The Morning Dunk is the perfect hump-day remedy, complete with NBA news, highlights, and betting odds from a wild Tuesday slate.
Embiid Makes Return To Lineup Following Left Knee Surgery
It was a long and grueling process, but for the first time since January 30 after recovering from surgery on his left meniscus, reigning league Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid was back on the hardwood suiting up for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Embiid finished with 24 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and six turnovers across 29 minutes of action as Philadelphia defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 109-105 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Joel Embiid's return gives the Sixers a boost as they beat the West-leading OKC Thunder! 🚀
— NBA (@NBA) April 3, 2024
▪️ 24 PTS
▪️ 6 REB
▪️ 7 AST
▪️ 3 STL
▪️ 29 MIN pic.twitter.com/pnj9P8ZctU
Philadelphia is 14-27 SU this season without Embiid and 27-8 with him.
The Thunder were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (quad) and Jalen Williams (ankle) in this matchup and entered as the three-point underdogs as a result. It was the 19th time this season Oklahoma City wasn't favored, falling to 10-9 SU and 11-7-1 ATS under those circumstances.
Draymond Block Secures Warriors Win, Ends Mavericks' Streak
One winning streak had to end at the Chase Center, and Draymond Green ensured it wasn't that of the Golden State Warriors.
The 34-year-old forward stuffed Daniel Gafford at the basket and followed it up with a driving layup on the next possession to put the Warriors up by eight in the final minutes en route to an eventual 104-100 win over the visiting Dallas Mavericks.
Golden State's streak was extended to five games with the victory, while Dallas' was snapped at seven.
Your reminder that Draymond Green measured in at 6’5.75” at the NBA Draft Combine without shoes and is still doing this defensively at 34 years old in Year 12 pic.twitter.com/IYnt7N9V6g
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) April 3, 2024
Green recorded 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals, while Luka Doncic notched his 20th triple-double of the 2023-24 campaign and 48th 30-point performance for the losing Mavericks.
Doncic currently holds +750 odds in the race for MVP behind heavy favorite Nikola Jokic (-750).
Wembanyama Just Misses Quadruple-Double In Loss To Denver
It's going to happen, folks. It's only a matter of when.
Rookie Victor Wembanyama barely missed out on achieving the NBA's fifth-ever quadruple-double and the first since 1994 in a 110-105 loss for the San Antonio Spurs against the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
The 7-foot-4 Frenchman had 23 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists, and nine blocks in 34 minutes. Jokic scored 42 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for Denver, and was extremely complimentary of Wembanyama afterwards.
Nikola Jokić was asked if he said anything to Victor Wembanyama after dunking on him.
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) April 3, 2024
He said he told Wemby: "If you block one more shot, I'm gonna..."
"But he blocked like four after that, so I didn't do anything about it." pic.twitter.com/dVqQ3W4lww
The Spurs covered the 15.5-point spread and improved to 5-1 ATS over their last six outings.
