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10 takeaways from the Celtics’ NBA Cup win over the Bulls

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 30: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics celebrates during the game against the Chicago Bulls during the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup on October 30, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

Is this the year the Celtics take the Cup seriously?

Boston certainly looked interested Friday night, opening their first group-stage game with a 44-point first quarter, a 29-point halftime lead and Payton Pritchard briefly transforming into that cyborg version of himself who keeps showing up in NBC Sports Boston broadcasts.

Then the Bulls started making things interesting. Chicago won the second half 62-47, whittling what had once been a 32-point Celtics lead down to 14 by the final buzzer.

Boston still walked away with a 125-111 win and a 1-0 record in East Group C, though Washington holds the early advantage in point differential. The Celtics gave us plenty to get excited about in the first half, and Joe Mazzulla plenty to get annoyed about in the second.

1. The Celtics want the Cup

Earlier this week inside TD Garden, my Australian brethren Jake and Ben from First to the Floor asked whether the Celtics would take the NBA Cup seriously this year. The first half looked like a defiant “you betcha.”

Boston’s first five baskets came in the paint. The Celtics scored 44 in the first quarter, shot 63 percent in the first half and went into the break up 78-49. Pritchard already had 20 points.

The Bulls made the game, and the Cup standings, less comfortable after halftime. They won the second half by 15 and cut Boston’s final margin to 14. Washington also won its opener, leaving both teams 1-0 in East Group C, with the Wizards two points ahead on point differential.

Boston led by as many as 32 and won by 14. That’s a heck of a way to start the Cup, but those 18 points that disappeared along the way could come back to haunt them.

2. Paul George was meant to be a Celtic

I keep trying to find a less obvious way to say this, but Paul George looks like he was meant to be a Celtic.

His connection with Tatum looks instant and incredible. Whether Tatum or George starts the action, they seem to know how to turn it into a good look for the other. George can run the offense himself, but he’s just as happy to make the extra pass, cut behind a defender or do the work that makes somebody else’s life easier. You know, Celtic stuff.

George got his hands on everything and finished with 18 points, six rebounds, eight assists and three steals. That stat line still doesn’t capture how often he seemed to be in the right place. He had a great steal and dunk in the first quarter, and spent the rest of the night making the Bulls think twice about where they pass the ball.

He’s been the biggest pleasant surprise of Boston’s start. I didn’t expect his fit to look this natural this quickly, but I’m thrilled to have been wrong.

3. Tatum is playing like an MVP, and his three is still catching up

Tatum finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He shot 9-for-20 overall and 2-for-7 from three.

His vision was every bit as impressive as his scoring. He kept finding teammates on cuts, drawing defenders toward him before slipping passes into openings that barely seemed to exist. His three-point shot is still finding its rhythm (only shooting 25% from three on the season), but he’s already getting downhill with ease, and the way he’s seeing the floor makes him that much harder to defend.

One of my favorite Tatum moments came after Mitchell Robinson made a free throw. Tatum went over to give him a fist bump, looking every bit as pleased with Mitch’s one point as he did with any of his own 26. You love to see it.

4. The Celtics made room for something bigger than basketball

More than 100 Boston Children’s Hospital patients and their families were at the game versus the Bulls. The day before, the Celtics announced a gift of more than $200 million to the hospital, the largest in its history. Patients lined the court during the national anthem, and the team wore special shooting shirts signed by four former patients who had visited practice the day before.

A young fan held up a sign that read, “Boston’s children saved my life.” I don’t know that fan’s story, and the sign can’t tell it. But seeing that sign during the broadcast stuck with me long after it disappeared from the screen.

I spent much of the night watching Boston dominate, calculating Cup math and getting frustrated as the Bulls chipped away at the lead. But that sign was a good reminder to keep some perspective. I’m lucky to spend my evenings watching the Celtics play basketball and writing about something I love, and even luckier for all the things in life that make those evenings possible. Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of that.

5. Mitch hasn’t looked like the Knicks version yet

If Paul George has been the biggest pleasant surprise of Boston’s start, Mitchell Robinson might be the biggest disappointment. He opened the third quarter with a block and went 4-for-4 from the field, finishing with 11 points. But he had just four rebounds in 19 minutes, and he still looks slower than the Robinson who made life miserable for opponents in New York.

Queta played 20 minutes and finished with 13 points, six rebounds, a steal and a block. The Celtics were plus-16 with him on the floor and minus-3 with Robinson. That’s one game’s plus-minus, not a final ruling, but it matched what I saw: Queta brought more pace and seemed more in sync with the rest of the group.

Robinson has the size Boston will inevitably need at points throughout the season. So far, though, he hasn’t looked comfortable in this version of the Celtics. Maybe that changes with time. For now, Queta looks like the center who better fits the team’s rhythm.

6. Pritchard put Norman Powell on skates

Payton Pritchard, jazz pianist. Norman Powell, reluctant dance partner. No analysis needed, simply enjoy the soulful improvisation of Smooth PP.

7. Hugo got the first young-wing look, but Baylor still has Joe’s trust

Hugo González checked in before Baylor Scheierman against Chicago, which caught my attention after Baylor had gotten the nod in Boston’s earlier games. Maybe Joe wanted Hugo’s defensive energy in that first shift, or maybe he’s still figuring out what he has in his young wings. Either way, it was interesting to see Hugo get the call first.

Baylor wasn’t exactly banished to the bench, though. He played 23 minutes and finished with two points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal. Hugo went scoreless in 15 minutes, adding two rebounds and a steal. Neither lit up the box score, but they can help Boston in different ways. Hugo brings a little chaos defensively, while Baylor has a knack for moving the ball and finding ways to contribute without needing shots.

I wouldn’t read too much into one game’s substitution pattern, especially with Joe Mazzulla involved. But it’ll be interesting to see whether Hugo keeps getting that first opportunity or whether the two continue trading places as Joe tinkers with his rotation.

8. Hauser is the kitchen knife you always reach for

Sam Hauser is the knife you grab because you know it works. There might be a newer one in the drawer, maybe with a nicer handle, but when you need to cut something, you reach for Hauser.

He made two threes and finished with six points against Chicago. Neither basket required much fuss. Hauser knows exactly what he’s there to do, and he’s been doing it long enough that the Celtics know what to expect when they put him on the floor.

With Tatum and George drawing so much defensive attention, there’s always going to be a need for someone who can stand in the corner and punish a defense for forgetting about him. Hauser has made a career out of being that guy.

