The Blue Devils allowed 45 points in the opening period, the most they've given up in any half at home under Scheyer.
Winners and losers as Knicks claim NBA Cup over Wembanyama, Spurs 124-113
Winners and losers as Knicks claim NBA Cup over Wembanyama, Spurs 124-113 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
An NBA trophy is headed to New York.
The Knicks on Tuesday won the 2025 NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas with a 124-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
It marks New York’s first win in the tournament, as the first two editions went to the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.
Both teams stayed neck and neck for the opening two-and-a-half quarters, when San Antonio went up by double digits late in the third behind a Victor Wembanyama solo run.
But that didn’t continue in the fourth, as the Knicks capitalized on Wembanyama sitting on the bench due to an injury limiting his minutes. New York outscored the Spurs 35-19 in the fourth, with OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson, the eventual MVP, showing their quality.
Each player on the Knicks will now take home an extra $530,933 for the win. Let’s analyze the game further with winners and losers:
WINNER: OG Anunoby, Knicks
Anunoby chose a fantastic game to go above and beyond. The 28-year-old forward recorded a game-high 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting overall, including a 5 of 10 clip from deep. He added nine rebounds and three assists to his stat line, with four offensive boards.
He may not have claimed the MVP award for his game, but these types of two-way performances can give New York the edge come playoff time.
LOSER: De’Aaron Fox, Spurs
With Wembanyama playing limited minutes on a bench role, these are the types of games where Fox has to reach the next level. That just wasn’t the case.
The point guard went for just 16 points on 5 of 16 shooting with nine assists, two rebounds and five turnovers. He was second to everything offensively and defensively down the stretch, and it’s not ideal that Wembanyama and Dylan Harper outscored him in less minutes.
WINNER: Jalen Brunson, Knicks
It may not be the NBA Championship, but Brunson remains on the right track to potentially winning the major trophy. The 29-year-old, sometimes deemed too small to be the No. 1 option on a title-winning team, assembled a 25-point showing to go with eight rebounds, four rebounds and two blocks.
Not everything was clean, though, despite the MVP win. He shot 11 of 27 overall, 1 of 5 from deep and 2 of 4 from the foul line. How things would look in a four-game series vs. San Antonio is unclear, but it’s a night to celebrate regardless.
LOSER: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
Wembanyama has enjoyed two 40-point games against the Knicks in his young career, but he was limited to just 25 minutes in this one. Had he played the majority of the fourth quarter instead of Luke Kornet, perhaps the outcome may have been different.
But the young French star will not get the chance to add to his resume early on, scoring 18 points on 7 of 17 shooting with a 2 of 6 mark from deep. He added six rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. Now he’ll need to stay healthy with San Antonio’s roster in much better shape to embark on a playoff run.
WINNER: Mitchell Robinson, Knicks
Sometimes you need your role players to come up big when needed the most. New York received valiant bench-scoring efforts from Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek, but it was long-time center Robinson that was at the heart of everything.
In 18 minutes, he nabbed 15 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. The Spurs had success with second-chance points, but Robinson helped the Knicks tilt that to their advantage, especially without Wemby. New York also had 56 points in the paint to San Antonio’s 44. Again, it’s not the main title, but New York fans will appreciate what Robinson did for them given his time spent with the franchise.
Winners and losers as Knicks claim NBA Cup over Wembanyama, Spurs 124-113
Winners and losers as Knicks claim NBA Cup over Wembanyama, Spurs 124-113 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
An NBA trophy is headed to New York.
The Knicks on Tuesday won the 2025 NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas with a 124-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
It marks New York’s first win in the tournament, as the first two editions went to the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.
Both teams stayed neck and neck for the opening two-and-a-half quarters, when San Antonio went up by double digits late in the third behind a Victor Wembanyama solo run.
But that didn’t continue in the fourth, as the Knicks capitalized on Wembanyama sitting on the bench due to an injury limiting his minutes. New York outscored the Spurs 35-19 in the fourth, with OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson, the eventual MVP, showing their quality.
Each player on the Knicks will now take home an extra $530,933 for the win. Let’s analyze the game further with winners and losers:
WINNER: OG Anunoby, Knicks
Anunoby chose a fantastic game to go above and beyond. The 28-year-old forward recorded a game-high 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting overall, including a 5 of 10 clip from deep. He added nine rebounds and three assists to his stat line, with four offensive boards.
