Durant. LeBron. Harden.

After The Beard joined the club last night, they’re now the only three active players with 25,000+ career points.

Inside today’s edition? History. A lot of it. Some pretty wild passes. An origin story. And a Keanu Reeves reference.

Let’s get your Friday going.

THE LINEUP 🏀

1. 🔥  Must-see from Thursday night
2. 📈  Harden, Jokic and the Big O
3. ⚔️  Fox-SGA duel in Sacramento
4. 🥇  Roundup: Celtics, Wolves still No. 1
5. 😎  The origin of ‘The Matrix’

📺  Lakers-Spurs: 7:30 ET, ESPN

📺  Knicks-Suns: 10 ET, ESPN

📲. 6 more games on the NBA App

1. FRIDAY MORNING MUST-SEE

Slick Moves

• The whole bag: Check out this set of moves from Jaylen Brown: crossover, behind-the-back dribble to shake the first defender, get into the lane, euro around the second defender and finish with the left hand
• Dance on ‘em Malik: Monk showed off the handles, going between the legs three times, before hitting the step-back 3 against OKC
• Kawhi on both ends: The steal, the recovery and the transition slam for Kawhi in LA’s sixth straight win

Amazing Assists

• Deja Vu: Is the 360 kick-out pass for a Coby White corner 3 becoming DeMar DeRozan’s signature dish? The two connected for the sweet dime and swish for the second time this season
• This sequence: It starts with Jokic bringing the ball upcourt, spinning away from Cam Thomas, finding Michael Porter Jr. open on the wing, who finds a cutting Aaron Gordon in the lane for the reverse jam. Put it on repeat

Homages to the Greats 

• KAT Jokic?: Karl-Anthony Towns dropped the no-look behind-the-head dish to Nickeil Alexander-Walker for the slam
• Russ Mutombo?: Come for the volleyball spike block from Russell Westbrook on Chris Paul. Stay for the Dikembe finger wag toward the crowd
• Santa Wemby?: Start your day right with Victor Wembanyama in the tallest Santa suit ever created, and his elf Julian Champagnie, making a gift delivery in San Antonio

2. HARDEN, JOKIC AND THE BIG O

James Harden scored his 25,000th career point on this driving layup in the third quarter

⛵ Clippers 121, Warriors 113
🏀 Recap | LAC 14-10, GSW 10-14

James Harden entered Thursday’s game needing 20 points to become the 24th player to reach 25,000 career points. He finished with 28 points, 15 assists, seven boards and four blocks in LA’s sixth-straight win.

• Active players in the 25K club: LeBron James (39,234, 1st) and Kevin Durant (27,508, 10th) and Harden (25008, 24th)
• Climbing the leaderboard: Harden is on pace to become a top 20 scorer in NBA history this season, passing Jerry West (25192, 23rd), Reggie Miller (25279, 22nd), Alex English (25613, 21st) and Vince Carter (25728, 20th)

If joining the 25K club wasn’t enough, Harden also posted his 20th career game with at least 25 points and 15 assists, tying teammate Russell Westbrook for the third-most such games in NBA history.

• The only two with more: Oscar Robertson (76) and Magic Johnson (36), while Luka Doncic (15) rounds out the top five

Harden wasn’t the only one to make a connection with Robertson on Thursday …

⚒️ Nuggets 124, Nets 101
🏀 Recap | DEN 17-9, BKN 13-11

Nikola Jokic (26 pts, 15 reb, 10 ast) posted his 10th triple-double of the season to lead Denver to the wire-to-wire win over Brooklyn.

• He joined Robertson as the only players in NBA history with 600+ points, 300+ rebounds and 200+ assists in their first 25 games played in a season
• He also joined Robertson (15 in 1961-62) and Westbrook (12 in 2016-17, 10 in 2020-21) with 10 or more triple-doubles in their first 25 games played in a season

But here is where Jokic breaks away from Oscar and Russ in triple-double lore.

• Jokic became the first player in NBA history with seven consecutive seasons with 10+ triple-doubles
• Jokic has increased his triple-doubles each season of his career – 0 as a rookie, then 6, 10, 12, 13, 16, 19 and last season’s 29. With 10 through Denver’s first 26 games, he is on pace to do it again this season (31)

Take a look at the chart below and compare the paths of the top four on the all-time list.

• Jokic is ahead of where Russ and Magic finished their ninth season and still has 50+ games to play this season
• It seems fitting that an explosive player like Westbrook would make an explosive leap up the triple-double leaderboard. With 19 total through his first seven seasons, he put together a four-season run of 119, topping the best four-season run of any player ever (Oscar had 113 in his first four seasons)
• Jokic doesn’t have that eruption like Russ or Oscar in his chart. Instead, he’s steadily improving. And climbing

3. FOX, SGA SHOW OUT IN SACRAMENTO

👑 Kings 128, Thunder 123
🏀 Recap | SAC 14-9, OKC 15-8

De’Aaron Fox knew from Day 1.