He might not be the flashiest thing in Boston’s kitchen, but there’s a reason Joe keeps reaching for him.

9. The parquet is probably cold and alone in the bowels of TD Garden, and that’s not okay

I kept expecting the Celtics to be in white. They were at home, after all. Instead, Boston was in black, Chicago was in white, and the parquet I associate with the Garden was nowhere to be seen. More than once in the first quarter, I had to remind myself which team I was watching.

I know the Celtics have worn plenty of colors besides white, but this still threw me. The uniforms and the Cup court scrambled my internal compass before I’d even had time to settle in.

Those parquet squares are probably somewhere in the bowels of the Garden right now, cold and scared and wondering what they did wrong. Is that what you want, Adam Silver?

10. The Celtics won while getting crushed on the glass

Chicago grabbed 51 rebounds to Boston’s 41, including 20 offensive rebounds. That is a lot of second chances to hand a team, especially one that was already chipping away at a 32-point lead.

Boston made up ground elsewhere. The Celtics scored 58 points in the paint to Chicago’s 40, had 10 steals to the Bulls’ seven and scored 21 points off turnovers. They shot 51.2 percent from the field; Chicago shot 38 percent.

The win was comfortable by the final score, but the rebounding was anything but. Joe has a pretty clear place to start when he gets to the film.

For all the talk about whether the Celtics would take the NBA Cup seriously, their first 24 minutes offered a pretty convincing answer. There’s plenty to clean up, and those 18 points they let slip away could matter down the road, but Boston has its first Cup win in the books. Now please, someone go check on the parquet and give it a space blanket and a warm glass of milk.

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57 years later, the Brewers are champions

MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 13: Hall of Famer Robin Yount shakes hands with Ryan Braun after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch Game One of the National League Championship Series presented by loanDepot between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Monday, October 13, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images

In 1969, Major League Baseball expanded from 20 to 24 teams, adding franchises in Montreal, San Diego, Kansas City, and Seattle. The Seattle Pilots went 64-98 that year and finished last in the American League West. They were also poorly run by a man, Dewey Soriano, who barely had the cash to purchase the team in the first place. They played in a poorly maintained stadium and struggled at the gate. After just a year, the plug was pulled, and Soriano got in touch with a car salesman in Milwaukee. His name was Allan H. “Bud” Selig.

The Milwaukee Brewers played their first season in 1970 and went 65-97. The team’s star was its 29-year-old third baseman, Tommy Harper. A year earlier, he’d stolen 73 bases for the Pilots, a mark that still stands as a franchise record. In 1970, he hit .296 with 31 homers, 35 doubles, and 38 steals. 56 years later, it’s probably the best season ever by a Brewer third baseman. He became the first Brewer ever to make it to an MVP ballot.

A few days into the 1971 season, Milwaukee traded for a slugger named John Briggs, who was the team’s most reliable source of offense over the next four-and-a-half years. Also that season, a journeyman reliever named Ken Sanders operated as the team’s relief ace for the second straight season, and led the majors in appearances and saves.

After the season, the team made a trade that brought back the first real star of the franchise. George Scott was a good player in Boston; by the end of the 1971 season, he’d already won three Gold Gloves and had received MVP votes twice. But Boston jumped at a package headlined by Harper, and “Boomer” became the new Milwaukee first baseman. From 1972-76, Scott played virtually every game the Brewers played; he won five straight Gold Gloves, and he finished as high as eighth in MVP voting when, in 1975, he led the AL in homers, RBI, and total bases.

In 1973, the Brewers acquired a new guy at the hot corner. Don Money had been dreadful at the plate in 1971 and 1972, and the Phillies packaged him in a deal that got them, among others, Sanders. In 1976 he became the franchise’s first multi-time All-Star, and when he retired after his 11-year run with the Brewers, he’d made four All-Star games and compiled almost 1,200 hits.

During the 1974 season, a new player joined Money and Scott in the infield, an impossibly young shortstop from Southern California. He was a little aloof and didn’t always seem to like playing baseball. He was talented, but it would take a while for the kid to figure out how to channel those talents. His name was Robin Yount. For a little while, he’d get to play with another Milwaukee baseball legend when Henry Aaron returned to the city and hit his 755th and final home run in 1976 as a member of the Brewers.

A couple of years later, another talented infielder debuted alongside Yount, a hitting savant and ultra-speedster who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1978. Paul Molitor ended up playing in Milwaukee for 15 years in a career that ended with well over 3,000 hits and a ticket to Cooperstown.

The same year that Molitor debuted, the Brewers, for the first time, won more games than they lost. It was the 10th year of the franchise.

That young team kept acquiring talent. In 1976, in an echo of the trade they’d made years earlier, Scott was sent back to Boston for another young first baseman. Cecil Cooper spent the next 11 years in Milwaukee, won a couple of Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, had three top-five MVP finishes, and hit almost 350 doubles and over 200 homers as a Brewer. Sal Bando, a veteran of the dynastic Oakland Athletics of the early 1970s, joined up in 1977 as the franchise’s first major free agent splash. A gruff center fielder named Gorman Thomas was nearly given away but miraculously reacquired just before his breakout. A young Puerto Rican outfielder named Sixto Lezcano had a three-year run that stands with just about any such stretch in team history. A year after leading the AL in RBI with the Twins, Larry Hisle had one last hurrah as a Brewer in 1978, when he finished third in MVP voting. That same year, the Brewers traded for Ben Oglivie, a scrawny outfielder with surprising pop.

The 1979 Brewers won 95 games, but something was missing, and in 1980 the team took a step back. After the season, the Brewers were involved in one of the most momentous trades in team history: they sent Lezcano and others to the Cardinals and acquired a mustachioed reliever named Rollie Fingers, a star catcher named Ted Simmons, and a blue-collar righty (and future movie star), Pete Vuckovich. In the next two seasons, two of them would win Cy Youngs, and though it took some time, two of them would end up in the Hall of Fame.

In the strike-shortened 1981 season, the Brewers broke into the postseason for the first time on the back of a historic relief season for Fingers, who won not just the Cy Young but the MVP. They took the Yankees to a decisive Game 5, but couldn’t get past Reggie Jackson and the Bronx Bombers.

