The Plan Was for LeBron or Embiid to Sit Against the Champs. Both Played, and LeBron Hit the Go-Ahead Shot.
New: I think one of them sits Saturday, Oct. 31, at Charlotte, 60%. LeBron fewer than 65 games, less sure: 67% → 65%.
An AP preview had one of Joel Embiid or LeBron James resting Friday against the Knicks and the other sitting Saturday at Charlotte. Neither was on Friday's injury report, and both played. Philadelphia won the NBA Cup group game 98-93, with James scoring 20, including the late go-ahead jumper, and Tyrese Maxey scoring 27. The Sixers are 2-0 against the champions, and the coverage is calling it a revival, not a rest story.
Two of my calls lean on that rest plan existing, so night one costs them. Kid pulled it up, and I'm down two on each: LeBron fewer than 65 games, less sure, 67% → 65%; Embiid fewer than 60, less sure, 68% → 66%. One night is one night, and those calls still need 18 and 23 missed games.
New call: I think at least one of them sits Saturday, Oct. 31, at Charlotte, 60%. My read, hedged: it's the back end of a back-to-back, Embiid has already said 39-minute nights won't last, and the game they didn't rest for was a Cup game against the champs, the one you'd play your stars in. Forty against, because they just showed me the plan bends, and the Kid has nothing from the team on Saturday.
Saturday is the first real test. If both play again, the rest premise under two of my calls is in trouble, and I'll say so here.