Starting 5: Lonzo Ball returns with a bang

1,006 days since his last NBA game, Lonzo Ball only needed 43 seconds to score his first bucket in his return.

THE LINEUP 🏀
What’s inside today’s edition?
Chicago Shine: Lonzo’s inspiring comeback, Julius Randle’s Wolves debut & a star-stuffed stat sheet
More Ball: Wednesday’s five-game slate delivered a handful of must-see highlights
The Sabrina Shot: Ionescu’s deep 3 with one second left has NY one win from the title
Marquee Matchups: TNT’s doubleheader fuels a jam-packed Thursday slate
League Pass Lineup: Five Thursday games featuring rising stars and budding rivalries
BUT FIRST … ⏰
As we were saying …

Seven games tip off tonight, highlighted by a doubleheader on TNT: Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks visit the 2024 Western Conference champs in Dallas (7:30 ET), followed by LeBron James and the Lakers traveling to Phoenix to face Kevin Durant and the Suns (10 ET).
1. BALL IS BACK, RANDLE DEBUTS & STARS SHINE

For the last 2.5 seasons, Lonzo Ball watched his team from the sidelines as he rehabbed a left knee injury that required three surgeries, including both meniscus and cartilage replacements.
But on Wednesday, for the first time since Jan. 14, 2022, Ball rose from the bench and walked to the scorers’ table. He was checking into his first NBA game in 1,006 days.
Once Ball stood up, the Chicago crowd — and his teammates — followed, giving the former No. 2 overall pick a standing ovation as he took in the moment he’d been working toward for 33 months. Forty-three seconds later, he took his first shot — and splashed.
Ball finished with 10 points, one assist, one board, one block and one steal in his return, while Coby White scored a game-high 23 points to lift the Bulls over Anthony Edwards (16 pts, 3 ast, 3 reb), Rudy Gobert (13 pts, 17 reb) and the Wolves, 125-123. | Stats
Go inside the Bulls locker room as White presents Lonzo with the game ball

Josh Minott posted a team-high 18 points for Minnesota, which saw Jaden McDaniels (12 pts, 5 ast) and Luka Garza (11 pts) also finish in double figures
2. MORE BALL: OOPS, BUZZER-BEATERS & A GERMAN CROSSOVER

76ers 117, Nets 95: Kelly Oubre Jr. dropped a game-high 18 points in the 1st half to help build Philly a 62-56 lead, and the Sixers didn’t look back to top Cam Thomas (17 pts, 2 ast) and the Nets. | Stats
Tyrese Maxey (7 pts, 5 ast, 16 min) led the 76ers in assists, while rookie Jared McCain (9 pts, 7 reb) knocked down three triples before exiting the game after taking a hard fall
Pistons 108, Cavaliers 92: With Cade Cunningham (6 pts, 4 ast, 7 min) and the Pistons’ starters seeing limited action, Simone Fontecchio (18 pts, 5 3s) stepped up to lead Detroit past the Cavs. | Stats

Heat 120, Hawks 111: After beating the Spurs on Tuesday, the Heat picked up their second win in two days behind big nights from Jimmy Butler (game-high 24 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 1 first-half buzzer-beater) and Tyler Herro (19 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast), who combined for 43 points. | Stats
Jalen Johnson (21 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast,
) led Atlanta in scoring, and Trae Young chipped in 10 points and seven dimes while this year’s No. 1 overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher, took the night off
Trail Blazers 111, Ulm 100: In an NBAxBundesliga crossover, Scoot Henderson (game-high 23 pts, 6 ast, 5 reb) and Deni Avdija (18 pts, 3 ast) powered the Blazers past Noa Essengue (20 pts, 8 reb) and Ratiopharm to improve to 2-1 this preseason. | Stats
3. SABRINA’S LOGO 3 PUTS LIBERTY ONE WIN AWAY FROM TITLE

With the game tied at 77 and under 11 seconds to play, the Liberty got the ball to Sabrina Ionescu and let her go to work.
She dribbled down the clock, took a hard dribble to her left, a side step to clear space and rose up from just inside the Minnesota Lynx half-court logo.
The 28-footer splashed through the net with one second left, sealing a 15-point comeback win and a 2-1 series lead for the Liberty, who are now one win away from their first WNBA title. | See the basketball world react
and once she put it up there I was like ‘Oh it’s gonna go in.’” – Breanna Stewart on Sabrina
Stewart fueled much of the Liberty comeback, scoring 22 of her game-high 30 points in the 2nd half, while adding 11 boards and four blocks. She now owns two of the three 30-10 games in WNBA Finals history, while teammate Jonquel Jones has the other.