Then, 1982. The Brewers had one of the great offenses in the history of baseball. Yount, the guy who took some time to figure things out in the ’70s, ascended and had one of the best seasons ever by a shortstop. He received 27 of 28 MVP votes. Four players hit at least 29 home runs. The team won its first playoff series when, in the bottom of the seventh inning of the decisive Game 5 of the ALCS, Cooper knocked in Charlie Moore and Fond du Lac native Jim Ganter to flip a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead. Milwaukee won the pennant.

In the World Series, they faced the Cardinals, the same team they’d gotten Fingers, Simmons, and Vuckovich from a little over a year earlier. They took a 3-2 lead to St. Louis, but it wasn’t meant to be.

It would be 44 years before the Brewers made it back.

Fans watched Yount and Molitor build Hall-of-Fame careers. They watched Juan Nieves throw a no-hitter. They watched Rob Deer and Dale Sveum hit dramatic home runs. They watched an exciting young team of upstarts win 92 games in 1992, led by rookies Pat Listach and Cal Eldred.

They watched in sadness when Molitor left as a free agent after that season, feeling undervalued, and then had to watch him win World Series MVP with a different team. They watched with elation as Yount, still with the Brewers 20 years after his debut, hit a soft liner into right field for his 3,000th hit.

There were lean years. 12 straight losing seasons, when fans were left to find silver linings with players like Greg Vaughn, Jeff Cirillo, John Jaha, Dave Nilsson, Fernando Viña, Jeromy Burnitz, Geoff Jenkins, Carlos Lee, and Richie Sexson — the totemic players of my youth. Fans were left to pin their hopes on guys like Marc Newfield, Jeff D’Amico, and José Capellan. The Brewers were represented at the All-Star Game by Ricky Bones, Kevin Seitzer, Bob Wickman, José Hernández, and Dan Kolb. Fans found amusement in quirky relievers like Mike Fetters and Derrick Turnbow, and in rare individual triumphs like Chad Moeller’s cycle. The team switched leagues and built a new stadium.

Finally, in the new millennium, reasons for optimism became more frequent. An affable kid from Mississippi, fresh off a triumph in the Olympics, made the All-Star Game as a 22-year-old rookie. Three years later, Ben Sheets had what was the best season anyone had ever seen from a Brewer starting pitcher.

A new scouting director, Jack Zduriencik, was having success behind the scenes. He snagged a tall, under-the-radar outfielder in 2000. The next year, his second-round selection was used on a handsome shortstop. In 2002, Zduriencik used his first pick on the burly son of a two-time MVP runner-up. A year later, he used the No. 2 overall pick on a dynamic infielder with an impossibly quick bat. Two years later, the first-round selection was a smooth Florida kid who seemed to make good contact on everything.

By 2005, the results were starting to show on the field. For the first time since 1992, the Brewers didn’t have a losing record. Two years later, they won more games than they lost for the first time in 14 years. In 2008, the team — built around the aforementioned draft picks Corey Hart, J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, and Ryan Braun, respectively — found itself with an opportunity to reach the postseason for the first time in a generation. To shore up their chances, they made a bold move at the trade deadline for a reigning Cy Young winner. In just a few months with the team, CC Sabathia etched his name into Brewers lore and led the team back to the playoffs, with an assist from a Braun home run that made this writer kick a full cup of soda across my college house’s living room.

Three years later, after the addition of another former Cy Young winner, Zack Greinke, that core (with Hardy swapped out for team legend Yuniesky Betancourt) coalesced into a potent, dangerous team. Braun won the MVP. Fielder finished third. Milwaukee won its division, and a postseason series, for the first time since 1982. The eccentric Nyjer Morgan and his alter-ego, Tony Plush, gave a new generation of Brewers fans a core postseason memory.

But those same Cardinals who’d dashed Milwaukee’s hopes in 1982 stood in the way again, and the 2011 team’s run ended in the NLCS.

The next few years weren’t easy. The Greinke trade didn’t really work out. Braun fell from grace. Fielder left as a free agent. And while there were bright moments, competent teams, and outstanding individual performances by players like Carlos Gómez, Jonathan Lucroy, and even Jonathan Villar, the franchise needed another jolt to get itself to the next step in its journey.

The jolt came on January 25, 2018, a day I remember well. First, the Brewers sent four prospects to Miami for a 26-year-old outfielder who’d had a solid four-year run with the Marlins as a slick-fielding doubles hitter who could steal bases and pop a few homers. Later that same day, they handed the largest free-agent contract in team history to one of the players they’d sent out for Greinke years earlier. With Lorenzo Cain playing league-best-level defense in center field and Christian Yelich ascending to best-player-in-the-league status, the 2018 Brewers won 96 games, a team record, and made it all the way to Game 7 of the NLCS.

But, in an ending that would repeat itself multiple times over the next decade, the Brewers could not get past the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. Over the next seven years, the Brewers played excellent baseball. Led by players who’ve already moved on like Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Josh Hader, Willy Adames, and Devin Williams, Milwaukee became a regular-season machine, with five division titles and seven postseason appearances in eight years from 2018-2025. It was a sustained run of success that had never been seen in the history of the franchise, but they just couldn’t seem to get over the hump in the postseason. A bad bounce. A tough catch. A bad inning from a star closer. The greatest player of all time. Something always stood in their way.

In 2026, things changed. The Brewers didn’t just beat their old wins record; they demolished it, with six more wins (103) than their previous record, set just a year earlier. The man who started it all became captain. A lanky young pitcher created a new understanding of what it meant to be a flamethrower. A slick-fielding second baseman became one of the best all-around players in the league. A pitbull of a catcher led on the field and flipped a switch when he needed to. A journeyman former top prospect found his zen. A whole group of young position players, led by the winning smile of a 22-year-old Venezuelan superstar, took the Brewers to heights the franchise had not previously seen.

Now, names like Jackson Chourio, Jacob Misiorowski, and William Contreras, Jake Bauers and Cooper Pratt and Aaron Ashby, Brice Turang and Trevor Megill and Robert Gasser and everyone else have etched their names into the history of this franchise in the same way that guys like George Scott, Jim Gantner, Cecil Cooper, Jim Slaton, and Geoff Jenkins did before them. Yes, this team did something that no Brewers team has ever done, and for that they’ll be remembered forever. But this journey was 57 years in the making, years of joy and heartbreak, of angst and elation.

