Happy World Basketball Day! 🏀

Celebrate the birth of basketball 132 years ago with the best of it from last night — brought to you by Joel Embiid, the LA Clippers, the Boston Celtics and some pretty great GIFs.

THE LINEUP 🏀

1. 👀  Must-see from Wednesday night
2. 🔨  Embiid drops season-high 51
3. 🔥  Roundup: Clippers stay hot
4. ⭐  SGA: LA rook to OKC star
5. 🛡️  Gobert, AD & defensive impact

🌎 World Basketball Day: Today marks the 132nd anniversary of the first basketball game ever played at Springfield College in 1891. Share your basketball stories on social with #WorldBasketballDay

📺 Lakers-Wolves on NBA TV: The West-leading Wolves host the Lakers (9 ET, NBA TV) in a matchup loaded with star power, including two of the league’s top defenders. Tap for the full schedule

☑️ All-Star Voting: All-Star Voting presented by AT&T is now live. Tap here to vote. Already cast your ballot? Every new vote with your free NBA ID gets you another chance to win a trip to All-Star (US & Canada only)

🆔 NBA ID Member Days heads into Day 4 today. Nike x NBA ID members will get a chance to win a pair of custom Freak 5 or KD16 basketball shoes. NPN. Tap for details

1. THURSDAY MORNING MUST-SEE

🔗 Great Connections

• Flip the switch: Embiid went from a sweet pregame moment with his son sitting courtside to dominating the Timberwolves for 51 points
• Got your back: After Jarrett Allen caught Walker Kessler on a dunk in the second quarter, Kessler’s teammate Lauri Markkanen returned the favor on Allen in the third
• Harden x Russ: The connection between James Harden and Russell Westbrook spans three teams and their chemistry was on display on this give-and-go for the Russ dunk
• Jokic will find you: Not sure how Nikola Jokic saw Aaron Gordon, but the Joker found him with the behind-the-back pass for the finish

💥 Great Reactions

• Respect: Luka’s fadeaway over Harden was so nasty, all James could do was give Luka props
• Close-up on LeBron: The and-one finish from LeBron is great. His reaction afterwards is better
• Check the bench: Kawhi hit the spin move into the euro step for the bucket down the stretch of LA’s ninth straight win … and the Clippers bench loved it
• Double up: Jaylen Brown had something to say after he threw down the monster dunk against Trey Lyles. Stay for the replay for the Boston bench reaction

2. EMBIID DROPS 51 ON LEAGUE’S TOP DEFENSE

Reigning MVP Joel Embiid has been simply unstoppable over the past month.

• He’s put up 30+ points and 10+ rebounds in every game he’s played since Nov. 19
• The streak sat at 11 games (tied with Shaq and Moses for the longest of the past 50 years) entering Wednesday’s game against Minnesota

The Wolves would be Embiid’s toughest test, bringing the NBA’s best record (20-5) and top-ranked defense (106.8 points allowed per 100 possessions) into the matchup.

• Embiid passed the test with flying colors. He dropped a season-high 51 points with 12 rebounds to lead the Sixers to a 127-113 win
• Streak continues: Embiid’s run of 30/10 games reached 12 games as he joined Wilt, Kareem, Elgin Baylor and Walt Bellamy as the only players to reach a dozen. Embiid’s the first do it since Kareem in 1972
• Joel 🤝 Wilt: Embiid joined Wilt as the only Sixers with three straight 40+ point, 10+ rebound games. Embiid (7) also passed Bob Pettit for the seventh-most 50/10 games ever
• Streak Stats: During the 12-game run, Embiid is averaging 38.3 pts, 12.5 reb, 5.8 ast, 2.2 blk, 1.3 stl, 57.4% FG, 36.1% 3P, 90.1% FT. He has five 40+ point games and two 50+ games

Embiid didn’t do it alone. Tyrese Maxey added 35 points, five assists and five 3s for Philly.

• Second duo ever: Embiid and Maxey scored 50+ and 35+ for the second time this season (Nov. 12 vs Indiana). The only other duo to do so in a single season was Dallas’ Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn in Nov. 1994

If the league’s best defense couldn’t stop Embiid, who will?

• The next three teams to try:  Friday vs. Raptors, Monday at Heat (ESPN), Wednesday at Magic

3. CLIPPERS WIN 9TH STRAIGHT, 5 CELTICS SCORE 20+ PTS

⛵ Clippers 120, Mavs 111: The Clippers closed the game on a 14-3 run to secure their ninth straight win and longest win streak since 2015-16. Kawhi Leonard (30 pts, 10 reb, 5 ast) and James Harden (17 pts, including these back-to-back step-back 3s) helped LA overcome Doncic’s near triple-double

⚔️ Cavs 124, Jazz 116: Sam Merrill had his second straight career night, scoring 27 points and knocking down eight 3s to lead the shorthanded Cavs (no Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland or Evan Mobley) past the Jazz

🏎️ Pacers 144, Hornets 113: Buddy Hield (25 pts) and Tyrese Haliburton (19 pts, 13 ast) led seven Pacers in double-digits as Indy put up 140+ points for the fifth time and shot 60+ percent as a team for the third time this season

🍀 Celtics 144, Kings 119: Boston bounced back from a tough loss in San Francisco with a dominant win in Sacramento 24 hours later.

