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Amen Thompson and the Houston Rockets face Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers to open tonight\u2019s ESPN doubleheader.<\/p>\n
Enjoy the best of\u00a0Wednesday\u2019s slate<\/a>\u00a0with the NBA.com live blog, featuring all of the meaningful moments, performances, observations, news, notes and highlights from around the league.<\/p>\n What we know about Wednesday night\u2019s games:<\/p>\n Our ESPN doubleheader features Rockets-Cavaliers (7 ET<\/a>), as two of the league\u2019s top teams square off, and Knicks-Mavericks (9:30 ET<\/a>). 6:30 PM \/ NOVEMBER 19, 2025<\/p>\n Kon Knueppel is money<\/p>\n Kon Knueppel (17.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 40.2 3PT%) has risen to No. 1 in the latest Kia Rookie Ladder,<\/a> earning the spotlight ahead of tonight\u2019s game against the Pacers.<\/p>\n Knueppel\u2019s been a steadying force for the Charlotte Hornets in his rookie season, both on and off the court.<\/p>\n He\u2019s strong and sturdy on the drive, showing off a polished handle, considered footwork and some athletic pop, which compliments his ever-present shooting touch.<\/p>\n Kon\u2019s 11th in the NBA in 3-pointers made this season with 45 \u2014 just behind teammate Miles Bridges \u2014 and first among rookies, routinely sending Hornets play-by-play man Eric Collins into ecstatics.<\/p>\n His stroke is repeatable and comfortable, with little wasted motion. Check how straight his guide arm is \u2014 there\u2019s clean backspin on his heat-seeking missile of a shot.<\/p>\n On.a team with plenty of talented scorers, Knueppel\u2019s found a role as a complimentary outlet, finding ways to get buckets in the flow of the offense.<\/p>\n Along with Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner, he\u2019s part of a youth movement that\u2019s lifted the Hornets. They look to get rolling again and snap a three-game losing streak tonight against the Indiana Pacers (7 ET<\/a>).<\/p>\n 6:00 PM \/ NOVEMBER 19, 2025<\/p>\n Rockets-Cavs highlights a nine-game NBA night Kevin Durant and the Rockets face the Cavaliers in the opening half of tonight\u2019s ESPN doubleheader.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got a dynamite ESPN doubleheader for you tonight, featuring Kevin Durant and the new-look Rockets facing Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs (7 ET<\/a>), followed by Knicks-Mavericks (9:30 ET<\/a>).<\/p>\n The Rockets, who are looking for their 10th win in 11 games, have shot to the top of the NBA\u2019s offensive rating rankings at 123.4.<\/p>\n Durant (25.9 ppg, 51.0 FG%) has gelled with Alperen Sengun (23.0 ppg, 10.3 reb, 7.4 ast, 1.2 stl, 1.0 blk) and Amen Thompson (17.3 ppg, 6.1 reb, 5.2 ast, 1.2 stl) to form one of the top trios in the league.<\/p>\n KD had particular praise for Sengun after he put up a 30-point, 12-rebound, 8-assist effort in Sunday\u2019s 117-113 victory over the Magic.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve played with a lot of specialists as big men \u2014 guys that do a great job of screening, rebounding, being physical \u2014 but nobody who can score quite like that,\u201d said Durant. \u201cNo disrespect to the players I\u2019ve played with, but I\u2019m sure they feel the same way \u2014 that\u2019s how good Alpi is.\u201d<\/p>\n Sengun reciprocated in his remarks, noting their building chemistry and Durant\u2019s unselfish will to win.<\/p>\n \u201cWe trust each other a lot,\u201d said Sengun. \u201cIt\u2019s going to get better and better\u2026 We have a whole season.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cavaliers have steadily risen to second in the Eastern Conference at 10-5, led by Mitchell\u2019s scoring brilliance and a stalwart defense.<\/p>\n Cleveland\u2019s posted the seventh-best defensive rating in the league at 112.8, backing Mitchell, who is averaging 30.9 ppg \u2014 the highest mark of his career \u2014 while shooting 50.9 percent from the field.<\/p>\n They\u2019re also forcing 17.4 turnovers per game \u2014 third in the Association.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s room to grow,\u201d Mitchell said after a 118-106 win over the Bucks on Monday. \u201cWe\u2019re in a good place, and we\u2019re going to continue to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n Who will take a step towards the top tonight? Check it out on ESPN.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s tonight\u2019s complete schedule:<\/p>\n Houston Rockets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 7 ET, ESPN<\/a>
\nThe Thunder are looking to win their seventh straight and run their record to 15-1 tonight against the Kings (8:30 ET<\/a>).
\nThe Raptors are looking for their fifth straight victory as they take on the Philadelphia 76ers (7 ET<\/a>).
\nJared McCain, Bam Adebayo and Jabari Smith Jr. are available tonight. Zion Williamson and Jalen Brunson are questionable.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2246927985.jpg\")
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\nCharlotte Hornets vs. Indiana Pacers, 7 ET<\/a>
\nToronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 7 ET<\/a>
\nGolden State Warriors vs. Miami Heat, 7:30 ET<\/a>
\nWashington Wizards vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 8 ET<\/a>
\nDenver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans, 8 ET<\/a>
\nSacramento Kings vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 8:30 ET<\/a>
\nNew York Knicks vs. Dallas Mavericks, 9:30 ET, ESPN<\/a>
\nChicago Bulls vs. Portland Trail Blazers, 10 ET<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amen Thompson and the Houston Rockets face Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers to open tonight\u2019s ESPN doubleheader. Enjoy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,87824,87825,105,87826],"class_list":{"0":"post-142582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-kevin-durant","11":"tag-rockets-cavaliers","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-warriors-heat"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}