We've thought the Knicks could win the NBA Cup from the outset so not terribly surprised they've made it to the finals at T-Mobile. A veteran team that has knocked on the door in the playoffs, this is a chance to win something for NY and lay the groundwork for bigger things next spring. The Knicks are mostly healthy and the big guns are firing, with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combining for 69 points in the semis win over the Magic on Saturday. Meanwhile we wonder if the Spurs are going to exhale after pitching a near perfect-game when knocking off favored OKC on Saturday, and Wemby, though activated, is likely still on a minutes restriction for SA. Play Knicks (at Las Vegas)

Friday turned into a double whammy for the Grizzlies. First, Zach Edey, whose return to active duty in November coincided with a Memphis revival, was out with an ankle injury. More impactful, negatively, was the return of Ja Morant from his calf strain. Maybe not coincidentally, the Griz has surged to seven wins in nine minus Ja's distracting presence, but upon his return on Friday, he continued his subpar 35% FG shooting (just 7 for 20) in a loss to the Jazz. Simply, Morant is an overwhelmingly negative presence that needs to be traded; in the meantime, we'll even back the Clips, who have had their own issues but did push Minnesota and Houston at the end of their recent road trip. Play Clippers.

Non-sensical, it seems, for Denver to have lost four straight games at home, considering it has won eleven straight on the road! No new injury news on top of Aaron Gordon's absence, and Nikola Jokic was full steam ahead on the just-completed road swing, scoring at a brisk 32 ppg clip across the four wins as the Nuggets reached at least 134 points three of those occasions. Meanwhile it looks like the Rockets have flattened out a bit, struggling in some recent outings and losing their last two on the road at Utah and Dallas. Note Denver handed Houston its only loss in a nine-game stretch in November when the Joker scored 34 in a 112-109 win at Toyota Center on November 21. Play Nuggets

Can the Warriors finally beat the Blazers? A pair of earlier meetings this season resulted in defeats, but Portland wasn't wobbling as much in October when romping 139-119 (Golden State flat after a wild OT win over the Nuggets the previous night). The Blazers had shown signs of sagging before the November 21 win at Chase Center, but at the moment it looks close to a full retreat, dropping six of seven and thumped in the last two at Memphis and New Orleans. For the Dubs, only Al Horford is out, and Steve Kerr's bunch won its last two at Cleveland and Chicago on the recent road trip. Steph Curry also scored 36.5 ppg vs. the Blazers in the two earlier meetings. Play Warriors

Here is a unique intersection of bounce-back and revenge for the Lake Show tonight in Phoenix. Much ado about Lakers defensive shortcomings after LA was shot full of holes by the Spurs in Wednesday's NBA Cup loss at Crypto.com. Moreover, Austin Reaves will be missing this game tonight in the desert. Still, the combo of Wednesday's humbling and a 125-108 home loss to the Suns two weeks ago in LA makes this an interesting psychological spot for the Lake Show. Still to be determined for Phoenix are statuses of Dillon Brooks (who scored 33 in that 17-point win) and Devin Booker, out since that same December 1 game. No matter, revenge and bounce-back both line up on LA's side tonight. Play Lakers

Much is being made about the Lakers' defensive shortcomings, which were exposed again when the Spurs knocked the Lake Show out of the NBA Cup on Wednesday at Crypto.com. Slowness on the perimeter made it tough to keep pace with the rapid-fire Spurs shooters, who kept finding open looks, especially beyond the arc, where they canned 17 triples. Of course the Suns fared even worse on Wednesday at OKC, but didn't have Devin Booker, who might be available tonight. If not, remember Booker only played 10 minutes in the 125-108 Phoenix win at LA on December 1, when Dillon Brooks (likely available) scored 33 and Collin Gillespie added 28 in a game that looked remarkably similar to the Spurs' win at LA. Play Lakers-Suns Over

Not since before Halloween have the Bucks won back-to-back games, which makes us think that Friday's win over the Celtics might prove a tough act to follow. Boston helped by missing 35 triples at Fiserv Forum, and Milwaukee is going to continue for the next couple of weeks, it seems, minus Giannis, now dealing with a bothersome calf strain. The Bucks hit 58% from the floor on Friday, another act that's likely hard to repeat. Meanwhile the Nets aren't playing too badly, with wins in three of five and pushing the hot Mavs into the final minute on Friday, and Michael Porter Jr on a real heater, scoring 33 or more in four of the last five Brooklyn games. Play Nets

