Top Stories

• KAT and Mikal have huge MSG debut games

• LaMelo and Trae duel in ATL

• A former Clippers trainer sues the team for wrongful termination

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Games of the day

Last Night’s Top Games! (link to the box scores of every game from yesterday)

Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds in his Knicks home debut, Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and New York destroyed the Indiana Pacers 123-98. Mikal Bridges also scored 21 points and Josh Hart had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who bounced back well after they were blown out 132-109 in Boston in the NBA season opener. Indiana’s All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton was scoreless and went 0 for 7 on 3-pointers, falling to 1 for 16 behind the arc this season. Lone bright spot Bennedict Mathurin scored 20 points. This was how the Knicks hoped to look on both ends of the floor after the trades for Towns and Bridges. Towns' ability to make 3-pointers had the floor spaced for the team to drive, then with Bridges, OG Anunoby and Hart on the perimeter, the Pacers struggled to get into any kind of offense.

Trae Young scored 38 points and the Atlanta Hawks overcame LaMelo Ball's 34 points and career-best nine 3-pointers to beat the Charlotte Hornets 125-120. Ball made 9 of 14 3-pointers, beating his previous career high of eight. De'Andre Hunter added 24 points for Atlanta. Charlotte never led but managed to tie the game twice in the 4th. Ball scored 34 points in the Hornets' 110-105 win at Houston on Wednesday to open the regular season. Despite missing two starters, Charlotte showed depth with four scorers in double figures. Miles Bridges scored 27 points and Tre Mann had 17 points. Nick Richards had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

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League News

Around the League

• Randy Shelton, a former Los Angeles Clippers assistant performance coach, is suing the Clippers and team their president Lawrence Frank. He was part of the Clippers' performance staff from when Leonard first signed there in 2019, up to 2023. Before that, he was the strength and conditioning coach at San Diego State University, where he worked with Kawhi Leonard. He continued to train Leonard in the offseason after Leonard left for the NBA. So if anyone knows Kawhi, it’s Randy. He claims that the Clippers put Kawhi through "unsafe and illegal treatment, in disregard for Leonard's health and safety and known medical restrictions." Then, after Randy complained about this alleged unsafe and illegal treatment, they targeted, discriminated against and harassed Shelton, ultimately terminating his employment with the team. While this is all alleged at the moment, there are some eye opening things throughout the lawsuit. Supposedly, after tearing his ACL in the 2021 playoffs, Kawhi should have missed around 2 full seasons to rehab due to his previous knee issues, if they wanted to avoid complications going forward. The Clippers instead had Kawhi back after missing only a year, possibly leading to some of the issues we’re seeing now. If everything Randy Shelton says is true, will there be any real consequences for the organization? And how does Kawhi feel about being a part of another organization that doesn’t prioritize his health over what he can possibly bring on the court? Is that why Paul George left? So many questions that we may never get answered. (Here’s the full list of things Shelton has accused the Clippers of)

• Injury Updates: Joel Embiid (conditioning) will miss some time, at least 3 games according to the Sixers. Paul George (knee) hyperextended it during the preseason, and will be re-evaluated later this week. Kawhi Leonard (knee) is out indefinitely, and his recovery might “take longer than expected” according to the team. Kristaps Porzingis (foot) is still recovering from offseason surgery and will miss some games. Khris Middleton (ankle) will miss a few games. Isaiah Hartenstein (hand) will be re-evaluated in 5-6 weeks with a fracture. Dejounte Murray (hand) is confirmed to have fractured it and will miss a few weeks. James Wiseman tore his achilles and will be out indefinitely. Brandon Miller (hamstring) will be re-evaluated in 1 week. We wish all these guys speedy and successful recoveries.

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Fantasy Leaders

Coby White picking up where he left off last year

Overtime Thoughts