NBA Cup Night One: LeBron Closed in Philly, Murray Dropped 39, and Barnes’ 41 Wasn’t Enough

LeBron James closed the door on the champion Knicks in Philly, Jamal Murray dropped 39 points in Phoenix, and Scottie Barnes scored a career-high 41 that still wasn’t enough in Toronto. Ten games opened Emirates NBA Cup group play on Friday night, and the top of the slate is already covered on Previously — the Warriors’ shot-clock-era comeback against the Lakers, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s triple-double in Miami’s 145-point night, Dallas ending Houston’s perfect start, and Minnesota routing the Clippers without Anthony Edwards. What follows is the rest of night one, and the honest headline is that there was no undercard. Every one of the six remaining games had a story in it.

LeBron closed the door on the champions — again

For the second time in 10 days, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the New York Knicks, and this one was harder. The Sixers won the season opener 106–100 at Madison Square Garden; on Friday at Xfinity Mobile Arena, they did it 98–93 without Jaylen Brown, who sat out with a knee issue on the first night of his absence this season, according to Reuters.

Tyrese Maxey led Philadelphia with 27 points on 10-for-19 shooting. Anfernee Simons, pressed into a bigger role, poured in 21 off the bench and hit five of his eight three-pointers, three of them in the third quarter, per NBC Sports Philadelphia. LeBron James finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists — and he owned the ending. Jalen Brunson’s three-pointer with 1:32 left gave New York a 90–89 lead, its first lead since the score was 3–2 in the first quarter. James answered with a fadeaway to take the lead back, then converted a putback with 12 seconds left that put the game away, Reuters and USA TODAY both reported. VJ Edgecombe, who hit a clutch three of his own late, added 13 points and eight rebounds.

Brunson scored 24 for the Knicks, but needed 22 shots to get there. Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 12 rebounds. New York, the defending NBA champion and defending Cup champion, is 2–4, and two of the four losses are to the same team. Philadelphia is 5–1, and the Sixers have now outscored the Knicks 204–193 across the two meetings. It is very early. It is also very real.

Murray went for 39, Braun matched him from deep, and Brooks got tossed

Denver’s 127–120 win in Phoenix was the loudest box score of the night. Jamal Murray dropped 39 points on 10-for-18 shooting, went 7-for-9 from three and 12-for-15 at the line, and added eight rebounds and five assists. Christian Braun was right there with him: 31 points on 11-for-16, also 7-for-9 from deep. Nikola Jokić put up 18 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists, which counts as a quiet night only because he is Nikola Jokić.

The game also produced the night’s one ejection. Dillon Brooks had scored 22 points in 21 minutes for Phoenix when, in the third quarter, he kicked Murray in the groin area while attempting a shot. Officials first called an offensive foul, then upgraded it to a flagrant 2 on review and ejected him; referee Tyler Ford described the kick as overt, according to USA TODAY. Miles Bridges led the Suns’ remaining fight with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Devin Booker added 20, but Phoenix never recovered the thread. Denver is 3–2, and its two guards just shot a combined 14-for-18 from three in a Cup game. Good luck game-planning for that.

Barnes scored 41 and it still wasn’t enough

Scottie Barnes had the best individual scoring night of his career on Friday, and it wasn’t enough — 41 points on 19-for-34 shooting, with five rebounds and five assists — and the Toronto Raptors lost anyway, 121–114 at home to Orlando. The detail that explains the game: Toronto led for a total of two minutes and 10 seconds, according to USA TODAY.

The Raptors were playing their third game without Kawhi Leonard (knee inflammation) and have now lost two of the three. Orlando, meanwhile, won without its own best player, Paolo Banchero, who is out with an ankle sprain. Desmond Bane scored 28 with six three-pointers, Franz Wagner had 26 points and 11 assists, Wendell Carter Jr. added 20, and Anthony Black ran the second unit’s offense beautifully with 17 points and 10 assists. That is what depth looks like. Barnes took 34 shots because somebody had to; the Magic had four players who could take over a quarter, and took turns doing it.

Pritchard’s 30 led a Boston cruise, and Detroit’s third quarter buried Brooklyn

Boston beat Chicago 125–111 at TD Garden behind a bench flamethrower’s stat line from Payton Pritchard, who scored 30 points on 9-for-17 shooting and went a perfect 9-for-9 at the line. Jayson Tatum added 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Paul George chipped in 18 points and eight assists. Chicago’s Caleb Wilson kept the Bulls within shouting distance with 23 points and six made threes, and Norman Powell scored 16, but the Celtics were never seriously threatened in the second half.

In Brooklyn, Detroit did its damage all at once. The Pistons beat the Nets 110–94 at Barclays Center, and the game broke open in the third quarter: a 31–7 run pushed the lead to 30, per the Detroit Free Press, and Brooklyn — which shot 40% and committed 24 turnovers — never got back in it. Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 20 points. Ron Holland scored 12 of his season-high 18 in that third quarter, Duncan Robinson added 17, and Ausar Thompson filled the sheet with 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals. Moritz Wagner led the winless Nets (0–5) with 16. Detroit, at 5–1, keeps looking like a team that plans to be playing in late April with home-court advantage.

Washington defended like it’s 2015

The strangest number of the night came in the lowest-scoring game. Washington beat Charlotte 95–79 at Capital One Arena, and the 79 points the Wizards allowed were their fewest in a game since March 9, 2015, according to the NBA’s Cup live blog. Anthony Davis powered Washington with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Trae Young, who lived at the free-throw line (12-for-14), finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, and AJ Dybantsa added 17 points and eight rebounds. Brandon Miller scored 19 for Charlotte but shot 7-for-24 to get there, and Naz Reid’s 12 points and 11 rebounds were the only other Hornets line of note. A Cup game won with defense, in 2026. Write it down.

What night one actually told us

The Cup’s group stage runs on point differential, which is why the margins matter as much as the wins: Minnesota banked +26, Miami +20, Golden State and Washington +16 and +16, Detroit +16. Philadelphia’s +5 came against the group’s favorite, which may be worth more than all of them. Night one also told us the East’s supposed group of death — the Knicks, Sixers, Heat, Pacers and Cavaliers — is going to cannibalize itself exactly as advertised, and that Denver’s backcourt, when Murray and Braun shoot like this, is as frightening as any in the league.

It does not slow down. Seven more games are scheduled for Saturday, headlined by Oklahoma City at Houston — where the Thunder will play without Chet Holmgren, who is out eight to 10 weeks after treatment on a patellar tendon tear, and without Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace as well. Philadelphia turns around and plays at Charlotte on the second night of a back-to-back. The Cup is ten days old in spirit and one night old in fact, and it has already produced a shot-clock-era first, a career high, an ejection and a champion on the ropes. More, please.