It’s a fun exercise to ask a die-hard Brewers fan who their favorite player was when they were a kid. Yes, you’ll get a lot of Robin Younts, a lot of Ryan Brauns. But you’ll also get Yovani Gallardo, or John Axford, or Ellie Rodriguez, or Davey May, or Casey McGehee, or Brady Clark. They’re all part of the same fabric, part of what makes this game, and fandom in general, beautiful.

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Phillies news: Peter Fatse, Teruaki Sato, Brewers

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 16: Hitting Coach Peter Fatse #62 of the Boston Red Sox carries a speaker during a spring training workout at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 16, 2026 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Today is Halloween and you wonder if the Phillies have been playing a trick on us all. Maybe they have allowed the Dodgers to go on their dynastic run, the Brewers to ascend to the top of the mountain all as a trick on us to pretend like there are issues preventing them from winning a World Series.

Yeah, I’ll go with that.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

MLB news:

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South Africa beat Australia by 176 runs to win series: third Test, day five – as it happened

Australia’s batters crumbled as Simon Harmer took six for 16 to seal a series victory for South Africa at Newlands

3rd over: Australia 14-2 (Head 9, Green 1) Brave of Green to leave the ball outside off. Similar spot to the one that got Marnus, a touch fuller perhaps. He gets moving from the fifth ball, knocks a single into the off side.

2nd over: Australia 13-2 (Head 9, Green 0) Well, I said that Australia needed Head to take a bite out of the chase first, but wasn’t anticipating that he would lose two partners in the first over. He decides to do his part anyway. Defends three balls from Jansen, then lets loose as he sees width. Misses his first flail, connects cleanly with his second one along the ground, and connects dirty with his third, in the air through the cordon but safe. Two boundaries, but if I were South Africa, I’d happily feed that shot a few times looking for the mistake.

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Australia 66-6 Cook Islands: men’s Rugby League World Cup – as it happened

  • Kangaroos shake off a slow start to defeat Cook Islands in Townsville

  • Australia cruise into the semi-finals on top of Pool A

The Kangaroos will be wearing their familiar dark green uniform with gold accents. Plenty of green in the Cook Islands outfit as well, but it is the secondary colour to a majority white base.

Tonight’s referee is NRL veteran Ashley Klein.

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YouTube Gold: Irving, Flagg, Lead Mavs To Comeback Win Over Houston

HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 21: Cooper Flagg #32 and Kyrie Irving #11 of the Dallas Mavericks look on during the game on October 21, 2026 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

In Cooper Flagg’s rookie season, he was asked to do a lot, not least of all to fill in for future Hall of Famer and fellow Brotherhood member Kyrie Irving.

It took him a little while to settle in, but before long, he emerged as the team’s best player. Former coach Jason Kidd forced him to take on a lot, and that’s paying off now.

After Dallas trailed for most of the game, Flagg and Irving led Dallas to a 116-111 comeback win over the Houston Rockets Friday night.

Irving finished with 35 points, 4 rebounds, and 9 assists, while Flagg scored 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.

At 34, Irving is on the back end of his career, while Flagg, just 19, won’t even be able to legally drink until 2027.

But Dallas’s Dynamic Duo is building some real chemistry and it’s showing on the court. This is a very fun team to watch.

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Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game preview

HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 15: Tari Eason #17 of the Houston Rockets drives to the basket during the fourth quarter of the game against Jared McCain #3 of the Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center on October 15, 2026 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) | Getty Images

First off, Happy Halloween to those that observe. May your weekend be filled with the treats you desire.

Unfortunately for the Houston Rockets, they received a trick in their basket. The Rockets are on a back-to-back while the Oklahoma City Thunder haven’t played since Wednesday.

So this is a matchup between one team with rest against a team without any rest, and both teams are dealing with several injuries (though granted OKC’s situation is more of a longer-term thing).

Give me the Thunder in a game that the media will use to show that “the Thunder are still dangerous” and ignore Houston’s injury and schedule circumstances.

Tip-off

7:30pm CT

How To Watch

Space City Home Network and NBA TV

Injury Report

Rockets

Alperen Sengun: GTD

Steven Adams: OUT

Marcus Smart: GTD

Reed Sheppard: GTD

Fred VanVleet: GTD (b2b)

Thunder

Chet Holmgren: OUT

Jalen Williams: OUT

Cason Wallace: OUT

Nikola Topic: OUT

Thomas Sorber: OUT

Alex Caruso: OUT

The Line (as of this post)

N/A

Check here for updates

Schedule Advantage Counter

Rockets: 0

Opponents: 2

Looking ahead because we can

Monday night at home against the Boston Celtics

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LeBron James is happy to be a Sixer — and they’re sure happy to have him

Oct 30, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward LeBron James (23) looks on during the second quarter against the New York Knicks at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

LeBron James is 41 years old. He’s in his 24th NBA season. He’s also a Philadelphia 76er.

These are facts that feel worth being reminded about on occasion.

James was spectacular Friday night, guiding the Sixers to a 98-95 win over the defending champion New York Knicks at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

“I thought he was really good all the way through tonight,” head coach Nick Nurse said of James. “I thought that he got some downhill stuff, used his size and knocked ’em around a little bit for some layups. I thought he obviously kind of pushed and organized. I thought he was a little quicker to make some decisions to shoot the three ball as well, and then obviously make a couple big plays down the stretch.

“That’s really the best game, just kind of all around. I mean, he’s been good, but that was his best game for sure.”

It was James’ finest performance of the young season. He scored 20 points — his first 20-plus-point game as a Sixer — and recorded nine rebounds and eight assists. He also chipped in a steal and a block as the team’s defense continues to be its strong suit.

With Jaylen Brown out because of left knee tendinopathy, the Sixers were going to need more offense from somewhere. While James had often been deferential over the course of his first four games of the season, he was aggressive in looking for his own shot Friday. He continually got downhill, playing bully ball on several possessions against the Knicks’ wing defenders.

His knack for figuring out what his team needs and providing it is uncanny.

“I’m just trying to get more and more comfortable with what we’re running offensively,” James said, “and I think every game and every week that I’m here, my body will continue to ramp up and ramp up, getting better and better, so that played a part.”

Since we’ve seen it for 24 years, LeBron’s greatness is sort of taken for granted at times, but there are plays and moments that remind you why he’s arguably the greatest player of all time.

His physical prowess is still impressive, with his ability to big-boy guys like OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. His passing vision remains elite, like on the play he found Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the opposite corner with an absolute frozen rope, hitting KCP in the shooting pocket.

