Welcome back to Basketball Home, the place to
be for everything that happened on the court
over this holiday break. Hey, everyone. And if
you thought this Thanksgiving weekend was, you
know, just about turkey and shopping, you definitely
missed out. Oh, for sure. It was genuine high
stakes chaos. We saw the NBA Cup. Group stages
wrap up with some unbelievable drama. Right.
And then you had massive upsets, literal buzzer
beaters in college hoops, and some teams that
we thought were contenders suddenly looking like
they're in full -blown crisis mode. It was a
ton to process. Exactly. So today we are unpacking
all of it for you. We're going to lock in on
the new NBA Cup knockout bracket. We have to.
It's finally set. We'll also break down the biggest
Black Friday dramas in the NBA. That means the
Mavs and Lakers trade buzz, Giannis' pretty raw
frustration in Milwaukee, and the defensive collapse
happening in Cleveland. And we can't forget college,
that Ohio State finish. We have to talk about
that. Oh, we absolutely have to. So let's just
jump right into the NBA Cup because Friday was
the day everything got decided. Yep. It was the
make or break day. By the end of it, the single
elimination knockout bracket was finalized for
December 9th and 10th. So let's start in the
East. This is where the final spots were clinched
with a mix of grit, some serious star power,
and a perfect example of the difference between
one great player and a great team. That's the
perfect way to frame it. The Orlando Magic, they
secured Group B after a really tough... 112 -109
win over the Detroit Pistons. And what's so important
about the Magic is that they finished undefeated
in their group. Exactly. That 4 -0 record gives
them home court for the quarterfinal, which is
huge. A lot of their success came from Desmond
Bain, who dropped 37 points and really carried
them when things got tight. But the real story
of that game... I mean, it has to be Cade Cunningham.
Oh, absolutely. It was one of the most magnificent
and, you know, ultimately heartbreaking individual
performances we've seen all year. A Herculean
effort is the only way to describe it. And it
tells you everything you need to know about the
Pistons' roster right now. It really does. So
Cade plays 40 really physical minutes, and he
racks up this monster triple -double. 39 points,
13 rebounds, and 11 assists. He was literally
the entire offense. And here's this dad that
just blows my mind. He was a plus 16 in his minutes
on the court. Right. He was actively winning
the game for them when he was playing. But the
other side of that coin is just tragic. In the
eight minutes, he sat on the bench to rest. Just
eight minutes. The Pistons were outscored by
19 points. Nice. It just exposes their biggest
weakness. They have zero offensive structure,
no scoring threat at all when he sits down, and
other teams know it. They just run all over them.
And you could see that workload just catching
up to him. He missed a huge free throw late when
they were down by three. And another one earlier
that would put them up two. He had been perfect
from the line, I think, nine for nine up until
that point. That's the physical and mental toll
right there. He also had eight turnovers, three
of them in the fourth quarter. It wasn't just
a loss. It felt like a desperate cry for some
help on that roster. It really did. Okay, so
moving over to Group C, the New York Knicks punched
their ticket. They beat the struggling Milwaukee
Bucks 118 -109 at the Garden. Yeah, and this
was supposed to be a big showdown, right? Especially
with Giannis Antetokounmpo coming back from that
groin injury. And Giannis showed up, at least
in the box score, 30 points, 15 rebounds, 8 assists.
For sure. But I think the consensus takeaway
from everyone who watched that game was that
Jalen Brunson was the more unstoppable superstar
on the floor that night. Oh, without a doubt.
Brunson finished with a game -high 37 points.
And he was efficient, shooting 12 for 21. He
just led the charge. And it wasn't just that
he scored. It was when he scored. The pressure
was on late in the fourth quarter. The Bucs had
cut a 13 -point lead all the way down to two.
Right. They were threading this huge comeback.
And Brunson immediately responds. He draws a
foul on Giannis, shooting three, and then just
calmly drills all three of those free throws.
That is clutch. And then just a couple of possessions
later, he completely sealed it. He had that spectacular
three -point play, drew a foul on Miles Turner,
hit that signature floater, and then made the
free throw. That screen he let out after the
play, I mean, that... Told you everything. That
was the release of the whole team's determination.
It was a massive moment for them. Meanwhile,
this was the Bucs' seventh straight loss. Seven.
Which is just wild for a team with that kind
of talent. They get eliminated from the Cup,
but a seven -game losing streak? That's more
than a slump. That's a crisis. And we definitely
need to circle back to that. For sure. So to
round out the East, the wildcard spot was the
last piece. And the Miami Heat grabbed it. They
were the only other team to finish 3 -1, so even
though they didn't win their group, the tiebreakers,
specifically their point differential, worked
in their favor. So the Eastern Conference quarterfinals
are set for December 9th. It's the Miami Heat
traveling to face the undefeated Orlando Magic.
