Luka Doncic leads the NBA in scoring at 36.0 points a game, Steph Curry dropped 44 on Minnesota two nights ago, and somehow that pairing got buried inside an NBA Cup group opener nobody was supposed to care about yet.
Late-October group play is normally filler. The trophy doesn’t start mattering for another month, and most of these games get treated like preseason with standings attached. This one happens to be the Western Conference’s Group C opener, presented by Emirates, which will matter in December and matters for none of the reasons anyone’s tuning in tonight. Tonight’s different only because the schedule stacked two guys at the peak of their scoring form on the same floor, and that convergence, not the group stage stakes, is the actual reason to watch.
Start with the guy leading the NBA in scoring. Doncic’s 36.0 average comes on 48.4% shooting and 87.5% from the line, and none of it is empty garbage-time production. Five days ago he put up 52 points against the Jazz, the first 50-point game anyone’s played this season and the first 50-point, 10-assist, 5-rebound, 5-made-three line in Lakers franchise history.
Curry answered with a 44-point night against the Timberwolves two nights ago, on his own terms: 11-for-27 shooting, six threes, a perfect 16-for-16 from the line in a 119-114 road win. Anthony Edwards was out, and the Warriors were still finding their footing after an 0-3 start to the season, a result that made it back-to-back wins. Forty-four on a night like that is only good for third in the league at 28.8 a game on 47.7% shooting, trailing Doncic by more than seven points a night.
The last time these two shared a floor, on October 21, the Lakers beat Golden State 127-105 at Crypto.com Arena to take the season series lead, about the same stretch Draymond Green was making his case that Luka will never win an MVP. He’s back on the floor for the rematch tonight.
Lakers show up 4-1 and perfect on the road. Warriors sit 2-3, still searching for answers at Chase Center.
I’d rather watch this than half the games the actual NBA Cup knockout round produces in December.
https://x.com/NBA/status/2116228645236912435
Group play or not, that’s two of the league’s highest-scoring players sharing a floor tonight at Chase Center, 10 PM ET on Prime Video. The Cup branding is just the excuse.
Check the box score before you check the bracket.