And when the game was on the line, his composure and awareness were evident as he nailed a fadeaway to take back the lead late and put back a Tyrese Maxey miss to help seal the win.

“Well, I guess the best teacher in life is experience, and I’ve been in really big games,” James said. “So, for me to be able to be a calming factor for our team late game, it’s just the experience that I have.

“If it’s me with the ball, without the ball, being able to put guys in the right position, just trying to talk them through if the other team make a run, come to the sideline, ‘We’re good. Let’s move on to the next play, and let’s figure out how we can be better for this play and the rest of the game.’”

The Sixers are 5-1. They’ve beaten the reigning champs twice already and have been finding ways to win close games.

Are you having fun yet, Philly?

LeBron James sure is.

“I’m having a great time,” he said. “I love what we’re bringing to the table every night. I love our competitive spirit. Guys show up to work. Guys are ready to work hard, and it’s a fun group too. I think I’ve said it before, I’m like a big ass kid, to be completely honest. But these guys are great to be around, and I’m more than happy that I made the decision to come.”

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Joe Mazzulla challenged Payton Pritchard, and he delivered: ‘The sky’s the limit’

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 30: Payton Pritchard #11 of the Boston Celtics celebrates during the game against the Chicago Bulls during the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup on October 30, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

BOSTON — It took only five minutes for Payton Pritchard to find his rhythm. He needed the next five to answer head coach Joe Mazzulla’s call Friday night against the Bulls to begin Boston’s NBA Cup run.

Pritchard grabbed an offensive rebound by successfully boxing out 6-foot-9 Matas Buzelis before finishing the putback in the second quarter. On the next possession, he knocked down his third 3-pointer of the night, prompting Chicago to call a timeout. Mazzulla was waiting for him on the sideline, greeting Pritchard with a huge hug.

“Joe challenged me,” Pritchard said after Boston’s 125-111 NBA Cup win. “I feel like in the first four games my defensive activity and my rebounding have been poor. Obviously, that’s coming in and out, fluctuating minutes. So challenging me to step up in that area, and I think the hug was for me doing that and him being thankful I’m doing it.”

Mazzulla wanted the scrappy, menacing version of Pritchard to appear on both sides of the floor. He wanted the guard who gives opposing teams headaches offensively and defensively by going the extra mile. In return, Pritchard tapped into his 8-Mile persona.

With legendary rapper 50 Cent seated courtside next to the Tatum family, Pritchard unleashed his inner P-Rabbit against the Bulls, and Mazzulla’s excitement was shared by the rest of the team.

Paul George, Hugo González and Mike Conley were among those who rushed toward Pritchard before Mazzulla could get to him. For the second time this week, Pritchard turned Chicago’s defense into his own personal playground. Only this time, his impact extended well beyond scoring, as he made his presence felt in multiple areas of the floor.

Pritchard is in his seventh season with the Celtics and has already been a vital part of a championship team. He’s brought home a Sixth Man of the Year Award and recently signed a two-year, $44.2 million contract extension before the start of the season. But in Mazzulla’s eyes, there is still plenty of untapped potential within the undersized 6-foot-1 guard.

“I think Payton’s a guy that gets better every year, and I think the sky’s the limit for him,” Mazzulla said. “I think he hasn’t completely tapped into the player that he can become, and that’s just being complete on both ends of the floor and not being defined by one thing. In tonight’s game, you saw the absolute best version of him.”

Usually, Pritchard is perceived as an outside shooting threat — which he is. But to Mazzulla’s point, Friday night was a prime example of what else Pritchard can offer.

Offense is where Pritchard warmed up. He fed Neemias Queta for short-distance floaters, drew contact from Leonard Miller to convert an and-one opportunity, and kept the scoring fluid. On the other side, he recorded two steals and three rebounds, twice forcing the Bulls to take timeouts after crowd-erupting plays.

Pritchard’s versatility is nothing new. He’s proven capable of impacting winning as both a starter and a reserve, finding different ways to contribute regardless of his role. But when playing alongside stars like Jayson Tatum and George, and defensive standouts like Derrick White and González, some of those abilities tend to get overlooked. Other times, Pritchard’s opportunities to showcase his ability to disrupt opposing offenses are limited.

However, that wasn’t the case for the second of two against the Bulls.

Chicago had 99 problems, and Pritchard was the biggest one. He finished with a game-high 30 points on 9-of-17 shooting, and went a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.

Boston’s brand new bright green, gray, and gold NBA Cup court quickly became Pritchard’s stage. He understood the task Mazzulla bestowed upon him and viewed it as a “privilege” more than anything else.

“Pressure is a privilege,” Pritchard explained. “I’m gonna go through ups and downs, but it’s gonna make me better. And I’m gonna figure out how to be a complete player. I’ll catch my stride in all those areas and just get better and better.

Pritchard added: “I appreciate Joe testing me and challenging me to be better because the team needs me to be better, and that’s what I want. So it’s a good thing.”

With a great degree of responsibility Pritchard is poised to shoulder this season, those opportunities won’t be limited to Boston’s NBA Cup opener. It’s still early in the team’s 2026-27 season, meaning the coaching staff is still figuring out the cast and how to best maximize the group.

“As we continue to grow as a team and he continues to grow as a player, being a complete player on both ends of the floor really helps us take it to a different level,” Mazzulla said. “He’s got more in the tank. He’s a kid that can continue to get better and better. I like pushing him, I like coaching him, and I love him like a brother.”

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Another Chet Holmgren Setback Adds to Oklahoma City’s Growing Inactive List

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - OCTOBER 22: Chet Holmgren #7 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during pregame against the Denver Nuggets at Paycom Center on October 22, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images) | Getty Images

24-year-old Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren’s growing injury history in his young NBA career is catching up to him. If you recollect, the Gonzaga Bulldog sat out his entire true rookie campaign in 2022-23 with a Lisfranc ligament tear in his right foot suffered during a Seattle CrawsOver Pro-Am game in August of 2022, while guarding then Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James on a fast break.

Now three games into his 2026-27 season, Holmgren is expected to be out 8-to-10 weeks after undergoing a biological treatment to address a small patellar tendon tear.

The 7-1, now 215-pound slenderman put on two pounds during these past summer months. While that may not seem like much to the basic eye, that was a somewhat substantial growth for a player of his stature.

It’s extremely difficult for an athlete like Holmgren to put on any visible weight or muscle mass, a talking point that has been following the former five-star recruit since his high school/AAU days with Minnehaha Academy and Team Sizzle on the Under Armour circuit in the state of Minnesota. The same basketball programs that his fellow Zag brother, Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs, was a part of.