And the New York Knicks will visit the Toronto
Raptors. And again, Orlando gets that home court
advantage because of their perfect record. Okay,
let's head over to the Western Conference, which
was, uh... Just pure chaos. We saw a massive
upset that I don't think anyone saw coming. Yeah,
but let's start with the undisputed champs right
now. The Oklahoma City Thunder. They clinched
Group A, beating the Phoenix Suns 123 -119 in
a really high -powered game. The Thunder are
just terrifying. I don't think that's an overstatement.
They're now 19 -1, which is the best record in
the league. And they've extended their win streak
to 11 games. And shy Gildas Alexander, he just
keeps making history. It was his 92nd consecutive
game with 20 or more points. Which ties in with
Wilt Chamberlain for the second longest streak
ever. It's just incredible. To be in the same
sentence as Wilt for that kind of consistency
is mind -boggling. And here's the part that should
scare the rest of the league. They're getting
even better. Right. That game was the season
debut for Jalen Williams, who was out with a
wrist injury. So a team that's already 19 -1
is just getting one of its best young players
back into the rotation. They are, without a doubt,
the favorites to win the whole cup right now.
Even when you consider, you know, their strength
of schedule, which we should get to later. We
should. But first we have to talk about the huge,
just illogical upset in Group C. The San Antonio
Spurs? Yeah. Somehow, someway, they beat Nick
Liokic and the Denver Nuggets. 139 to 136. And
they did it without their star, Victor Wimbanyama,
who's out with a calf strain. He's expected back
for the quarterfinal, but still. Stefan Kassel
was out too. This was a massive statement win
for that young team. It defied all logic, especially
after how they started the game. They had to
rally from an 18 -point third -quarter deficit
against the defending champs. The hero was Devin
Vassell. He was just lights out. He led the team
with a season -high 33 points and went 7 of 9
from 3. Julian Champagne was also huge with 25
and 10. This loss was all about Denver just completely
collapsing. The reports coming out of Denver
describe... their defense as simply a disaster.
And you can see why. They had 17 turnovers, which
the Spurs immediately turned into 30 points.
30 points. You just can't do that. You can't
give up 30 points off your own mistakes and expect
to win a game. Nope. And even though Jamal Murray
had 37 and Jokic almost had a triple -double,
their defensive effort was just non -existent.
It was their third straight loss at home, and
it knocked them out of the cup. That lack of
focus is becoming a theme for them, and it's
something to watch. For sure. So finally, the
Los Angeles Lakers, they took care of business
in Group B. They finished with a perfect 4 -0
record after beating the Dallas Mavericks 129
-119. So they joined the Magic as the only undefeated
teams, and they also get that crucial home court
advantage. And that brings us to the final piece,
the Western wildcard spot. Despite losing to
OKC, the Phoenix Suns managed to grab it. And
this is where the tiebreaker rules get really
important. Exactly. So both the Suns and the
Memphis Grizzlies finished with a 3 -1 record.
But the reason the Suns advanced was their point
differential. So just to clarify for everyone,
that's the total margin you've outscored your
opponents by during the group stage. The Suns
just had a better number. Right. It was the deciding
factor. And it means the Grizzlies, despite having
a great record, are out. It's a tough break.
So the Western Conference quarterfinals, those
are on December 10th. It'll be the Phoenix Suns
at the Oklahoma City Thunder. And the San Antonio
Spurs will be at the Los Angeles Lakers. And
if the favorites win, we could be looking at
a Thunder Laker showdown in the semifinals in
Vegas. That would be something. Okay, so let's
move from the bracket to the broader league drama.
Black Friday gave us some intense storylines
about stars, trades, and team chemistry. And,
of course, a lot of that focus landed squarely
on that Lakers -Mavericks game. There was so
much intrigue there before the game even started.
Right. The Lakers won 129 -119, and it was a
great offensive show. Austin Reeves was explosive
for the Lakers, dropped a game -high 38. And
Luka Doncic had 35 for Dallas. He's just been
on fire. But the narratives around the players
were way louder than the final score. And the
biggest name was Anthony Davis. He returned for
the Mavericks, playing against his former team
after missing 14 games with that calf injury.