He may not have claimed the MVP award for his game, but these types of two-way performances can give New York the edge come playoff time.
LOSER: De’Aaron Fox, Spurs
With Wembanyama playing limited minutes on a bench role, these are the types of games where Fox has to reach the next level. That just wasn’t the case.
The point guard went for just 16 points on 5 of 16 shooting with nine assists, two rebounds and five turnovers. He was second to everything offensively and defensively down the stretch, and it’s not ideal that Wembanyama and Dylan Harper outscored him in less minutes.
WINNER: Jalen Brunson, Knicks
It may not be the NBA Championship, but Brunson remains on the right track to potentially winning the major trophy. The 29-year-old, sometimes deemed too small to be the No. 1 option on a title-winning team, assembled a 25-point showing to go with eight rebounds, four rebounds and two blocks.
Not everything was clean, though, despite the MVP win. He shot 11 of 27 overall, 1 of 5 from deep and 2 of 4 from the foul line. How things would look in a four-game series vs. San Antonio is unclear, but it’s a night to celebrate regardless.
LOSER: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
Wembanyama has enjoyed two 40-point games against the Knicks in his young career, but he was limited to just 25 minutes in this one. Had he played the majority of the fourth quarter instead of Luke Kornet, perhaps the outcome may have been different.
But the young French star will not get the chance to add to his resume early on, scoring 18 points on 7 of 17 shooting with a 2 of 6 mark from deep. He added six rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. Now he’ll need to stay healthy with San Antonio’s roster in much better shape to embark on a playoff run.
WINNER: Mitchell Robinson, Knicks
Sometimes you need your role players to come up big when needed the most. New York received valiant bench-scoring efforts from Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek, but it was long-time center Robinson that was at the heart of everything.
In 18 minutes, he nabbed 15 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. The Spurs had success with second-chance points, but Robinson helped the Knicks tilt that to their advantage, especially without Wemby. New York also had 56 points in the paint to San Antonio’s 44. Again, it’s not the main title, but New York fans will appreciate what Robinson did for them given his time spent with the franchise.
NBA Trade rumors 2025-26: Bucks want to be buyers, not sellers, to try and keep Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Milwaukee Bucks are not going to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo until he forces them to. While it's been reported that his agent and the Bucks are discussing his future, Milwaukee will try to keep him and make him happy until Antetokounmpo is willing to be the bad guy and demand a trade (and he's not doing that, he's saying he would run through a wall for this team).
Which brings us to the latest reports that the Bucks are telling teams they want to be buyers, not sellers, at the trade deadline. The first report came from the well-connected Eric Nehm, who covers the Bucks for The Athletic.
League sources told The Athletic the Bucks have told teams they are looking to add to their roster in hopes of fortifying their struggling team in the week leading up to Dec. 15. That messaging could certainly change as the Feb. 5 trade deadline nears.
Then there is this via Jake Fischer at The Stein Line.
"After repeatedly telling teams that Antetokounmpo is not available and that it is not interested in fielding trade offers for him, now Milwaukee is messaging that it wants to be buyers at this deadline to try to get Giannis more help. Even with no clear return-from-injury timetable yet in place for Antetokounmpo, Jon Horst's front office continues to hold onto hope that assembling a puncher's chance contender remains viable in the wide-open Eastern Conference.
"One rival general manager I spoke to went so far as to say that the Bucks have convinced him that 'they're going big-game hunting.'"
The Bucks previously have been linked to Miami's Andrew Wiggins and the Kings' Zach LaVine.
Milwaukee has to give up something to get something, and that's where the problems begin. The biggest issue is draft picks: The Bucks have just one first-round pick they can trade at the deadline (at the NBA Draft, that number jumps to three, including drafting a player for another team and sending him there in a deal). As for players, the big names the Bucks can dangle are Bobby Portis and Kyle Kuzma, but there are also Ryan Rollins (who they really want to keep), Kevin Porter Jr., AJ Green and Gary Trent Jr.
