— NBA Cup tournament started Friday night; every member of the winning team banks an extra $600,000, which is a big deal for the subs, maybe not so much for the stars who make $20-30M a year, or more.
— There is an NBA ref Tony Brothers who is in his 32nd season as an NBA ref- he’s worked over 1,800 regular season games, 215 playoff games. This is a guy who should write a book.
— Warriors 112, Lakers 95
Lakers led by 25 points in the first quarter.
Golden State outscored the Lakers 38-15 in second quarter.
Warriors’ bench outscored the Lakers’ subs, 48-5.
— 76ers 98, Knicks 93
Lebron James scored 20 points, had 9 rebounds, 8 assists.
76ers are 5-1, have beaten the Knicks twice already.
Anfernee Simons scored 21 points in 31:00 off the bench.
— Mavericks 116, Rockets 111
Dallas outscored Houston 40-27 in the fourth quarter.
Kyrie Irving scored 35 points, Cooper Flagg 33.
Mavericks shot 52% from the floor, Houston 42%
— Magic 121, Raptors 114
Franz Wagner scored 26 points, had 11 assists.
Orlando made 18 of their 34 three-point shots.
Orlando starters were a combined +68, their subs minus-33.
— Celtics 125, Bulls 111
Boston led 78-49 at halftime.
Payton Pritchard scored 30 points in 35:00 off the bench.
Chicago shot only 38% from the floor.
— Memphis Grizzlies are 5-0 for the first time since 2015.
— Famous birthdays, October 31st:
Brian Doyle-Murray, 81
John Lucas, 73
Mike Gallego, 66
Fred McGriff, 63
Antonio Davis, 58
Steve Trachsel, 56
Piper Perabo, 50
Tony Kemp, 35
— These are the umpires who worked the World Series; umps get a lot of grief, so it s good to give credit to the six guys who earned their way to the World Series:
Dan Bellino, Vic Carapazza, Tripp Gibson, Nic Lentz, Gabe Morales and Jim Wolf.
— Mets 3B Bo Bichette opted into the second year of his three-year contract that pays him $42M a year; he knows no one else is stupid enough to pay him that much. Bichette hit .260 last year, with a .702 OPS; he was much better in the second half of the season than the first.
— Tampa Bay P Nick Martinez opted out of his $20M deal for next year; he banks $4M for opting out, and figures to make more than $16M on whatever deal he signs this winter.
— Brewers OF Jackson Chourio is the only player ever to have two hits and a stolen base in the same inning of a World Series game.
— Houston Astros hired Randy Flores as their new GM; he had been working as the Cardinals’ assistant general manager. Flores pitched in the major leagues for eight years from 2002-10.
— Oklahoma City Thunder has serious injury issues:
Chet Holmgren is out 8-10 weeks mall patellar tendon tear in his right knee.
Jalen Williams has a broken and dislocated ankle, might be out for the year.
Cason Wallace has a torn labrum in his left shoulder, might be out for the year.
— UConn basketball coach Danny Hurley signed a two-year contract extension; he is now signed on through the 2031-32 season.
— Villanova-Notre Dame are playing a basketball game in Italy 9:30 Sunday morning, which tips off the 2026-27 season, before a marathon of games that starts Sunday night at midnight. The marathon games will be shown on YouTube all day Monday.