But this game will long be remembered for Sabrina’s clutch 3, which enters the conversation for the biggest shot in Liberty history – a title long held by Teresa Weatherspoon and her half-court game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 2 of the 1999 Finals – simply known as “The Shot.”
During the NBA TV postgame show,
of “biggest shot in Liberty history” to Sabrina on one condition: “I’m absolutely okay with it. Just go get that thing, you’ve got one [win] to get.”
In their sixth WNBA Finals appearance, the Liberty will play their first closeout game since the single-game Finals in the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1997. Can New York finish the job and win that elusive first WNBA championship in Game 4 in Minneapolis (8 ET ESPN)?
The Lynx – led by Napheesa Collier, who set the WNBA record for most points in a single postseason (249) in Game 3 – will try to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season and send the series back to Brooklyn for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Sunday.
4. THURSDAY DOUBLEHEADER: CONTENDERS CLASH

The second-to-last day of the 2024-25 preseason delivers a packed seven-game slate, highlighted by a star-studded doubleheader on TNT.
Bucks at Mavericks (7:30 ET, TNT): Could we see Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson on the floor together for the first time in the Mavs’ preseason finale as they host Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and the Deer in Dallas?
Go courtside for Mavs training camp where Luka gets the best of Dereck Lively II on the defensive end and playfully lets him hear about it

Lakers at Suns (10 ET, TNT): In a matchup featuring two of the league’s greatest scorers, LeBron James and the Lakers will visit the Valley to face Kevin Durant and the Suns for an early regular season preview.
Los Angeles’ No. 17 overall pick, Dalton Knecht (13.8 ppg), is second on the team in scoring through four games, while the Suns’ No. 28 overall pick, Ryan Dunn (11.0 ppg), joins Durant (15.0), Beal (13.3) and Booker (11.0) as Phoenix’s top scorers
5. LEAGUE PASS LINEUP: YOUNG STARS & BUDDING RIVALS

Thursday also boasts five games on NBA League Pass, including a Texas duel featuring two of the league’s most promising young bigs, a playoff rematch and the Clippers’ second-ever game at the Intuit Dome.
Hornets at Pacers (7 ET, League Pass): After leading the league with 123.3 ppg last season, the Pacers (1-2) are posting a preseason-high 125.0 ppg, while Charlotte (2-2) is tied for the second-most made 3s per game (16.8). Who will outpace who in each team’s final exhibition?
Spurs at Rockets (8 ET, League Pass): A potential matchup between two of the top international bigs in the game in San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama (21.4 pts, 10.6 reb, 3.9 ast, 3.6 blk in 2023-24) and Houston’s Alperen Sengun (21.1 ppg, 9.3 reb, 5.0 ast in 2023-24).

Nuggets at Timberwolves (8 ET, League Pass): A rematch of the 2024 Western Conference Semifinals and an early season lookahead. After ousting Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in seven games in last year’s Playoffs, Anthony Edwards and the Wolves will host the 2023 champs tonight before doing so again in two weeks on Nov. 1.
Hawks at Thunder (8 ET, League Pass): With two games under his belt, Zaccharie Risacher is Atlanta’s second-leading scorer (16.0 ppg) and shooting 44.4% from deep. Can he stay hot against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and the Thunder?
Kings at Clippers (10:30 ET, League Pass): Sacramento’s new trio of De’Aaron Fox (15.8 ppg), Domantas Sabonis (15.5) and DeMar DeRozan (14.0) lead the Kings (0-4) in scoring, while James Harden leads the Clips (3-1) in points (12.8) and assists (6.8). Which team will cap their preseason with a win?