointers, two 3-pointers and two free throws for 12 points. By halftime, he was the Pacers’ leading scorer with 18 points and Siakam was right behind at 16. The rest of the Pacers scored 19 points in the first half.

Aaron Nesmith with back-to-back clutch threes in the final two minutes of the first half ‼️

he's up to 18 points & 5 rebounds through two. pic.twitter.com/HTwSOObrkS

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) November 2, 2025

Jackson joined the party in the second half, but Siakam and Nesmith never slowed down. Siakam found his sweet spots around the paint — and hit a dagger three with 37 seconds left. Siakam scored 27 points on 12-of-23 shooting. The game, however, belonged to Nesmith. He went from averaging 11 points this season to scoring a career-high 31. Nesmith made five threes the previous two games combined and then made five on the Warriors.

Cleared For Takeoff

What’s the fastest path from Point A to Point B? A Kuminga dunk, apparently. 

Sit back and pick your jaw off the floor. 

JK ON YOUR HEAD 🔨 pic.twitter.com/R48JNaofEF

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 1, 2025

JK soars and slams ✈️ pic.twitter.com/dDt9db7Jp5

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 2, 2025

Air Congo AGAIN 💥 pic.twitter.com/0hLYNSHmuH

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 2, 2025

Kuminga threw down a grand total of five dunks. He missed consistently from the mid-range and was 1 of 3 beyond the arc. What he did do was power his way to the rim. 

On multiple occasions, Kuminga has said he won’t participate in the Slam Dunk Contest. In losing fashion, he showed how his in-game leaping ability can be such a weapon when the Warriors’ offense goes flat.

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