After getting drafted with the 2nd overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by general manager Sam Presti, Holmgren has still found an enermous amount of success despite all the health setbacks that will undoubetly follow him for the rest of his career. The 2021-22 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year has added to his resume a 2025 NBA title and 2026 NBA All-Star appearance most recently. Before that championship run in November of 2024, Holmgren was out for three months with a right iliac wing (pelvis) fracture.

Unfortunately, it’s not just him who has been hit with the injury bug within the Oklahoma City organization at this early point of the NBA calendar year. In the first two weeks alone, two additional starters have gone down for the Thunder.

Guard Jalen Williams – fractured left fibula/dislocated ankle
Guard Cason Wallace – torn labrum in his left shoulder

Williams, a lottery pick at No. 12 in the same 2022 NBA Draft from the Santa Clara Broncos, had the most severe of it all. Much too gruesome of an unfortunate live-action fall to share, the absolute worst that can came out of the game of basketball.

Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho

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Warriors' Yaxel Lendeborg gets rookie lessons in best possible way vs. Lakers

Warriors' Yaxel Lendeborg gets rookie lessons in best possible way vs. Lakers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – The lessons came in waves Friday night, and it behooves Yaxel Lendeborg to study them religiously and stash them in a corner of his mind.

The Warriors’ 112-95 rout over the Lakers gave the Warriors a 1-0 record in Emirates NBA Cup Group Play, gave the sellout crowd (18,064) at Chase Center good reason to celebrate and gave Lendeborg a reminder that an ugly personal game can end beautifully for his team.

“Them boys had my back today,” Lendeborg said.

“Them boys” were led by Stephen Curry, who poured in a team-high 31 points, Brandin Podziemski (21 points) and a bench that accumulated 50 points, 25 rebounds, five steals, two blocks and only four turnovers.

That is why, on a night when Lendeborg and his teammates were quickly torched by his first NBA nemesis, Los Angeles star Luka Dončić – whose 21-point first quarter left Golden State facing a 23-point deficit – the Warriors still walked off the floor as winners.

“They all played a great game,” Lendeborg said. “I feel like I was only Debbie Downer on the team. So, I feel like next time when I get into one of these games like this, just try my best to not be that guy like sucking up all the energy.”

This was no ordinary comeback. The Warriors outscored the Lakers by 40 (97-57) over the final three quarters – completing their biggest rally since wiping a 26-point deficit on March 1, 2015, at Boston.

All while Lendeborg looked more like a rookie than he has at any time this season. He was by turns too aggressive or too passive. His ball-handling left him vulnerable, his defense was curious, his offense barely there. He committed three turnovers in the first nine minutes and finished with a team-high five giveaways.

Lendeborg grabbed one rebound in 24 minutes, recorded zero assists and was outscored 37-6 by Dončić. When Yaxel fouled out with 2:45 remaining, after playing 24 minutes, he had grabbed one rebound and recorded zero assists.

“This is the rookie experience,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Seven turnovers the other night in Minneapolis . . . but he had a bunch of scoring opportunities the other night that he took advantage of despite the turnovers. He also had 26 points.

“And tonight the game just didn’t flow for him. It didn’t go his way.”

Yet the Warriors found a way to win their third consecutive game. Lendeborg expressed great relief at the victory and a measure of serenity in knowing this is possible when he falls far short of the standard he has already set for himself.

Asked to identify lessons he can take away from the least productive performance of his first six NBA games, Lendeborg paused for a moment.

“I don’t even know,” he said. “Like, try not to wet the bed as bad as I did.

“Or when you’re having moments like that, try to lean in on your team a little more.”

There were other lessons, too.

Lendeborg absorbed the Luka lesson. Humility is part of the package, and it can apply to any confrontation against an established star.

Lendeborg experienced the resilience lesson. This game was trending toward defeat, and he watched his teammates scrap their way to a 17-point triumph.

“Have your brother’s back, but it’s also his role in it,” Curry said. “We got to win the game, and what that means is just keep making Luka’s life as hard as possible. He’s the leading scorer in the league right now. The way he started that first quarter was ridiculous, and it was going to require everybody to be a little bit more physical, a little bit more connected, and kind of withstand some of his flurries that he had. So, of course, that’s backing Yaxel up, and that’s the collective energy of we need to win this game.”

Another lesson that was placed on Lendeborg’s blackboard is that he can foul out in 24 minutes if he’s unable to get a grip on his game or is too wound up for an individual matchup.

The goal for Lendeborg now is to apply those lessons in upcoming games. They’re going to keep coming, and how he navigates them will determine the speed of his development. He’s well ahead of the general curve, but the learning never ends.

“It’s all about the theme of him learning,” Curry said. “Trial by fire, going through the ups and downs in front of everybody. It’s a tough demand, but I think he’s built for it. And I’m pretty sure he’ll respond extremely well next game.”

Be careful betting against it.

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James plays best game yet as Sixer, provides ‘calming presence' and clutch plays

James plays best game yet as Sixer, provides ‘calming presence' and clutch plays originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers didn’t need their 22-time All-Star to do it all Friday night.

Still, they needed him to be what everyone pictures when they hear LeBron James — no caveats about being almost 42 years old, saving his best for bigger games or memories of what he was once.

James provided exactly that, tallying 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the 5-1 Sixers’ NBA Cup win over the Knicks at Xfinity Mobile Arena. He did much more than a little bit of everything.

“Best game all around,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said of James. “He’s been good, but that was his best game for sure.” 

There have always been elements of James’ greatness that would stick out to someone who didn’t know the rules of basketball. He’s a physical force who muscles through defenses, fires astounding passes and lofts in elegant fadeaway jumpers. James’ clutch plays Friday included a late mid-range bucket over OG Anunoby and a game-icing put-back layup with 11.9 seconds left off of Tyrese Maxey’s miss. 

His game has always had a subtle side, too. 

“Leadership,” Maxey said after his 27-point outing. “Calming presence. He helped get a lot of rebounds. He’d help get the ball and calm it down. 

“He was great. At the end of the day, it’s LeBron James. At the end of the day, he can do stuff like he did tonight, getting a couple of big buckets.” 

Maxey handled his postgame media duties in the Sixers’ locker room before James. The All-NBA guard was ready to go but realized he didn’t have a shirt, so James tossed him one. Though perhaps a bit baggy, it got the job done. 