Is there any trade that can turn around a team that has gone 3-11 in its last 14 and remains without Antetokounmpo due to a calf strain? Maybe not, but the Bucks are all-in on Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP who led this team to a championship and is the greatest player in franchise history (we can argue about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar if you want, but at worst they are 1 and 1A). The Bucks are going to try to make Antetokounmpo happy, not trade him.
If there is a parting of the ways, it may be more likely this offseason if Antetokounmpo tells the Bucks he will not sign a contract extension, as he is heading into the final year of his current deal (then Milwaukee would have to trade him or risk losing him for nothing).
Winners and losers as Knicks claim NBA Cup over Wembanyama, Spurs 124-113
Winners and losers as Knicks claim NBA Cup over Wembanyama, Spurs 124-113 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
An NBA trophy is headed to New York.
The Knicks on Tuesday won the 2025 NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas with a 124-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
It marks New York’s first win in the tournament, as the first two editions went to the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.
Both teams stayed neck and neck for the opening two-and-a-half quarters, when San Antonio went up by double digits late in the third behind a Victor Wembanyama solo run.
But that didn’t continue in the fourth, as the Knicks capitalized on Wembanyama sitting on the bench due to an injury limiting his minutes. New York outscored the Spurs 35-19 in the fourth, with OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson, the eventual MVP, showing their quality.
Each player on the Knicks will now take home an extra $530,933 for the win. Let’s analyze the game further with winners and losers:
WINNER: OG Anunoby, Knicks
Anunoby chose a fantastic game to go above and beyond. The 28-year-old forward recorded a game-high 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting overall, including a 5 of 10 clip from deep. He added nine rebounds and three assists to his stat line, with four offensive boards.
He may not have claimed the MVP award for his game, but these types of two-way performances can give New York the edge come playoff time.
LOSER: De’Aaron Fox, Spurs
With Wembanyama playing limited minutes on a bench role, these are the types of games where Fox has to reach the next level. That just wasn’t the case.
The point guard went for just 16 points on 5 of 16 shooting with nine assists, two rebounds and five turnovers. He was second to everything offensively and defensively down the stretch, and it’s not ideal that Wembanyama and Dylan Harper outscored him in less minutes.
WINNER: Jalen Brunson, Knicks
It may not be the NBA Championship, but Brunson remains on the right track to potentially winning the major trophy. The 29-year-old, sometimes deemed too small to be the No. 1 option on a title-winning team, assembled a 25-point showing to go with eight rebounds, four rebounds and two blocks.
Not everything was clean, though, despite the MVP win. He shot 11 of 27 overall, 1 of 5 from deep and 2 of 4 from the foul line. How things would look in a four-game series vs. San Antonio is unclear, but it’s a night to celebrate regardless.
LOSER: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
Wembanyama has enjoyed two 40-point games against the Knicks in his young career, but he was limited to just 25 minutes in this one. Had he played the majority of the fourth quarter instead of Luke Kornet, perhaps the outcome may have been different.
But the young French star will not get the chance to add to his resume early on, scoring 18 points on 7 of 17 shooting with a 2 of 6 mark from deep. He added six rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. Now he’ll need to stay healthy with San Antonio’s roster in much better shape to embark on a playoff run.
WINNER: Mitchell Robinson, Knicks
Sometimes you need your role players to come up big when needed the most. New York received valiant bench-scoring efforts from Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek, but it was long-time center Robinson that was at the heart of everything.
In 18 minutes, he nabbed 15 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. The Spurs had success with second-chance points, but Robinson helped the Knicks tilt that to their advantage, especially without Wemby. New York also had 56 points in the paint to San Antonio’s 44. Again, it’s not the main title, but New York fans will appreciate what Robinson did for them given his time spent with the franchise.
Why Steve Kerr is committed to keeping Warriors' starting lineup consistent
Why Steve Kerr is committed to keeping Warriors' starting lineup consistent originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors coach Steve Kerr has used nine unique starting lineups in as many games. He isn’t about to make it a perfect 10 for 10 Thursday in Phoenix against the Suns, or so he says.
“I would love to get some continuity,” Kerr said Tuesday at Chase Center after practice. “It’s been tough to string together games with everyone healthy and the same starting lineup. So assuming everybody’s available in Phoenix, we’ll start the same way we did last game. I’d like to keep doing that to really build some continuity with the starting lineup and then also with the rotation off the bench.”
