76ers open NBA Cup group play in Knicks rematch with Jaylen Brown questionable

Friday's rematch with the New York Knicks counts in the regular-season standings like any other game. It also opens NBA Cup group play for the Philadelphia 76ers, a franchise that has not made it out of the tournament's first stage in three tries. The Sixers go in at 4-1 and in good form, but Jaylen Brown is questionable with left knee soreness.

NBC Sports Philadelphia noted that Philadelphia is 5-7 all-time in the Cup. The Sixers went 2-2 in each of the first two editions and 1-3 last season. New York took both the Cup and the NBA title last season, and Jalen Brunson was named Cup MVP. Philadelphia is in East Group B with the Knicks, Cleveland, Miami and Indiana. After Friday, the Sixers play at Cleveland on Nov. 6, host Miami on Nov. 25 and finish at Indiana on Nov. 27. Each group winner advances to the knockout rounds, along with one wild card per conference. With only four group games, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, so beating New York would give Philadelphia the edge over the Knicks if the two finish level.

Brown's status is the main question. SB Nation reported that he is the only starter on the injury report for the first night of a back-to-back, and that LeBron James and Joel Embiid are not listed. NBC10 Philadelphia reported that Brown has played in all five games, averaging 20.6 points in 36.3 minutes a night, the fourth-highest minutes figure in the league. VJ Edgecombe returned from an abdominal contusion at Indiana and is also off the report. Dominick Barlow, Jabari Walker, Tacko Fall and Ariel Hukporti remain out. On the New York side, backup guard Jose Alvarado is out with a left ankle sprain.

What it means for Friday

The teams are in different spots from opening night, when Philadelphia won 106-100 at Madison Square Garden. The Sixers followed that with home wins over Cleveland (114-106) and Milwaukee (127-116). Their only loss came against Detroit, 106-93, and they won 114-109 at Indiana on Wednesday. New York lost its first three games before beating Detroit and Chicago. Brunson scored 38 in Wednesday's 133-127 win over the Bulls, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. In the opener he had 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting, as the Knicks shot 37 percent and gave up 22 points off 14 turnovers.

The market does not lean on the early records. Across the 12 venues on this site's board, the Knicks are favored on the road. Novig has New York at -113 on the moneyline and Philadelphia at +111. On the spread, Novig lists the Knicks as 1.5-point favorites at -111 and the Sixers +1.5 at +106. The most points available for Philadelphia is +2.5 at -115 on DraftKings, so the line varies by a point from venue to venue. Novig sets the total at 227.5, with the under at -100, while FanDuel has the best under at 228.5 for -110. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.0 to 5.1 percent across these markets, depending on the market. Brown's status could move those numbers before the 4-1 Sixers tip off against the team they already beat once.