Update: Warriors:
The Warriors appear to be headed toward a disastrous season.
Is it too early to start considering how a high lottery pick could jump start them? The easy comparison: The 1996-97 Spurs, who lost David Robinson to injury then drafted Tim Duncan No. 1 and began a dynasty. Lottery luck is overlooked in that situation, though.
There might not be happy ending for Golden State. There will almost certainly be a dismal several weeks ahead.
The Warriors fell behind 47-14 to the Suns.
Then, it got worse for Golden State.
Stephen Curry left the game after suffering an apparent wrist injury when very-large Phoenix center Aron Baynes landed on him.
Because he didn’t shoot the ensuing free throws, Curry is ineligible to return tonight. That could be a moot point, anyway. That injury looked severe.
The Warriors were already facing major problems. Curry being sidelined for a while could take them completely out of competing for the playoffs.
When trash-talking with Karl Anthony Towns a couple years ago, Joel Embiid insisted it was all in good fun.
Towns didn’t appear to enjoy it when fighting Embiid during the 76ers’ win over the Timberwolves on Thursday.
And I doubt Towns will appreciate Embiid’s post-game social-media gloating, which veered quite personal.
Embiid:
1. I’m not sure that’s Towns’ mother. The woman looks like Jacqueline Cruz, and contextually, it’d make sense.
2. I’m not sure that’s a middle finger. It might be a pointer finger beckoning Embiid to come get a piece of her. She looked ready to throw down.
Watch her in this video from Serena Winters of NBC Sports Philadelphia:
Towns was already livid at Embiid. If that is Cruz, I can barely imagine how enraged Towns would be with Embiid calling her out.
The Washington Nationals and Houston Astros are playing Game 7 of the World Series tonight.
The Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets did their best to outshine that high-stakes baseball game.
James Harden scored 59 points and made the game-winning free throw in the Rockets’ 159-158 win. With 317 combined points, this was the highest-scoring regulation game in nearly two decades and one of the highest-scoring ever.
Here are the highest-scoring regulations in the shot-clock era:
Harden scored the game’s final point after drawing a foul by crashing into Isaac Bonga in the final seconds:
That’s a questionable call, one that could have gone either way. But Harden knows how to sell those.
Harden now has nine of the NBA’s last 13 55-point games. Unlike some of his other standout individual performances, Harden had plenty of company scoring tonight.
Houston and Washington combined to shoot 66% on 2-pointers, 48% on 3-pointers and 81% on free throws.
Bradley Beal scored 46 points. Russell Westbrook had a triple-double with 17 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
After fighting Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid immediately celebrated with 76ers teammate Mike Scott.
Following Philadelphia’s 117-95 win over the Timberwolves, Embiid echoed Scott.
John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia:
Dei Lynam of NBC Sports Philadelphia:
I don’t know whether Embiid will get suspended. What was he supposed to do when Towns attacked him? Still, Embiid fought back. Sometimes, everyone involved gets suspended.
But I bet Embiid gets fined for that post-game comment.
Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns have been trash talking for years.
It boiled over into a legitimate fight tonight.
The centers got tangled. Then, they started pushing. Then, the altercation evolved into a full-blown scrap with Towns even swinging on Embiid.
Both Towns and Embiid were obviously ejected. With his 76ers up 20 on the Timberwolves, Embiid – who laughed and shadow boxed to the exit – was clearly having more fun.
Serena Winters of NBC Sports Philadelphia: