Is that Joel Embiid’s music?!

THE LINEUP 🏀

What’s inside today’s edition? 

He’s Back: Joel Embiid returned from a two-month absence to lead Philly past OKC

Nuggets On Top: Another shakeup at the top of the West has Denver back in 1st

WWWWWarriors: Golden State won its 5th straight while ending Dallas’ seven-game streak

Heat Stay Hot: Miami beat NY for its 3rd straight win, inching closer to the No. 6 seed

Zion vs. Paolo: Two No. 1 picks clash with eyes on their first NBA postseason

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Last night’s scores & what to watch today.

Thunder-Celtics (7:30 ET, ESPN): No. 3 in the West vs. No. 1 in the East with Boston clinching the best record in the NBA with a win

Cavs-Suns (10 ET, ESPN): Phoenix’s Big 3 combined for 88 points in a win over the Cavs in Cleveland on March 11. Can they sweep the season series?

1. EMBIID RETURNS, DELIVERS IN CLUTCH AS PHILLY TOPS OKC

He’s Back: After missing two months with a knee injury, Joel Embiid returned in spectacular fashion, delivering a clutch steal and free throws to seal a 109-105 win over OKC. | Recap

Embiid finished with 24 points, six rebounds and seven assists in 29 minutes in his first game since Jan. 30. | Watch the final 3:32

• 🗣️ Embiid: “I thought I was pretty bad … It’s going to take me a while to get back to myself and really trust myself. As long as we win, I think my biggest impact is just being out there defensively.”
• 🗣️ Kelly Oubre Jr. Upon Learning Of Embiid’s Return: “My heart dropped, because I was scared for the other team.”
• Two Of Philly’s Best: After the win, Embiid was congratulated by Sixers legend Allen Iverson, who was sitting courtside

• Shorthanded Thunder: OKC was without its top two scorers – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (quad) and Jalen Williams (ankle) – while still in a historically close battle for No. 1 in the West. Chet Holmgren led OKC with 22 points and seven boards
• Playoff Race (OKC ⬇️): OKC dropped from first to third in the West following their loss and wins by No. 2 Minnesota and No. 1 Denver. OKC is a half-game behind Denver and tied with Minnesota (Wolves hold the tiebreaker)
• Play-In Race (PHI ↔️): The Sixers remain eighth in the East, 1.5 games back of No. 7 Miami and two games back of No. 6 Indiana

2. DENVER BACK ATOP WEST AFTER JOKIC OUTDUELS WEMBY

Nuggets Edge Out Spurs: Nikola Jokic (42 pts, 16 reb, 6 ast) matched his season-high in scoring, but it was Michael Porter Jr. who hit the biggest shot of the night, knocking down the go-ahead 3 with 26.7 seconds left as the Nuggets defeated the Spurs 110-105. | Recap | Watch the final 5:33

• Dunking Joker: Jokic, who entered Tuesday’s game with 13 dunks on the season, added three to that total. After Wemby blocked Jokic twice in the first quarter (and four times overall), Jokic went stronger to the basket
• Quadruple-Double Watch: Victor Wembanyama (23 pts, 15 reb, 8 ast, 9 blk) joined Chris Webber and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players in the last 50 seasons to reach those marks in a game. He finished two assists and one block shy of posting the fifth-ever quadruple-double
• Playoff Race (DEN ⬆️): The Nuggets climb back into first place in the West, taking a half-game lead over both No. 2 Minnesota and No. 3 OKC

Wolves Bounce Back: After having their four-game win streak snapped by Chicago on Sunday, the Wolves held off a late Houston rally to defeat the Rockets 113-106 behind a combined 46 points from Naz Reid (25) and Anthony Edwards (21). | Recap

• Jalen Vs. Ant: Jalen Green finished with 26 points, including a pair of incredible mid-air adjustments while attacking the basket. Not to be outdone, Edwards unleashed a massive two-hand throwdown to put Minnesota up five with under a minute to play
• Playoff Race (MIN ⬆️): The Wolves rise from third to second in the West, thanks to owning the tiebreaker over No. 3 OKC. The Wolves and Thunder are a half-game back of No. 1 Denver
• Play-In Race (HOU ↔️): The Rockets remain 11th in the West, falling three games back of No. 10 Golden State

3. WARRIORS WIN 5TH STRAIGHT, KINGS CLIMB, LAKERS WIN

Strength In Numbers: Andrew Wiggins (23) led six Warriors in double figures – including 14 each from Klay Thompson and Chris Paul and 13 from Steph Curry – as Golden State won its fifth straight while snapping Dallas’ seven-game win streak. | Recap | Draymond’s Clutch Block

• 20+ Triple-Double Trio: With his 20th triple-double, Luka Doncic (30 pts, 12 reb, 11 ast) joined Sabonis (26) and Jokic (23) to mark the first time in NBA history that three players have recorded 20+ triple-doubles in a single season
• Pregame Fun: No better way to warm up than a half-court shooting contest between Luka and Steph
• Playoff Race (DAL ↔️): Dallas remains fifth in the West as they hold the tiebreaker over No. 6 New Orleans, with both teams two games back of the No. 4 Clippers
• Play-In Race (GSW ↔️): The Warriors remain 10th in the West, moving three games up on No. 11 Houston and 1.5 games back of the No. 9 Lakers

Another Double-Up: Domantas Sabonis (22 pts, 20 reb, 9 ast) posted his 58th consecutive double-double and 71st of the season – matching Kevin Garnett for the most in the past 20 seasons – as the Kings beat the Clippers 109-95 to split their season series. | Recap

• Playoff Race (LAC ↔️): The Clippers remain fourth in the West, two games up on No. 5 Dallas and No. 6 New Orleans
• Play-In Race (SAC ⬆️): The Kings climb from eighth to seventh in the West via tiebreaker over No. 8 Phoenix, with both teams one game back of No. 6 New Orleans

Lakers Charge Continues: Behind a combined 69 points from D’Angelo Russell (25 pts, 7 3s), LeBron James (23 pts, 9 ast) and Anthony Davis (21 pts, 12 reb), the Lakers defeated the Raptors 128-111 for their seventh win in their last eight games. | Recap

• Play-In Race (LAL ↔️): The Lakers remain ninth in the West, 1.5 games back of No. 8 Phoenix and No. 7 Sacramento and 1.5 games up on No. 10 Golden State

4. HEAT GET PIVOTAL WIN OVER KNICKS

Heat Win 3rd Straight: Terry Rozier splashed eight 3s on his way to a game-high 34 points to lead the Heat to a 109-99 win over the Knicks. Jimmy Butler (17 pts, 6 ast) and Bam Adebayo (15 pts, 9 reb) combined to add 32 more, while Donte DiVincenzo (31 pts, 6 3s, 4 stl) led NY. | Recap

• Playoff Race (NYK ⬇️): The Knicks drop from fourth to fifth via tiebreaker to No. 4 Orlando, but remain 1.5 games up on No. 6 Indy
• Play-In Race (MIA ↔️): The Heat remain seventh in the East, pulling within a half-game of No. 6 Indy and stay 1.5 games up on No. 8 Philly

Cavs Cruise Past Jazz: Cleveland got a combined 68 points from Caris LeVert (26 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast), Jarrett Allen (21 pts, 12 reb) and Evan Mobley (21 pts, 7 reb) to defeat the Jazz, 129-113. | Recap

• Playoff Race (CLE ↔️): The Cavs remain third in the East, pulling within 1.5 games of No. 2 Milwaukee and taking a 1.5-game lead over No. 4 Orlando and No. 5 New York

Wizards Upset Bucks: Washington got 27 points from Corey Kispert, 23 from Deni Avdija and a career-high 13 assists from Jordan Poole to overcome Giannis Antetokounmpo’s triple-double (35 pts, 15 reb, 10 ast) to pull off the 117-113 win. | Recap

• Playoff Race (MIL ↔️): The Bucks remain second in the East, but had their lead trimmed to 1.5 games over No. 3 Cleveland and three games over No. 4 Orlando

5. ZION VS. PAOLO

The marquee matchup in tonight’s Magic-Pelicans game (8 ET, NBA App) features:

• Two No. 1 draft picks (Zion in 2019, Paolo in 2022)…
• Who both played one season at Duke under Coach K…
• Who both play the power forward position…
• Who are preparing for first taste of the NBA postseason

Setting The Stage: Paolo’s Magic enter tonight fourth in the East, looking to secure a guaranteed playoff berth with a top-six finish. Zion’s Pelicans are sixth in the West, trying to avoid a third straight trip to the Play-In.

Ready For The Moment: Joining a team as the No. 1 overall pick immediately brings high expectations from all parties involved – the organization, teammates, fans and even the No. 1 pick themselves.

• Paolo at his introductory press conference: “There’s gonna be high expectations for myself, that I’m going to hold myself to, and that everyone is going to hold [me] to … I’ve kind of had that my whole life.
• “I’m going to approach it the way I’ve always approached it, have fun with it and really just buy into the team and we’ll go from there.”

That concept of buying into the team is clear to see in Orlando as the Magic have a balanced attack that sees players up and down the roster contribute to their success.

• Paolo leads the team in scoring (22.9 ppg) but they have five more guys averaging 10+
• Paolo leads the team in assists (5.3 apg), but they have four more guys averaging 3+

Coach Jamahl Mosley: “He’s not afraid of those big moments and his teammates trust him to be able to make those big plays. It says a lot about our group … Just the trust that these guys have in each other. It goes such a long way.”

While Zion has been a pro for three more years than Paolo, he only has 33 more games of experience due to injuries that kept him sidelined during NOLA’s last two runs to the Play-In.

Healthy for this season’s stretch run, Zion and the Pelicans have gained valuable playoff-like experience over the past few weeks to prepare themselves for what’s next.

• Pelicans coach Willie Green: “It’s important for Z, it’s important for all of us. These games – high-level, high-intensity games – they prepare you for what’s to come or the games that we want to be involved in and so you learn from them, you learn what works.
• “What can you execute offensively? What are teams trying to do to us? How to get stops, how to rebound, gotta make a free throw. Just the small details, you get these high-level games and they’re fun to be a part of.”