James has enjoyed his early days as Maxey’s teammates following years of summer workouts and mentorship. 

“He has never been late for a workout,” James said. “This is Tyrese’s seventh year with the Sixers? We’ve worked out for six straight summers and he’s never been late. And he actually tried to beat me to a couple workouts, and he was successful. Then I started showing up a lot earlier and he was like, ‘OK, you’ve got it from there.’ But that’s when I knew he was going to be great.”

As the NBA’s all-time minutes leader, James has seen just about every scenario the Sixers might face this season.

He hasn’t been hesitant to share what he knows down the stretch of tight games. 

“I guess the best teacher in life is experience,” he said. “I’ve been in really big games. If you’ve covered this sport, I think I’ve done some of (the most) huge games this sport has every seen. For me to able to be a calming factor for our team late in the game, it’s just the experience that I have.

“If it’s me with the ball, me without the ball, being able to just put guys in the right positions, talking through it. If the other team makes a run, coming to the sideline: ‘You good? Let’s move on to the next play. Let’s figure out how we can be better for this play and the rest of the game.’ It’s something that I’ll continue to pour into the team.”

Some of those steadying words were vital for the Sixers on Friday. 

They squandered a lead as high as 14 points. Knicks star Jalen Brunson nudged his way into the late-game limelight, as he so often does. The Sixers’ offense stalled for stretches of the second half and the Knicks beat them to crucial offensive rebounds. The game seemed like it might be slipping away.

James and the Sixers rescued it. 

“He gives us tremendous leadership,” Nurse said. “He really helps with the organization on the floor. I think great players make those around them better, and I think he does that. And it’s in a lot of ways. It’s talking, it’s passing, it’s organization, it’s confidence.”

There’s a long, long way to go — James knows that as well as anyone — but the Sixers are tied for the Eastern Conference’s best record and he remains quite pleased with his free-agency choice. 

“I’m having a great time,” James said. “I love what we’re bringing to the table every night. I love our competitive spirit. Guys show up to work, guys are ready to work hard. 

“And it’s a fun group, too. … These guys are great to be around and I’m more than happy that I made the decision to come here.”

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Yankees news: Are Sato, Taira in play?

TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 22: Austin Wells #28 and Cody Bellinger #35 of the New York Yankees pose for a photo during spring training at Himes Complex on February 22, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: ($) With the Yankees needing an upgrade at third base and the picking potentially slim, some have linked them to Teruaki Sato. The 27-year-old won the Triple Crown in Japan’s Central League last year and would provide a clear offensive upgrade. Kirschner throws cold water on the notion, noting that, like Munetaka Murakami, Sato’s defensive limitations could make him a better fit at first base. In a mailbag format, Kirschner also advocates for the Yankees cutting ties with Giancarlo Stanton and seeking competition for Spencer Jones in center.

New York Post | Dan Martin: Another Japanese star, Kaima Taira, is set to be posted by the NPB’s Seibu Lions. The 5-foot-8 right-hander, who led his league with a 1.36 ERA as a starter last season, may project better as a reliever in the MLB. The Yankees have scouted Taira in the past and could make a play for his services. Any player looking to make the leap from Japan would need to factor in the impending lockout, which would necessitate their signing with a team by December 1st unless they are willing to wait until the labor dispute runs its course. (This happened to Seiya Suzuki during the last lockout.)

MLPBA: The MLB Players Association announced the recipients of its Players Choice Awards Wednesday. Former Yankees pitching great David Cone received the Curt Flood Award, an honor which commemorates its namesake’s principled stand against the reserve clause which ended his playing career but helped bring about free agency. Cone, a longtime labor advocate who met Flood and served as American League player representative during the 1994-95 strike, called the award “the greatest honor of my baseball life.” Cam Schlittler was also honored with the AL Outstanding Pitcher, presaging his likely selection for the AL Cy Young.

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Warriors vs. Lakers player grades: Steph Curry leads a thunderous comeback

Steph Curry in front of the crowd, holding his arms out in celebration.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 30: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts after the Warriors made a basket against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at Chase Center on October 30, 2026 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Well, well, well. That was about as entertaining of a game as you could ask for. On Friday night, the Golden State Warriors became the first team since the NBA started tracking play-by-play data nearly 30 years ago to trail by at least 25 points, only to win by 17 or more. Steph Curry and Luka Dončić, went head-to-head all night, we were spoiled with highlights, and the Dubs won their third straight, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 112-95 to exact some revenge from opening day.

I gotta say, it’s more fun to grade the team when they’re winning than when they’re losing! So let’s break out a little red pen, and have some fun doling out grades. As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for that player.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. Last year, league-average TS was 58.1%.

Gui Santos

16 minutes, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 25.0% TS, +9

Santos didn’t play on Wednesday and was questionable for this game with knee tendinitis. Ultimately, it wasn’t the best matchup for him, which is why the Warriors moved him out of the starting lineup in the second half. He still played fairly well, though, Steve Kerr just had to be conscious about what matchups to use Santos in.

Santos’ energy always is a big factor, but especially in games like this, where the Dubs had to overcome a big deficit, keep their effort level high, and get the arena into it.

Grade: B-

Yaxel Lendeborg

24 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 5 turnovers, 6 fouls, 2-for-3 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 77.3% TS, -20

I think we can very confidently say that this was the worst game of Lendeborg’s very short NBA career. He was a non-factor on offense, both scoring the ball and playmaking. He was surprisingly absent on the glass. His defense wasn’t as strong as usual. And he not only committed a bunch of turnovers, but also fouled out of the game while only being on the court for half of it.

Lendeborg has set the bar so high, that this was a disappointing performance, so here’s a reminder that this was just his sixth career game, and he was playing against a team that had already seen him once this year, and was prepared for him. He said that the lesson from the game was “try not to wet the bed as bad as I did,” and I felt confident saying that he won’t. My guess is he has a monster game on Sunday.

There were some highlights, though. He had a momentum-grabbing alley-oop in the second quarter. He showed some tremendous restraint by only having four shooting possessions on a night where offense wasn’t coming naturally to him. And, after the internet had begged for it, we got to hear E-40 say his name in legendary forty fashion.

It’s just one game, kid. Shake it off.

Grade: D
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in rebounds; worst plus/minus on the team.