A number of factors have led to Kerr trotting out a different starting five in each of the last nine games. The most notable obstacle has been health and availability.
Steph Curry only played in four of them, missing five. Draymond Green played three, missing six, and exited in the second quarter in one of the games he played. Jimmy Butler played seven, missing just two, but was unavailable the entire second half to injury in one of the games he was available for.
“To be honest, it’s been impossible the last couple of weeks,” Kerr said. “I mean, I don’t think we’ve had Dray, Steph and Jimmy all together since the Houston game, which was, I don’t know, six or seven games ago. And then obviously Pat [Spencer] played so well on the road and I wanted to reward him and we got two wins with him starting.
“Circumstances have led to some of the lack of continuity, but I can do a better job of trying to help the guys build some of that too.”
Prior to Sunday’s loss against the Portland Trail Blazers, the last time Curry, Butler and Green all played in the same game was the Warriors’ 104-100 loss against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 26, which was seven games and three weeks ago. Curry began limping the last few minutes of that loss and went to the locker room for the final 35 seconds with what later was deemed a left quad contusion that kept him out the next five games.
Butler missed two and a half games to left knee soreness, and Green missed a handful from a combination of a right foot sprain and an excused personal reason.
The starting five that Kerr went with Sunday night in Portland featured Curry, Butler, Moses Moody, Green and Quinten Post. It’s a group Kerr wants to give an extended run. As always, however, there are no guarantees.
“I would love for this to be our starting lineup,” Kerr said. “It’s our starting lineup going forward and we’ll give it a good look. I feel confident with it, but we always have to make adjustments as the season goes.”
That group of Curry, Butler, Moody, Green and Post played eight minutes and 55 seconds together in the Warriors’ 136-131 loss against the Trail Blazers. The starting five was outscored 29-28. They only made one of their three 2-point shots on the floor together while also going 8 of 14 from 3-point range.
On the other side, the Blazers went 2 of 5 on 2-pointers against the Warriors’ starting five and 5 of 8 from deep for an 80.6 true shooting percentage.
To no surprise, Curry, Butler and Green have started every game they have played this season. Moody has played 25 of the Warriors’ 27 games and has started 14. Post has played in all 27 and has been a starter in 13.
“Consistency is good,” Moody said after practice. “You can get a comfort and feel in your role your spot so you know it. But it’s the NBA, so you’ve got to be ready to adjust.”
Moody and Post making shots from deep is imperative for the lineup to work. Moody missed four open threes in the first half Sunday and then made two of his four in the second half to wind up with 12 points. Post scored 11, going 4 of 9 from the field and 3 of 6 on threes.
For years, the Warriors have thrived using Green as a small-ball center. But the 6-foot-6 veteran can only take so much at 35 years old, and Kerr believes the give and take of having a 7-foot center that can stretch the floor like Post next to him is a benefit the Warriors have to lean into.
“We’re more dynamic speed wise and disruptive defensively when he [Green] is at the five,” Kerr said. “He’s pushing the ball, he’s playing center field and blowing up a lot of things defensively. But when he’s at the four, he’s more on the perimeter offensively. So we’re not quite as dynamic, but I think the trade off is a good one. We get some minutes from him at the four, we can close the game with him at the five anytime we want.
“And this will give QP, who’s had a great year, who’s playing at a very high level, especially defensively, the size rebounding – I like that. We’re a pretty small team in general. So to get QP in the starting lineup with Dray feels good.”
That unit had played just six minutes together going into Sunday’s game. Starting with the Warriors’ contest Thursday in Phoenix, Kerr hopes he can trust it for much longer.
Kansas’ Melvin Council Jr. named AP men’s college basketball player of the week
The 6-foot-4 senior stepped up with a huge game that helped Kansas edge N.C. State in overtime on the road, posting career highs of 36 points and nine 3-pointers in the 77-76 win. Council was averaging 10.7 points but had missed his first 10 3-pointers of the season and entered Saturday's game having made just 5 of 27 3-pointers.
No. 15 Nebraska is rolling with its best-ever start. Now it must build for Big Ten play ahead
Fred Hoiberg has his Nebraska team off to its best start in program history, owning the nation’s longest winning streak and armed with its best AP Top 25 ranking in more than three decades.