Confronting the injury myth here, expecting the improved Sixers to offer some value even if minus some of their big guns. Tyrese Maxey has already been ruled out and there's a good chance Joel Embiid (knee; gametime decision) might not feature, either, but Philly looks rejuvenated for Nick Nurse, winning four of its last five, and here is a chance to shine for sorts like Gs Quentin Grimes & VJ Edgecombe, who have been producing effectively, not to mention Paul George, off of 23 points on Friday vs. the Pacers. Meanwhile, Atlanta is hardly at full strength, still down Trae Young, and Kristaps Porzingis also sidelined. The Hawks have also dropped four of five, allowing a whopping 131 ppg the last three. Play Sixers

The Pacers ran into a hot Joel Embiid (season-high 39 points) and the Sixers on Friday, but most of the recent trendlines are good for Indiana, which had won four of six before the 115-105 loss at Philly. Rick Carlisle is still working on short rations with the injury situation (no Haliburton, no Toppin, no Nembhard, among others), but there are still some valuable pieces available like Pascal Siakam (24.3 ppg) and Bennedict Mathurin (20.3 ppg), and the team having had time to adjust to the absences. We can always go against the Wizards, too, who were flattened 119-96 by the Pacers not long ago (November 28), and are on another losing streak (four) that includes defeats by 19, 45, and 15 points. Play Pacers

Injury news first, as Wemby (calf strain) is slated to return to SA's lineup for the first time in four weeks tonight vs. the Thunder at T-Mobile. Though his presence should be a positive, we're not sure it will be tonight as the Spurs had adjusted nicely to his absence in recent weeks. No matter, this is a much different matchup for San Antonio than Wednesday's NBA Cup quarterfinal win over the Lakers, whose defensive slowness on the perimeter was made for the quick-fire Spurs offense to exploit. OKC, especially with Lu Dort back in the lineup, is going to present a much more difficult challenge. The Thunder is also 24-1 SU this season (just thought we'd mention that note!). Play Thunder (at las Vegas)

The NBA Cup seems made for this version of the Knicks. With new HC Mike Brown pushing most of the right buttons, the NBA Cup has been a motivator for Jalen Brunson & Co, who rolled past the Raps on the road in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night. The current win streak is now at four and includes a win over the Magic at MSG last Sunday when Brunson led the way with 30 points. That Sunday result was important for NY as it reversed a pair of earlier losses to the Magic at the Kia Center in November. Orlando is also minus key F Franz Wagner, though they did top the Heat when minus Franz in Tuesday's other quarterfinal. Play Knicks (at Las Vegas)

Lately, scorelines have been reducing in Orlando games, much like trends from the past two seasons when Jamahl Mosley preached defense and rebounding to keep the maturing Magic competitive. Minus one of the wheel spokes of the offense (F Franz Wagner) and Paolo Banchero slowly working his way back into form after missing nearly a month due to a groin strain, Orlando works on four straight under results into the NBA Cup semis later this afternoon vs. the Knicks at the T-Mobile in Las Vegas. Note the slower pace of Sunday's 106-100 Knicks win at MSG over the Magic and New York's subsequent under in the win vs. the Raptors in the other NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday. Play Magic-Knicks Under (at Las Vegas)

Any NBA "go-with" list at the moment likely includes the Mavs, with wins in four of five as Jason Kidd has started to push the right buttons. Getting Anthony Davis back and in a healthy state has been one of the positives; AD is just off of a smashing 29-point effort in last Saturday's comfy win over the powerful Rockets. AD had scored 32 earlier in December in a win over the Nuggets Meanwhile, 6-9 Duke rookie Cooper Flagg has picked up the pace this month and is scoring better than 20 ppg in December. Granted, Brooklyn is not as much of a pushover these days and has won three of four, but a favorable recently slate has helped the results. Play Mavs

The correlation is too strong...Memphis has surged since a Morant went down with his calf injury. The Griz have won seven of nine, all minus Morant, its best surge of the season, with terrific balance reflected in five different leading scorers across the past five games. Emerging recently has been Washington State rookie wing Cedric Coward, who scored 23 in last Friday's win over the Clippers. Another reason Morant and his distracting presence haven't been missed is that his numbers had tailed off dramatically before the injury' his 35.9% FG shooting is well the worst for any season of his career in which he's been near 47% from the floor. Meanwhile, the Jazz are slumping again with two 30+-point losses in a row. Play Grizzlies

The Rockets have a chance to respond after a poor effort last Saturday in a 122-109 loss vs. the Mavs. Five days off since might prove a perfect re-set opportunity, and Houston has also fared very well off of defeats this season, winning and covering in impressive fashion after their last four losses. The Rockets also were victimized by uncommon 60% Dallas FG shooting last weekend. Importantly, the Rockets are also mostly healthy into tonight. As for the Clips, a few improved efforts lately, and they do have Kawhi Leonard available, but they've lost 8 of their last 9 with Kawhi on the floor, and LA has dropped 16 of 19 overall in a numbing fall from grace. Play Rockets.