In-Season Tournament roundup: Jokic slices up Mavs, Curry saves Warriors

The inaugural In-Season Tournament began Friday with seven games in group play. For an explanation on how the tourney works, including the breakdown of the groups, tap here.

Friday’s results

• Nuggets 125-114 Mavericks (Recap)
• Warriors 141-139 Thunder (Recap)
• Bucks 110-105 Knicks (Recap)
• Pacers 121-116 Cavaliers (Recap)
• Trail Blazers 115-113 Grizzlies (OT) (Recap)
• Nets 109-107 Bulls (Recap)
• Heat 121-114 Wizards (Recap)

Top performers

Jalen Brunson (Knicks): With co-star Julius Randle continuing to struggle, Brunson did his best to try to will New York to a road victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. Even though he came up short, the point guard went off for 45 points on 17-of-30 shooting, along with five rebounds and four assists.

Nikola Jokic (Nuggets): Of course the reigning Finals MVP had to put his stamp on the first-ever In-Season Tournament slate. Jokic carved up the Dallas Mavericks defense with ease, finishing with 33 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists on near-perfect 14-for-16 shooting from the field in an easy win against Luka Doncic’s squad.

Steph Curry (Warriors): Efficiency was also the name of the game for the Golden State superstar with the Oklahoma City Thunder playing terrific offensive basketball despite missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Curry’s 30 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists were even more impressive considering he took just 15 field goals and had only three turnovers. Oh, and he made a clutch game-winner.

Highlight of the night

Steph Curry secures the Warriors’ second straight last-second win, hitting a scoop layup with 0.2 seconds left against the Thunder:

STEPH WITH 0.2 SECONDS ON THE CLOCK 😱

WARRIORS WIN THEIR FIRST IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT GAME 🏆 pic.twitter.com/JQ8LJk5wj0

— NBA In-Season Tournament (@NBA) November 4, 2023

Tweet of the night

Former NBA sharpshooter turned commentator JJ Redick poked fun at the Clippers until Richard Jefferson astutely pointed out that Redick was partially dissing himself.

“I was very confused. The first court I saw was the Clippers court and there was a trophy at half-court.”

Oh, @jj_redick 😂 pic.twitter.com/vQZMqSvTm4

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 4, 2023

Stat of the night

Calling Randle’s early-season struggles a shooting slump would be an understatement. With a 5-for-20 performance from the floor Friday, the two-time All-Star became the first player in the 3-point era to hit fewer than 28% of his field goals on 90-plus attempts across his first six games.

What’s next?

Group play resumes Friday on Nov. 10 with nine contests, highlighted by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers paying Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns a visit.

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