How to watch Marquette vs. No. 1 UConn: TV, live stream info, storylines for Wednesday’s game
The Golden Eagles and Huskies meet in a clash of undefeated teams in the Big East.
NBA reportedly considering moving NBA Cup championship game out of Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — The NBA Cup will be back next season. It is a key reason Amazon Prime Video paid so much money for broadcast rights fees, as it became home to the league's early-season tournament — and ratings were up 90% this year, according to the league.
However, the NBA Cup championship game may not return to Las Vegas next year.
The league is considering moving the championship game next year, a story broken by Tim Bontemps of ESPN and confirmed by other reports. The decision had already been made to move next year's semifinal games — played this year on a Saturday in Vegas — to the home market of the higher-seeded team. While the league remains committed to a neutral-site Finals, that may not be in Las Vegas.
In a city all about big, buzzy events — such as the recent F1 race that takes over the Strip — talk to locals, and there is very little buzz about the NBA Cup. Whatever the announced attendance for games, there are sections of the upper bowl that are empty during the semifinals, and there has been a concern that the empty seats and a more neutral crowd (most fans are not traveling for these games, the building is filled with locals) can come across as too low energy on the broadcast. To be fair, there was a better crowd and energy for the second semifinal Saturday — maybe that was because it featured Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or maybe the 6 p.m. local start time was better than the 2:30 p.m. start time for the Knicks game.
The T-Mobile Arena was filled and loud in the tournament's first year, 2023, but that's because the Lakers were in it — Las Vegas is a Lakers city, plus it is a short trip for Lakers fans in Southern California to come out for a day or two and see a game. The atmosphere has been different since, even with an international brand with a large fan base such as the New York Knicks playing in the NBA Cup finals on Tuesday.
The league's challenge becomes: Where are they going to move the title game that's better? Put the game in Seattle for a year? Move it around the nation to non-NBA cities and see if they get excited about it? Is that going to generate more buzz?
The NBA Cup has primarily done what Adam Silver and the league hoped it would — it gave more meaning to some early-season games, it got more people to talk about the league before Christmas, it motivated players (giving the players on the championship team $530,000 will do that), and it created some buzz around the game. The tournament has been a hit with the core NBA fan base, and it's at least gotten some more casual fans to pay attention. However, the reaction on the ground in Las Vegas has not been what the league hoped. l
There are no easy answers here, but the league has maintained flexibility — it does not have a contract locked in to bring the NBA Cup back to Las Vegas in a year. The NBA and Amazon Prime Video can come together to assess their options and decide if it is time to be leaving Las Vegas.
How to watch Butler vs. UConn: Live stream info, preview for tonight’s game
Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. ET on Peacock.
Warriors' Steve Kerr downplays ‘coaches desires' narrative from Joe Lacob email
Warriors' Steve Kerr downplays ‘coaches desires' narrative from Joe Lacob email originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Steve Kerr moved quickly to shut down any speculation.
After Warriors owner Joe Lacob’s brief email response to a frustrated fan circulated online, some fans interpreted one line referencing “coaches’ desires regarding players” as a possible critique of Kerr’s rotational or lineup choices.
Kerr addressed that interpretation while speaking to reporters on Tuesday at Chase Center and dismissed any suggestion of tension between himself and Lacob.
“It’s not a big deal,” Kerr said. “I’m not concerned about anything like that.”
Lacob’s email was sent just minutes after a fan reached out following Golden State’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. In the message, Lacob acknowledged frustration around the team’s current struggles, citing a combination of factors including style of play, league trends and roster usage, while emphasizing that Jimmy Butler “is not the problem.”
Kerr emphasized that frustration is shared throughout the organization.
“Well, we’re all frustrated,” Kerr added. “Joe is frustrated. I’m frustrated. Steph [Curry], [Draymond Green] — everybody’s frustrated. This is kind of how the league works.”
The Warriors’ struggles have stretched across much of the early season, with Curry’s extended absence playing a role. But even since his return, the results haven’t changed. Curry has scored 87 points over the past two games, and Golden State still came up short both times, dropping the Warriors to 13-14.
Kerr also pushed back on the broader idea of private correspondence becoming public discourse.