Draymond Green

32 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 1-for-3 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 33.3% TS, +17

Green was very candid in camp about needing to take better care of the ball, and it’s something Kerr has touched on as well. Early in the season we’ve been able to see the vision of Dray having better ball security, but it hasn’t always actually played out.

It played out in this game. Green was masterful at taking care of the ball and at setting up his teammates. He really had no poor decisions that I can remember on offense, and he had some of his best passes of the year. There will be times where he scores a lot, but for now, his restraint on that end has been impressive: through five games, he’s attempted just 16 shots.

We sometimes take Draymond’s defense for granted, so let me just say this: it was a superb defensive performance. Just incredible stuff on that end of the court.

Grade: A-
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists.

Brandin Podziemski

33 minutes, 21 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 7-for-15 shooting, 4-for-9 threes, 3-for-5 free throws, 61.2% TS, +7

Easily Podziemski’s best game of the young season. Easily. He wasn’t good in the first quarter. He was great in the second quarter. And he was utterly exceptional in the second half.

Podz did it all in this game. He was nonstop movement, never missing an opportunity to get involved in a rebound, deflect a pass, cut, or run the court. His offense was not just good and creative, but unbelievably timely … he just always had a big shot up his sleeve, including a momentum-building three to tie the game going into halftime, and some huge shots late in the third quarter as the Dubs took the lead.

In addition to all of that, he was an absolute joy to watch. He’s so entertaining when his game is on, and it really does look like he’s taken a leap this year. The Warriors are Curry’s team, but Podz and Lendeborg really are the keys to success this year.

Grade: A
Post-game bonus:Tied for the team lead in rebounds.

Steph Curry

31 minutes, 31 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 11-for-23 shooting, 8-for-14 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 66.1% TS, +20

I could watch that Curry performance every day and never get bored of it. Watching Curry and Dončić go bar for bar was simply as good as it gets. As the cliché goes, if you didn’t like that, then you don’t like basketball.

Curry positively took over at the biggest moments of the game. His first buckets were a pair of threes to stop the bleeding when Los Angeles was dominating the first quarter, and then, in the second half, the bulk of his buckets were erasing the deficit or building up a big lead.

I’m gonna be thinking about this play for a very, very long time:

Still got the magic. Still got all the magic.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.

Georges Niang

19 minutes, 11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 4-for-5 shooting, 3-for-3 threes, 110.0% TS, +21

The Warriors bench was special in this game, and Niang was a huge part of it. Golden State’s second unit outscored Los Angeles’ 50-7, and Niang contributed so much to both the scoring and the defending. Like Podziemski, his shots were incredibly timely; he just has a knack for making big buckets.

He also, it turns out, has a knack for talking some serious trash. I wasn’t all that familiar with that part of Niang’s game, but, for the second game in a row, he got into it with the opponent. That’s something that’s been missing from the Warriors for a while now … they’ve had toughness and instigators in the starting lineup, but not always coming off the bench. A great game for Niang.

Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in rebounds; best plus/minus on the team.

De’Anthony Melton

21 minutes, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 5-for-10 shooting, 4-for-6 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 73.5% TS, +9

And this is why the Warriors are enamored with Melton. There have been a few duds along the way, but you can see the vision. When it works, it works stunningly well.

This was one of the best games that Melton has had in a Warriors jersey. He took over in the critical second quarter, when the Warriors turned a 25-point deficit into a tied game. Melton had a 7-0 run all by himself in that frame, and finished with 13 points in the quarter. But it was his defense that really stood out. Time and time again he disrupted plays, stripped the ball, or deflected a pass. And just as Podziemski’s buckets all seemed to have a sense of the moment, so too did Melton’s defensive stops. Whenever the Warriors needed to get the ball back, Melton was there to wreak havoc. Phenomenal showing.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in rebounds.

Gary Payton II

8 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 foul, 1-for-5 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 20.0% TS, 0 +/-

Payton did not have the bad shooting game that the box score suggests, as a lot of his misses weren’t true shots, but rather tip-ins when he was keeping possessions alive, and even one alley-oop that was a poor pass. Really, this game was all about defense for GPII, as is so often the case. He only played eight minutes, but he absolutely made an imprint with his defense, which was excellent.

Grade: B+

Al Horford

17 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-for-6 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 25.0% TS, -14

Not Horford’s best game, but he certainly had some moments. He played some really strong defense in this one, and was one of the many reasons why the Dubs held Walker Kessler in check, a week after the Lakers’ center torched them.

Grade: C+

Brandon Williams

17 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 2-for-8 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 5-for-5 free throws, 44.1% TS, -1

Williams has not been efficient early in the season, and I expect that to change. But even when he isn’t getting his shot to fall, there’s no denying how much the team benefits from his presence, and the way he relentlessly attacks opposing defenses. It just seems to catch the defense off guard, and spark something in his teammates. He feels like such a critical player on the Warriors right now, even though his shot isn’t falling. Also, I thought this was his best defensive game since joining the Dubs.

Grade: B-

Will Richard

13 minutes, 3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 foul, 1-for-3 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 50.0% TS, +20

If you want to see a masterclass in how to positively impact a game without filling up the box score, just go back and rewatch this game, and pay close attention to Richard. I don’t have words for how impactful he was. His defense was out of this world, and he was flying around the court, keeping plays alive, making things happen, and pestering the Lakers. Despite not having many stats, it stood out like a neon sign how much better the Warriors were when Richard was on the court in this game. He just made everything work seamlessly.

Grade: A

Charles Bassey

9 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 2-for-4 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 61.5% TS, +14

Bassey seems to be floating in and out of the rotation right now, and games like this are certainly a data point that he should be playing more. He had one of the best plays of the game, when he emphatically stuffed Kessler at the rim, which sparked a transition alley-oop. His defense was superb, and his size and toughness were essential for the second unit. It’s really fun seeing how far Bassey has come, and with Kristaps Porziņģis essentially out of the picture, it really feels like Bassey could emerge as a key rotational piece for Golden State as the year goes on.

Grade: A-

LJ Cryer

17 seconds, 0 points, 1 assist, +2

A whole 17 seconds of garbage time, but Cryer was still able to log an assist.

Grade: Incomplete

Malevy Leons

17 seconds, 0 points, +2

And a little garbage time for Leons as well, whom we haven’t seen much of this year.

Grade: Incomplete

Friday’s inactives: Jimmy Butler III, Graham Ike, Moses Moody, Kristaps Porziņģis