It was a huge return for Dallas. They've been
struggling so badly on defense without him. He
gave them that stability they needed, for sure,
but he was on a strict minutes restriction. He
missed the entire fourth quarter, and that just
put the spotlight right back on his health. Yeah,
and Davis himself admitted it was tough. He said
trying to find a rhythm playing in just five
-minute bursts was tough, for sure. especially
when you're used to anchoring the defense for
10 minutes at a time. And that health question,
it feeds directly into this massive trade buzz
that's getting louder and louder. It really is.
The reports are saying that trading Anthony Davis
is a real possibility, and I would even say likelihood,
for the Mavericks this season. That's a huge
shift in direction. And it seems pretty clearly
tied to what the Mavericks see as their next
era, right? It seems so. Sources are suggesting
it's about fully pivoting to build around the
generational talent of Cooper Flagg. Who, for
context, is one of the most hyped college recruits
we've seen in a long time. Exactly. So if the
Mavericks don't think their current core is going
to win a title, then moving a star like Davis
now, while he's healthy and his value is high,
to get assets to build around a new core in a
few years. It makes sense. So the idea is you
pair those assets and flag with Kyrie Irving,
who they just extended. That seems to be the
plan. Keep Kyrie as a dynamic scorer next to
Flagg as your foundational pieces. But AD's health
for the next few months is the ultimate X factor.
If he dominates and stays healthy, they can get
a massive return. If he gets hurt again, his
value just tanks. And of course, there was that
whole pregame drama with Davis and LeBron James.
Oh, right. The manufactured controversy. Exactly.
Fans online went crazy over this short video
clip that made it look like Anthony Davis snubbed
LeBron during the pregame greetings. It's just
a perfect example of how context gets lost online.
When you actually watch the full extended clip,
you can see they did. embrace briefly. There's
still mutual respect there. It was just the media
looking for a story. But the real story is the
trade talk, not a fake snub. And speaking of
LeBron, you know, he's 40 years old, still playing
at an elite level. And he also talked about his
ultimate plan for his son, Bronny. Yeah. And
I found this really interesting. He said he wants
Bronny to walk his own journey. He explained
that he can give him the blueprint, show him
everything he's learned. But ultimately, he wants
Bronny to walk through the fire as well. That
shows a really deep understanding of the impossible
pressure Bronny is under. It does. True success
requires you to go through the struggle yourself,
even when you have the greatest mentor in the
world right there. It's a pretty philosophical
take on sports parenting. OK, let's pivot from
trade buzz to two elite teams that are in a bit
of a crisis right now, Milwaukee and Cleveland.
We mentioned the Bucs lost their seventh straight
game, and Giannis, he did not hold back his feelings
after that loss to the Knicks. No, he did not.
His message was sharp, it was critical, and he
was aimed right at his teammates' commitment.
Yeah, he stressed that they need to get back
to the little things, which he defined as, you
know, the fundamentals. Defending, communicating,
rebounding, all the stuff that doesn't depend
on whether your shot is falling. And he said
if players are only worried about scoring, they
get frustrated and feel like they cannot do nothing
else for the team. If they miss a few shots.
And then he delivered the line that was just
a devastating indictment of where they're at.
He said, this is not one man show that we got
to do it together. Oof. Coming from your franchise
cornerstone, that's a brutal assessment of the
team's effort. It tells you this isn't about
coaching or schemes. It's about a lack of collective
will. And that exact theme, that lack of effort
and focus, it connects directly to the Cleveland
Cavaliers. They lost to the Hawks 130 to 123
and got knocked out of the cup for the second
year in a row. And their issue isn't abstract
at all. It's one very specific mechanical failure
transition defense. That's right. The reports
are basically spelling out the blueprint that
opponents are now using to just dismantle the
Cavs, to just run on them relentlessly. and the
Hawks absolutely torched them with it. They outscored
Cleveland 36 -17 in fast break points. That's
a 19 -point difference just on the break. When
you talk about a mechanical failure, it means
players are literally not sprinting back to fill
the paint. They're not communicating to pick
up the ball handler, and they're letting guys
leak out for easy layups and open threes. Coach
Kenny Atkinson was blunt about it. He said they
outplayed us, outcoached us. The whole team was
just mentally disconnected. Donovan Mitchell
called it a mental thing. He said the team has
to get our A back and that the loss was solely
off of that. And Evan Mobley pointed out how
hard it is to communicate on the fly in transition.