“I hate when people are going to post private emails,” Kerr noted. “Imagine if everyone’s emails were just publicly posted — how tough that would be to live our lives.”
More importantly, Kerr stressed that nothing has changed in his relationship with the organization’s ownership.
“Joe supports me 100 percent. I support him,” Kerr said. “We have a great connection, and we’ve had so much continuity here in our stable environment. Our organization is one of our strengths. So yeah. It’s not a big deal.”
As Golden State continues to search for consistency, Kerr made it clear that internal alignment isn’t in question — even if frustration is.
How to watch DePaul vs. No. 22 St. John’s: Live stream info, preview for tonight’s game
Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. ET on Peacock.
Fantasy Basketball Stock Up Stock Down: Paul George is back
Tuesday’s NBA Cup Championship between the Knicks and the Spurs is the highlight of the NBA schedule this week. Yet, Monday already provided some talking points after an entertaining previous week. There’s still a lot to follow before the Holiday arrives, and plenty of players to discuss.
Let's get into it.
While Joel Embiid’s return has been huge for fantasy basketball, so has Paul George’s.
Raphielle JohnsonSTOCK UP
Paul George — SG/SF/PF, Sixers
PG-13 may very well be back. How back? Well, the accomplished veteran wing has tallied at least 20 points in three of his last four games, including a recent 35-point performance in which he went 7-of-10 from beyond the arc and led the Sixers in scoring. George has also been solid as a passer, leading to solid fantasy production recently, despite the stocks not being there. But arguably, the most important stat to stress is that he’s logged at least 30 minutes in each of the last four games. We’ll just need his body to hold up a little bit longer before getting overly optimistic about his ceiling going forward. Nonetheless, he’s currently healthy and has looked here in December. Stock up.
9 STRAIGHT FOR PAUL GEORGE!
— NBA (@NBA) December 15, 2025
PG is feeling it for the 76ers in the 2Q
PHI-ATL on NBA League Pass. Watch here: https://t.co/7DuFGgZEGvpic.twitter.com/rgOjGxPTUP
Kyle Kuzma — SF/PF, Bucks
Now may be an ideal time to make a move for Kuzma. With Giannis Antetokounmpo missing games, Kuzma has been more aggressive in looking for shots during his time on the floor — he’s landed double-digit field goal attempts in each of the last games and scored 13 or more in all of them. His most productive outing of those four games was a 31-point performance against the Celtics when he went 13-of-17 from the field. Although it’s unlikely he’ll consistently display that level of shooting efficiency on such high volume, the score-first approach from him for a team currently down its top scorer should continue to yield good scoring production and high upside.
Bub Carrington — PG, SG, Wizards
Over the last three appearances, Carrington is averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 assists in 38.0 minutes per game. He flirted with double-doubles in two of the games and was aggressive in his approach to the three-point shot. With the Wizards unlikely to turn their season around on a wins-and-losses basis, it’s logical to expect they'll allow the young players to get in as many reps as possible. And if these recent three games are a sign of things to come, it may be worth adding Carrington from the free agency pool now — he’s got some upside and has recently shown he’s capable of some monster stat lines.
The end of the Emirates NBA Cup means the back end of Week 9 will be loaded with games.
STOCK DOWN
Kel’el Ware — PF/C, Heat
Ware hasn’t scored in double figures in five of his last six games and has only secured double-digit rebounds in two of them. Such minimal production of late should be both concerning and frustrating for fantasy managers after seeing the sophomore center go for 15.9 points and 15.1 rebounds per game over an eight-game stretch earlier this season, which included three straight 20-point, 14-rebound double-doubles. He came off the bench in the most recent couple of games, including one with both Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro healthy and starting alongside Norman Powell, Davion Mitchell, and Andrew Wiggins. If Miami is set on going away from the double-bigs look to begin games, Ware could continue to see fewer opportunities to produce.
Pat Spencer — PG/SG, Warriors
The NBA is an unpredictable league. On the heels of a five-game stretch in which Spencer averaged 15.2 points and 4.6 assists, and made three starts, he was relegated to the bench in Sunday’s loss to the Trail Blazers and logged just seven minutes of action. With so many proven players on the Warriors’ roster and the team currently owning a below-.500 record, the cut in playing time, at least for a game, isn’t totally shocking. But as we’ve seen with other Warriors like Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga and Quinten Post, role and nightly rotation minutes aren’t consistent. Spencer could have more moments, but it’s difficult to have an idea of when or for how long.
