For so long on Wednesday afternoon it felt like Klay Thompson was inevitable.
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Like Thompson, playing against the Golden State Warriors for the first time in his career and already with six 3-pointers in the game, was destined to bury the final dagger.
Instead, Thompson was on the wrong end of a Steph Curry flurry for the first time, with the Warriors superstar going on a 10-0 run all by himself to inspire Golden State to a thrilling 120-117 win.
Thompson looked to be on his way to playing a starring role in a Mavericks win when he splashed a triple that put Dallas up 110-105 with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, forcing Golden State to call a timeout.
A Daniel Gafford dunk extended the lead to seven and the Mavericks still led 114-108 with 3:29 on the clock, but it was all Curry from that point, scoring 10-straight points to give Golden State the lead — including a clutch 3-pointer that had him saying ‘night, night’.
“This is what the NBA is about: competition,” Curry said after the game.
“No matter what the soundbites were before the game, we knew there’d be a lot of emotions but both teams wanted to win. It felt like a playoff-type atmosphere, back-and-forth, great players making great plays on both sides. That’s why we love the competition.”
Curry, who had a game-high 37 points and nine assists in the win, made sure to credit Draymond Green’s presence on the defensive end too.
“Don’t let anyone forget what Draymond did on this end of the floor playing the five against their size,” Curry said of Green, who had seven defensive rebounds, three steals and two blocks to go with 11 points and six assists.
“As many plays as I made down there, he made the same on this end. It was a masterclass.”
Thompson had 22 points in his return to Golden State while Luka Doncic led the way for the Mavs, who dropped to 5-6 on the season, with 31 points.
JALEN ROSE’S HILARIOUS REACTION AS HEAT COACH OWNS UP TO BLUNDER
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is widely considered one of the best in the league, but on Wednesday he had a final few seconds to forget in an overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons.
The Heat, who trailed by as many as 18 points in the game, were able to send it beyond regulation and even led 121-119 with just 1.8 seconds left on the clock in overtime.
But a Jalen Duren dunk tied things up again, with the game seemingly destined for double overtime — that was until a furious Spoelstra stormed onto the court to call timeout.
The problem? The Heat were out of timeouts, meaning the Pistons were automatically awarded a technical foul and free throw to take a 122-121 lead.
To cap it off, the camera than cut to former NBA player and now ESPN personality Jalen Rose, who was part of the ‘Fab Five’ Michigan team that lost the NCAA championship game against UNC in 1993 after Chris Webber made the same mistake Spoelstra did.
Rose’s reaction was everything you would have hoped for.
The Pistons closed out the game from that point, winning 123-121 and it wasn’t the only mistake Spoelstra made in the final stages of Wednesday’s overtime thriller.
First, the Heat just avoided being assessed a technical foul before Spoelstra’s timeout blunder when they were nearly caught with six players on the floor.
Only adding to the comedy of errors, Spoelstra later tried to sub Kevin Love into the game after Malik Beasley’s technical free throw, which put the Pistons ahead 122-121, not realising Detroit actually had possession.
Spoelstra then had to quickly put Haywood Highsmith back into the game.
Speaking after the game, Spoelstra was the first to admit he made a number of mistakes that directly led to the loss.
“I just made a serious mental error there at the end,” Spoelstra said.
“That’s on me. I feel horrible about it. There’s no excuse for that, I’m 17 years in.
“We had talked about it in the huddle. I knew we didn’t have anything. I just got emotional and reactive.”
Tyler Herro, who led the way for the Heat with 40 points, eight assists and four steals, was quick to throw his support behind Spoelstra when speaking to reporters after the game.
“Great players make bad plays. Great coaches sometimes make a tough decision,” Herro said.
“It was an intense moment. He won us the game last game…We ride with Spo no matter what.”
Beasley added 21 points off the bench for the Pistons while Cade Cunningham, who had only two points at halftime, added 19 more in the second half to go with nine assists, seven rebounds and just as many turnovers all up.
EMBIID RETURNS BUT SIXERS’ SLUMP CONTINUES WITH LOSS TO KNICKS
Better rested and facing a disappointing opponent, the Knicks reversed their fourth-quarter woes and pummeled the Sixers on Wednesday, 111-99.
The Knicks overwhelmingly won the final 12 minutes as Tom Thibodeau opened up his rotation and Karl-Anthony Towns outplayed longtime foe Joel Embiid.
OG Anunoby scored 24 points and provided the highlight, a soaring dunk early in the fourth quarter that deflated the Philly supporters and energized the traveling Knicks fans.
Josh Hart had a triple-double, finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Knicks (5-5) got a balanced attack with their top-6 (starters plus Miles McBride) all scoring at least 14 points despite an off night from Jalen Brunson.
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More impressively, they held the Sixers to 37 percent shooting and under 100 points, redeeming themselves after the defensive dud in Indy two nights prior.
It certainly ended positive for the Knicks, but the night took a brief scary turn on the first possession of the second half.
Brunson stepped on defender Caleb Martin’s foot, fell near midcourt and grabbed his right ankle in pain. The point guard bolted to the locker room and missed the next seven minutes of game action.
He returned and finished with 18 points on 5 of 15 shooting.
By the low NBA regular-season standards, Wednesday had a big-game feel.
First, it doubled as the NBA Cup opener and the court was excessively blue to commemorate Adam Silver’s creation.
Second, it was the season debut of Embiid, who is excessively unavailable and just finished serving a three-game suspension for shoving a reporter.
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Third, it was the first matchup between the I-95 rivals since the intense playoff series captured by the Knicks last season.
Both teams underwent seismic shifts in the summer, with Philly signing Paul George and Caleb Martin; and the Knicks landing Towns and Mikal Bridges.
Sixers coach Nurse saw Embiid sludge through 26 minutes with 13 points on 2 of 11 shooting.
He saw Towns destroy Embiid while grabbing 13 boards with six assists and 21 points.
He saw Philly’s starting backcourt, minus the injured Tyrese Maxey, shoot a combined 2-for-11.
Nurse saw his Sixers (2-8) continue to stand with Milwaukee as the biggest disappointments in the East.
The Knicks took advantage with a stout defense and a big fourth quarter.
AUSTRALIAN DYSON DANIELS INSPIRES HAWKS TO MONUMENTAL UPSET
Elsewhere, Dyson Daniels’ breakout season continued to build momentum in a big way with a career-high 28 points in Atlanta’s 117-116 win over the Boston Celtics.
Daniels, the league’s runaway leader in steals, added six more in the win to go with seven assists and three rebounds.
You can read more about that game and Daniels’ performance here.
In other games, Milwaukee picked up its third win of the year with 32 points from second-year breakout guard Gradey Dick not enough for the Raptors in a 99-85 loss.
Utah’s losing skid continued as the Phoenix Suns improved to 9-2 with a 120-112 win while the Magic cruised to a 114-89 victory over the Hornets.
NBA SCORES — Wednesday 13/11
Pistons 123 defeat Heat 121 (OT)
Celtics 116 defeated by Hawks 117
Magic 114 defeat Hornets 89
76ers 99 defeated by Knicks 111
Bucks 99 defeat Raptors 85
Jazz 112 defeated by Suns 120
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