So … any Tournament Night 1 thoughts?

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THE LINEUP

1. Curry Wins It With 0.2 Left
2. Dame Time Strikes Tournament ⌚️
3. KD The Commentator’s Take
4. Saturday Starts Early. Get Ready
5. 10 Stats To Know (So Far)

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1. CURRY SCOOPS UP 1ST TOURNAMENT WIN

Warriors 141, Thunder 139: Warning to 29 NBA teams outside San Francisco: 

Do not let the Splash Bros shoot with 0.2 seconds left in the game.

On Wednesday, Klay Thompson’s pull-up sank the Kings with 0.2 seconds left. On Friday, Steph Curry’s driving layup dropped the Thunder and gave Golden State a dramatic first In-Season Tournament win.

• The Warriors hadn’t hit back-to-back game-winners in the final 5 seconds in 25 years. Now, they two have 2 straight in the last second
• Curry finished with 30 points, leading six Warriors with 15 or more. He also had 7 dimes, none better than this no-look lob to Gary Payton II for the reverse dunk
• After nearly blocking Curry’s game-winner, Chet Holmgren (24 pts) swapped jerseys with Steph — after going to his camps as a kid

Curry gave us just one of the fantastic finishes delivered on a historically competitive opening night of the In-Season Tournament.

• Friday’s average margin of victory (4.9) was the 2nd smallest on a 7+ game night in 10 years
• Said Draymond Green: “It felt like a playoff game. It was a fun game to play in, the intensity was there.”

Pacers 121, Cavs 116: Tyrese Haliburton hit the go-ahead triple with 16.5 seconds left and Turner sealed the win with a clutch block as Indy beat Cleveland for the second time in a week.

A few hints for future editions of NBA Trivia:

• The Pacers got the first official win in NBA In-Season Tournament history
• Myles Turner got the first basket in Tournament history, a two-handed dunk on the game’s opening possession

Nets 109, Bulls 107: The Nets and Bulls took clutch time to a new level. It wasn’t just the final five minutes that were played within five points, it was the entire fourth quarter, setting up a wild finish

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1. DAME TIME STRIKES THE IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT

Bucks 110, Knicks 105: Whether it’s the Regular Season, Playoffs, Play-In Tournament, or In-Season Tournament, it’s always Dame Time.

After Jalen Brunson’s 3 put the Knicks up two with 1:10 left, Dame went on a 6-0 run over two possessions to put the Bucks ahead for good.

• A dribble handoff with Giannis for a 3-pointer, followed by a 3-point play with Khris Middleton finding a cutting Dame for the layup and-one
• Lillard finished with 30 points, 8 in the final 63 seconds
• Brunson led all scorers with 45 points, three shy of his career high
• After blocking two shots in Milwaukee’s first four games combined, Brook Lopez had eight in this game alone

⚒️ Nuggets 125, Mavericks 114: The defending champs bounced back from their first loss of the season by handing the Mavs their first loss of the season. 

• Jokic finished with 33 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists and shot 87.5%. The only other player to reach those marks in a game is Wilt Chamberlain, who did it three times
• Luka Doncic flirted with a triple-double (34 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) before embracing his fellow MVP candidate postgame

Blazers 115, Grizzlies 113

Shaedon Sharpe tied it with a pair of free throws, then swatted away a potential game-winner to send it to OT. He then added seven more points in OT for Portland’s third-straight win.

Heat 121, Wizards 114

Tyler Herro had 24 points, 10 boards and nine assists (like this dime) as the Heat snapped their four-game losing streak. Jimmy Butler hit Miami’s first In-Season Tournament bucket

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1. WHAT WAS DURANT’S TAKE?

Quentin Richardson, Dorell Wright and Metta World Peace’s HooperVision broadcast had a special guest pull up on Friday night.

Kevin Durant.

Durant jumped onto the NBA App alternate stream to call a matchup of two of his former teams, in Warriors-Thunder. And as the game went down to the wire, KD decided to stick around a little longer.

Catch a few of his best moments here.

• “No way I’m gonna be close to this.” Hilarious moment when the guys ask KD about Wemby … and what it’s like to play against someone who did to him what he’s been doing to people for 15 years
• “He’s playing like a 6-6 Iverson.” Flowers for SGA.
• “It adds something sweet to the regular season.” KD’s take on the In-Season Tournament. ICYMI, he also had an epic reaction to his sneak peek of the courts.

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1. BALL DON’T STOP: FULL DAY AHEAD, STARTING EARLY ⏰

How you spend your Saturday — that’s up to you.

All we’re saying is … you got a full day of options.

The Matinee
Suns-Sixers: 1 ET, NBA App

A few of the league’s biggest stars get the weekend going at 1 pm ET, when the Suns meet the Sixers.

• After losing 2 straight to Wemby’s Spurs, Kevin Durant’s Phoenix crew is looking to get back to .500
• Meanwhile, the Sixers (3-1) have started strong thanks to reigning Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, the only teammates both in the NBA’s Top 10 in scoring
• After RoCo’s homecoming on Thurs, will we see more new Sixers hit the court today?
• Devin Booker is listed as questionable

The Highlight Fest
Hawks-Pelicans: 7 ET, NBA App

• Trae. Zion. Enough said
• The Pelicans and Hawks — both on winning streaks, both out to hot starts — meet up at 7 to get the night games started

The Potential Milestone
Celtics-Nets: 8 ET, NBA App

• Jayson Tatum is just 16 points away from becoming the 1st player 25 or younger with 10,000 points and 1,000 3PM
• Also, the C’s haven’t lost yet, and have been pretty dominant in doing so … but could have their hands full with a deep, flamethrowing Nets team

The Throwback
Bulls-Nuggets: 9 ET, NBA TV

• DeMar DeRozan is synonymous with the mid-range. Nikola Jokic has owned the inside for the champs
• Both teams average fewer than 32 attempted 3’s per game, under the league average – and around 10 fewer than the league leaders. So expect a bit of an old-school feel in the nightcap

Lakers-Magic, 7 ET, NBA App

Kings-Rockets, 8 ET, NBA App

Jazz-Wolves, 8 ET, NBA App

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1. 10 STATS TO KNOW (SO FAR) 

While the season’s still young and the sample size small, what stats have stood out most?

1. Luka leads five 30+ ppg scorers: Last season’s runner-up leads the scoring title chase at 33.8 ppg
2. LeBron, Wemby coming up clutch: Two generational talents rank top five in clutch scoring
3. Elite offense = undefeated: The final unbeaten team – the Boston Celtics –  ranks first in offensive efficiency
4. Booker the playmaker: On a new-look Phoenix team, Devin Booker is finding a balance between scoring and dishing, at 31.5 ppg and 10.5 apg
5. Wemby leading rookies: Wembanyama ranks 1st in scoring and steals, 2nd in boards & blocks and top five in 3s and FG% (min. 4 FGA per game)
6. Bam’s rim protection: Attack Bam Adebayo at the rim at your own risk, he’s held opponents to a league-best DFG% at the basket
7. Top lineups broken by trade: Two of the seven most efficient five-man lineups this season won’t log another minute together after this week’s Clippers-Sixers trade
8. First 150+ point game: Boston delivered the first 150+ point game on the ninth night of the season. There were 10 such games last year, can that mark be topped?
9. Early 40-point games: After a record 203 40+ point games last season, the first two weeks delivered seven 40+ point games
10. Shot zone leaders: Giannis, Zion and LeBron have owned the restricted area early in the season. What about the mid-range, corner 3s and more?

Keep reading for more details