Jimmy Butler — SG/SF/PF, Warriors
More on the Warriors: they could really use another guy to consistently put the ball in the basket, not named Stephen Curry. Butler had been that guy briefly to begin the season, averaging 21.7 points per game in October. But he dropped down to 19.5 in November, and is currently sitting at 14.0 points per game through four December contests — he’s taking fewer shots and free throws each passing month. The good news for fantasy managers who roster Butler is that even with the scoring production slowing, he’s still rebounding, tallying assists, and collecting steals to put forth solid fantasy production. Still, we want more. The Warriors need more.
NBA Cup 2025: Knicks, Spurs looking at NBA Cup as stepping stone towards loftier goals
LAS VEGAS — The NBA Cup is not the NBA Finals. It is, however, something more than just a regular season game — putting half a million dollars per player on the line will have that effect.
Yes, Knicks or Spurs players want to grab that bag. However, they also see the Cup as a stepping stone to where they want to be next May and June.
"I think history is kind of showing that if you can make it to this Cup, then you can win a championship," San Antonio's De'Aaron Fox said.
Last season, Oklahoma City lost in the NBA Cup championship game but went on to win the NBA title in June. The Lakers, who won the inaugural tournament in 2023, did so with essentially the same core that won the NBA title three years before. Los Angeles beat an Indiana team that advanced to the NBA Finals last season.
The stepping-stone analogy particularly resonated with a young Spurs team looking to grow into a contender.
"It's a high-stakes game that both teams are going to be very invested in winning," San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama said. "It just shows that we are preparing and we will pass the next step for more significant games in the playoffs. This is a complicated explanation, but it's as simple as that: As competitors, we want to win every game, and this one brings something new on the table, so we want to win it even more."
"Being able to have this, obviously it's not going to be the exact same, but you get a little glimpse of what it could be like playing in the Playoffs and the different officiating," Fox said. "No matter how much they say they don't officiate the games differently in the playoffs, we all have eyes, and we can see it. But being able to play in as many of those games, it definitely helps you come playoff time."
These Knicks have more playoff experience — they were in the Eastern Conference Finals last season — but also see the Cup as a path forward.
"I think the Cup is big for us just for the energy it brings to our team…" Karl-Anthony Towns said, adding that the energy and winning foster belief this team will need in the postseason. "I think it brings great energy to the team, great mojo to the team. It also brings that feeling of winning. No matter if it's the Cup, NBA Finals, winning any game, when you get that feeling of winning, it's addictive. Obviously, I want us to have that mindset where we're addicted to the next championship if we can win this one."
Can Knicks stop Wemby? Can the Spurs stop Brunson?
As for the game itself, Wembanyama's return against the Thunder in the semifinals changed the dynamics. While the Spurs' speedy guards — De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper — can all get downhill and touch the paint, Wemby adds another dynamic.
"You're not going to be able to guard a guy like that one-on-one," Knicks coach Mike Brown said. "You try to put length, size, physicality at the point of attack when it comes to him, but it's got to be five guys guarding the basketball at all times… But we have some pretty good defenders with length, and hopefully they can, at the point of attack, try to make it as difficult as possible with him, knowing that they have help behind them."
The Spurs have their own defensive challenge in slowing Jalen Brunson. San Antonio is loaded with long defensive wings who are strong at the point of attack, but so did Orlando in the semifinals, and Brunson dropped 40. In the quarterfinals, it was Toronto with their long, rangy defenders, and Brunson dropped 35 on them.
What might be the story in this game is the Knicks' 3-point shooting. Under Brown, the Knicks get 37.4% of their points from beyond the arc, ranking in the top 10 in the league. With Wemby patrolling the paint, New York may need those threes coming over the top of the defense to win this one.
Towns said the key for the Knicks is to keep doing what got them to this point—and to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
"Everything for us is about execution," Towns said. "I think that's what's made us really good recently playing basketball is our execution. So we've just got to go out there and find a way to do that for 48 minutes."
If they do, if they win the NBA Cup, it's something to build on.