The NBA took Election Day off. It is making up for it tonight. Fourteen games run from 7 p.m. Eastern to a 10:30 p.m. tip in Inglewood, and the slate has a little bit of everything: an instant rematch between Cleveland and Oklahoma City, the East's two surprise starters meeting in Detroit, Boston hosting Milwaukee, and Luka Doncic taking his scoring tear on the road to Sacramento. If you missed how we got here, Monday night's roundup covers the 15-game night that set all of this up.
The game of the night is the one the league just watched. On Monday in Cleveland, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 43 points and hit the go-ahead three with 32.6 seconds left as the Thunder won 117-112. Tonight the Cavaliers visit Oklahoma City at 8 p.m. Eastern and get their second shot in three days, Reuters noted in its preview. Neither team is whole. The Thunder are still without Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace — all out after surgeries, according to The Oklahoman's injury report — along with Thomas Sorber and Nikola Topic. Cleveland is without Jaylon Tyson, who sprained his right ankle, and Peyton Watson, who is out with hamstring tightness. If Monday proved anything, it is that Gilgeous-Alexander alone might be enough anyway.
The early window has its own heavyweight fight. Philadelphia visits Detroit at 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, and both teams have earned the stage: the 76ers are 7-1 after beating Chicago on Monday, and the Pistons are 6-1 after routing Charlotte. Detroit will have to do it short-handed inside — Jalen Duren is out with a right hamstring strain and is targeting a return around November 9, and Isaiah Joe is out with a hip bruise. Philadelphia remains without Dominick Barlow and Ariel Hukporti, who is out for the season after Achilles surgery. Joel Embiid, who played under a minutes restriction on Monday while managing plantar fasciitis, is not on the injury report and is expected to play.
Boston hosts Milwaukee at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, and the Celtics have questions of their own. Jayson Tatum is listed as questionable for rest and Payton Pritchard is questionable with a right shoulder contusion, according to the Celtics' reporting cited by ESPN. Boston is 5-2 but coming off Monday's loss in Houston, where it shot under 40 percent. Milwaukee arrives at 1-6 and desperate. The Bucks lost in Minneapolis on Monday despite 21 points from Tyler Herro, and a road back-to-back week is no place to find your footing.
Out west, the league's best start belongs to Houston, and the Rockets defend it at 8:30 p.m. Eastern against Minnesota. Houston is 7-1 and first in the West after Alperen Sengun's 26-point, 10-assist night against Boston. The Timberwolves are 5-3 and still without Anthony Edwards, who is out following arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, and Donte DiVincenzo is out as well. That puts the load on the man who just carried them: LaMelo Ball scored 34 against Milwaukee on Monday and became the fastest player in history to 1,000 career three-pointers. Reuters framed the matchup simply — two fast-paced teams trying to prove Monday was no fluke.
The late games close with the league's hottest scorer. Doncic and the 6-2 Lakers visit Sacramento at 10 p.m. Eastern. Doncic leads the league at 38.3 points per game, according to USA Today, and has scored at least 37 in five straight. The Kings are 1-6, though they did win in Dallas on Monday. Before that, San Antonio hosts Dallas at 9:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN — the Spurs have won five straight, and the Mavericks walk into Victor Wembanyama's building for the close of San Antonio's homestand.
The rest of the slate: Atlanta at Washington at 7 p.m. Eastern, with Hawks forward Jalen Johnson questionable with an ankle injury; Charlotte at Brooklyn and Chicago at New York, both at 7:30; Utah at New Orleans and Indiana at Memphis at 8, where the Grizzlies try to bounce back from their first loss of the season; Toronto at Denver and Portland at Phoenix at 9; and Miami at the LA Clippers at 10:30 to close the night. Fourteen games, every team in the league in action or accounted for, and by midnight the standings will have moved again. Follow it all on the Previously Sports front.
Sources · 6 sources
- Reuters — previews of Cavaliers-Thunder and Timberwolves-Rockets, and the Grizzlies' bounce-back game against Indiana.
- The Oklahoman — the Thunder-Cavaliers injury reports for tonight's rematch in Oklahoma City.
- ESPN — injury listings including Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard as questionable, and Jalen Johnson as questionable.
- DraftKings Network — the league-wide injury report for Wednesday, November 4.
- RealGM and FantasyPros — tonight's 14-game schedule, tip times and team records.
- USA Today — Doncic's league-leading 38.3 points per game entering tonight's game in Sacramento.