Let’s go back to the summer of 2017.

After all three were drafted in the lottery, Fox, Malik Monk and Bam Adebayo went back to the University of Kentucky during the summer to work out and meet the next class of Wildcats.

Among them – but not the most highly recruited – was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

• Fox: “[Shai] was like the lowest ranked out of all the guys. And we go and we play pickup. I’m like, ‘Yo, I think he’s gonna be the best player on the team.’
• “I truly believed that at the time. And then like midway through the season, he ends up taking the starting spot. And now he’s an MVP candidate.”

Last season, both SGA (First Team) and Fox (Third Team) earned their first All-NBA honors.

This season, they’re making their case for repeat selections.

• Both are averaging over 30 points per game – SGA (31.0, 4th in NBA) and Fox (30.1, 6th)
• Those averages got a boost on Thursday night

In their first meeting this season (Fox was hurt when SAC and OKC met in November), the star guards had dueling 40+ point games as Fox and the Kings prevailed at home.

• Fox (41 pts, 7 ast, 5 3s) had 27 of his 41 in the second half as the league’s top fourth-quarter scorer and defending Clutch Player of the Year delivered late
• SGA (43 pts, 6 reb, 9 ast) generated over half of OKC’s offense, scoring 43 on his own and creating another 24 with his nine assists

4. ROUNDUP: CELTICS, WOLVES TIED AT THE TOP

🍀 Celtics 116, Cavs 107
🏀 Recap | BOS 18-5, CLE 13-12

• Jayson Tatum (27 pts, 11 reb, 3 blk) led the Celtics to a wire-to-wire win over the Cavs to improve to 12-0 at TD Garden and maintain the top record in the NBA (18-5). Donovan Mitchell had a game-high 31 in the loss

🐺 Wolves 119, Mavs 101
🏀 Recap | MIN 18-5, DAL 15-9

• The Wolves kept pace with the Celtics for the best record in the NBA (18-5) as they overcame a 39-point, 13-assist night from Luka Doncic to get the win. Naz Reid led the way with 27 points and a career-high seven 3s, while KAT added a 21/17 double-double
• Check out the best moments from HooperVision with Quentin Richardson, Vince Carter and guest Tyrese Haliburton

🐂 Bulls 124, Heat 116
🏀 Recap | CHI 10-16, MIA 14-11

• Coby White (26) led four Bulls with 20+ points as Chicago got the wire-to-wire win over Miami. The Bulls opened the game 33-8, the Heat responded with a 26-7 burst to cut the lead to four, before Chicago maintained control in the second half

🎷 Jazz 122, Blazers 114
🏀 Recap | UTA 9-16, POR 6-17

• Collin Sexton (27), Simone Fontecchio (24) and Talen Horton-Tucker (23) combined for 74 points as the Jazz withstood career-highs of 23 points and 10 assists from Scoot Henderson. Watch Scoot and THT trade big dunks

5. ORIGIN STORY: ‘THE MATRIX’

Tonight, Shawn Marion’s No. 31 will be retired in Phoenix when the man known as ‘The Matrix’ is inducted into the Ring of Honor during a ceremony following the Suns-Knicks game.

• Great company: Marion’s 31 will be the 11th number retired by the Suns, joining: Alvan Adams (33),  Charles Barkley (34), Tom Chambers (24), Walter Davis (6), Connie Hawkins (42), Kevin Johnson (7), Dan Majerle (9), Steve Nash (13), Dick Van Arsdale (5) and Paul Westphal (44)

Origin Story: So, how did Shawn Marion get ‘The Matrix’ nickname?

• The year was 1999
• A year that introduced us to Tony Soprano and Spongebob Squarepants
• A year that had an average gas price of $1.17 per gallon
• A year that saw Pokemon become a global phenomenon
• And a year that saw ‘The Matrix’ dominate the box office

With its kinetic energy and innovative style, ‘The Matrix’ changed the look and feel of action movies, summed up in one word from Keanu Reeves’ Neo: “Whoa.”

• Marion entered the NBA as the ninth overall pick the same year
• Before making his regular season debut, Marion and the Suns faced the Lakers in a preseason game
• Marion had an incredible sequence with a block on one end and a dunk on the other that led to Kenny Smith saying: “Oh my God, he’s ‘The Matrix’”
• The nickname has stuck for the past 24 years and counting

Watch Marion tell the full story in the NBA App.

And check out some of the top plays from “The Matrix’s” NBA career:

• Top 10 career plays
• Top 10 career dunks