But, I mean, that's just part of the game. It
is. And the bottom line is until the Cavs fix
this simple fundamental flaw, just getting back
on defense teams are going to keep running past
them. It's a solvable problem that's becoming
a season -long wound. All right, shifting gears
a bit, let's touch on a few other, frankly, ugly
losses from the weekend, starting with the very
perplexing Chicago Bulls. Yeah, they just continued
this frustrating pattern they have of losing
to bad teams. They fell 123 -116 to the 4 -14
Charlotte Hornets. The loss drops them to 9 -9,
and it just signals a huge problem with consistency.
Their defense remains, as one source put it,
a massive problem. They gave up 67 points in
the first half alone. Just a sieve. And even
with Kobe White and Josh Giddey combining for
50 points, it wasn't enough to overcome that.
We should probably also mention that incident
with Giddey, too. Right. Giddey, who had a great
game, 25 -11 -9, he got into it with a fan late
in the game. He just said the fan said something
I didn't like, and the fan got ejected. It's
unfortunate. Players shouldn't have to deal with
that. But back to the team. Coach Billy Donovan
just lamented their lack of consistency and physicality.
He chalked it up to human nature and midseason
fatigue. Which, for a team with the Bulls' payroll
and expectations, is just not an acceptable excuse
for these kinds of losses. Not at all. Over in
Golden State, the Warriors are facing a big test.
Star Stephen Curry is out for at least a week
with a right quad contusion. Yep. A strained
muscle, too. So he'll be re -evaluated in a week.
which means he's probably missing at least three
crucial games. And what's most telling here isn't
the injury itself, it's the reaction from his
teammate, Jimmy Butler. Right. Butler basically
called out the team's defensive focus, calling
it just sad. He said, and I'm quoting here, I
don't care about offense, we need to guard somebody.
He challenged the entire team to care more about
the details on defense. And the logic there is
clear, right? Without Steph's gravity and elite
shooting, the Warriors lose their margin for
error on offense. If they want to win games while
he's out, the team defense has to step up immediately
to compensate. Absolutely. And finally, let's
talk about the Sacramento Kings, who are in a
deep slide. They lost 128 -119 to the Utah Jazz,
which snapped a nine -game winning streak against
them. And that loss drops the Kings to a really
surprising and frankly alarming 5 -15 record.
Another game where poor defense and a lack of
pace control were the main culprits. Zach Levine
actually broke out of his slump with 34 points,
and Russell Westbrook got his 206th career triple
-double. Which is just casual for him at this
point, 16 -14 -12. The team allowed Utah to dictate
the pace, and they just got run out of the building.
You saw it happen in real time. Utah had a massive
20 -2 run in the second quarter, and then a 10
-2 run to end the third. When you have a 5 -15
record this early, even considering they've had
the league's toughest schedule, it signals one
thing to everyone else. Trade activity is coming.
It has to be. When a team underperforms this
badly, you have to look at shaking things up.
Reports say they'll look to move some of those
big veteran contracts to bring in better defenders
or more consistent shooters. That record, schedule
or not, is just unsustainable. All right, let's
shift from the pros to the college ranks, where
the holiday weekend was all about thrilling tournament
finals and one just absolutely soul -crushing
buzzer beater. A buzzer beater that felt like
a horror movie rerun for one particular program.
We have to start with the Ohio State Buckeyes
losing a heartbreaker. 67 -66 to Pitt. The word
everyone used was deja vu. Complete, agonizing
deja vu. And here's why it was so devastating.
The final play was this sideways, deep three
-pointer at the buzzer from Pitts to Markle Miner.
It clinched a sweep of the home -and -home series.
But the psychological twist, the part that makes
it so brutal, is that Ohio State lost to Pitt.
on a buzzer beater the night before the Michigan
football game last year, too. To have that exact
same scenario play out one year later, right
before the biggest rivalry game of the season,
I mean, that has to be just incredibly traumatic
for those players and that program. The game
itself had this really weird, uneven flow. Pitches
dominated early. They jumped out to a 16 -4 lead
in the first six minutes. And they were up 34
-24 at halftime, mostly because Ohio State was
shooting. terribly, like 38 % from the field,
and they weren't rebounding. But Ohio State came
out in the second half and mounted this furious
rally, mostly on the back of Devin Royal. He
scored 17 of his 22 points after the break. They
finally took their first lead of the entire game
with about eight and a half minutes left on two
free throws from Christophe Tilley. They were
finally showing some fight. And Tilley had one
of the weirdest stat lines I've seen. It tells
you everything about their second half strategy.
It really does. He finished with 10 points, but
almost all of them were from the free throw line.
He was eight for eight on free throws, but only
one for eight from the field. That just shows
you they completely shifted to an attack the
rim strategy. They were forcing Pitt to foul
them to generate points. So we get to the final
seconds and Ohio State thinks they have it won.
Tilley misses a layup. But Amara Bynum gets the
offensive board and tips it in. Puts him up.
66 -64 with only four seconds left. Four seconds.
Just enough time for Miner to sprint up the court,
take one dribble, and hit that off -balance sideways
deep three with a hand right in his face. It
capped an incredible night for him. 18 points,
five steals, and it was just a devastating finish
for the Buckeyes. The margin for error in college
hoops is just nonexistent. For sure. Okay, on
to some happier news for the tournament winners.
Colorado was crowned the Accresher Holiday Classic
champions. They beat Washington 81 -68. And this
game was a story of a massive lead and an even
bigger comeback attempt. Colorado was up 47 -30
at halftime. They looked completely dominant.
But college basketball is a game of runs. Washington
came roaring back in the second half, went on
a 19 -4 run, and actually tied the game at 52.
All the momentum was gone. But the mark of a
good team is how you respond to that. And Colorado
held their nerve. They hit some timely late threes
from Felix Casares and McKaylee to pull away
and secure the win. They're now 7 -0. Over at
the Ratty Children's Invitational, TCU won the
championship, beating Wisconsin 74 -63. And this
is a big one for them. Yeah, TCU is now 5 -2,
and they're riding a huge wave of momentum after
upsetting the reigning national champions, the
Florida Gators, in the first round of that tournament.
That upset was a massive statement. And in the
final, they just controlled the game from start
to finish. They opened on a 14 -4 run and never
looked back. It was a real team effort. And finally...
The Missouri Tigers, they cruised to an 86 -59
win over Cleveland State, moving to a perfect
8 -0. This one was a little personal too, right?
It was. It was against their former coach Dennis
Gates' old team, so that added a little emotional
layer to the dominant win. A comfortable victory
for Mizzou. Elsewhere, just to round things out,
the No. 3 UCLA women routed Duke 89 -59, which
was impressive since they were missing their
star center. Lauren Betts. And we saw Mississippi
State fall to SMU in a tough overtime battle
and North Dakota got blown out on the road at
Hawaii. The holiday weekend really started to
separate the contenders from the rest. It really
did. And I think that mental toughness or, you
know, the lack of it, that's really the biggest
theme that runs through all of these results
from the weekend, both in the NBA and the NCAA.
What a weekend it was. The NBA Cup bracket is
locked. The stakes are sky high now that it's
single elimination. You've got the undefeated
Magic and Lakers hosting. The 19 -1 Thunder looked
just terrifyingly consistent. And the Spurs proved
they can pull off a major upset if a team like
the Nuggets decides not to show up on defense.
And we saw those huge gut check moments across
the league. It really highlighted which teams
have that fundamental mental toughness and which
ones like... The Bucs and the Cavaliers are still
trying to figure out how to put in 48 minutes
of effort. And this is where the whole context
of the NBA Cup starts to get a little complicated.
It really does. We look at the Thunder sitting
at an unbelievable 19 -1, and they are the clear
favorites to win the whole thing. Their schedule
so far has been noted as the easiest in the entire
league. By a pretty healthy margin, they've only
played four games against teams that even have
a winning record. And on the flip side, we talked
about the Sacramento Kings struggling at 5 -15.
Well, they have faced the league's toughest schedule
by a wide margin. That's a huge disparity in
early season scheduling. And it's a major factor
in this cup narrative. You have the Lakers, who
also got home court advantage, but they played
the seventh easiest schedule. And Toronto. who
is hosting a quarterfinal game against the Knicks.
They've played the fourth easiest. So this initial
scheduling luck has been heavily tilted towards
some of these group winners. It's allowed them
to pile up wins against weaker teams. So this
brings us to a crucial and I think provocative
question for you to think about as we head into
this single elimination play. Considering that
teams like OKC, the Lakers, and Toronto have
all benefited from these easier paths, what does
this tell us about the tournament itself? Is
the NBA Cup truly a measure of championship readiness,
a test of handling real pressure? Or is it just
a high stakes bracket that, at least in its first
year, is disproportionately highlighting early
season scheduling luck? Yeah. Is it rewarding
teams like Orlando, who've just performed way
better than anyone expected against a softer
schedule? Will that whole scheduling narrative
just vanish when the pressure cooker of a one
and done game hits on December 9th and 10th?
Or will the tougher, more battle -tested teams
finally rise to the top, regardless of their
early record? We are about to find out. Thanks
for joining us here on Basketball Home. We'll
catch you next time.