Five Celtics scored 20+ points: Brown (28), White (28), Porzingis (24), Holiday (21) and Pritchard (20). The last time a Boston team did that was Jan. 13, 1987: Johnson (22), Parish (22), Ainge (21), Bird (21), McHale (21)

🔥 Heat 115, Magic 106: The Heat caught fire at the end of the first half – hitting their final 12 shots to turn a tie game (36-36 with seven minutes left) into a commanding 18-point halftime lead (68-50). Tyler Herro led the way with 28 pts, 8 reb and 7 ast

🗽 Knicks 121, Nets 102: Julius Randle (26 pts, 7 reb) and Donte DiVincenzo (23 pts, 5 3s) combined for 49 points as the Knicks won the battle of NYC. Check out Jalen Brunson’s pregame routine before he dropped 16 points and eight dimes

🅰️ Hawks 134, Rockets 127: Trae Young (30 pts, 14 ast) became the fifth player in NBA history (and the first since Russell Westbrook in 2017) to record five straight games with 30+ points and 10+ assists. The list: Oscar Robertson (2x), Nate Archibald, Michael Jordan, Russ, Trae

⚒️ Nuggets 113, Raptors 104: Nikola Jokic (31 pts, 15 reb, 6 ast, 2 blk) posted his fourth 30/15 game of the season to lead the Nuggets to their fifth win in six games. Jamal Murray had 20 points in his home country

🐂 Bulls 124, Lakers 108: DeMar DeRozan (27 pts, 7 reb, 9 ast) led eight Bulls with double-digit points to defeat the Lakers for their third win in the last four games. LeBron fell one assist shy of a triple-double in the loss

4. FROM PROMISING ROOKIE IN LA TO SUPERSTAR IN OKC

If you looked closely at the Clippers’ rookie out of Hamilton, Ontario, you’d see hints.

That he had it. That he’d be something special. Maybe not this special, but that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – the 11th overall pick in the 2018 Draft – was destined for a bright future.

• Young Shai: Here’s seven minutes of highlights from his Second Team All-Rookie season
• First Look: Check out this NBA App story with mirror images of SGA plays from LA and OKC … with a look at two of our favorites below

The hesi, the freeze, the 2-handed slam, rookie season edition

The hesi, the freeze, the 2-handed slam … 4th leading scorer in the NBA edition

The summer after SGA’s rookie year, the Clippers acquired Kawhi Leonard (as a free agent) and Paul George (via trade from OKC).

It cost them SGA and five future first-round picks – two of which have been used to add Tre Mann and Jalen Williams (last year’s ROY runner-up) – as OKC has built the majority of its roster through its stockpile of draft picks.

Shai went from promising youngster in LA to face of the franchise in OKC. He made an instant leap in his first Thunder season and steadily improved year after year, leading to his breakout season in 2022-23: 31.4 points per game, first-time All-Star and First Team All-NBA.

When the Thunder host the Clippers tonight (8 ET, NBA App), SGA won’t be the only player facing his former squad. Three of LA’s biggest stars – Russell Westbrook, James Harden and George – spent a combined 16 seasons in OKC.

• Russ won KIA MVP and set triple-double records during his 11-year run with the Thunder
• Harden won KIA MVP and multiple scoring titles in Houston after his 3-year run with the Thunder ended
• SGA’s tenure in LA was even shorter than Harden’s in OKC, but both became superstars on their second NBA team

The Clippers enter tonight’s game riding a nine-game win streak (their longest since 2015-16), while the Thunder have opened the season 17-8 and sit in second place in the West.

5. GOBERT, DAVIS AND DEFENSIVE IMPACT

If the playoffs started today, this would be a first round matchup in the West.

We hear you. ‘Slow your roll, it’s not even Christmas yet.’

Fair. But the opening quarter of the season has been eye-opening for both teams.

• Minnesota is off to its best start (20-6) in the franchise’s 35-year history, leading the West by 2.5 games
• Los Angeles won the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament, going a perfect 7-0 in the closest thing to playoff action that can be had in November and December

Contributions have come from everywhere for both teams – from the ageless LeBron James to the phenomenal Anthony Edwards – but heading into tonight’s matchup (9 ET, NBA TV), we’re turning the focus to the two defensive anchors: Rudy Gobert and Anthony Davis.

How good have they been on the defensive end?

• Blocks: Davis (2.5 bpg, 5th in NBA), Gobert (2.3, 6th)
• Rim Protection: Gobert (47.8% allowed at basket, 2nd in NBA) and Davis (50%, 5th)
• Defensive Boards: Davis (9.2 per game, 1st in NBA), Gobert (8.4, 6th)
• Team Defense: Minnesota (107.5 DefRtg, 1st in NBA), Los Angeles (112.1, 8th)

The Wolves acquired Gobert prior to last season with visions of him bolstering the team’s interior defense while complementing existing stars in Karl-Anthony Towns and Edwards.

• With Towns missing 50+ games last season, chemistry took longer to develop than the Wolves had planned. In Year 2, the two aren’t just coexisting – they’re a Top 15 two-man lineup in the whole league

Davis just entered the top 10 on the Kia MVP Ladder this week. While his offense has fluctuated this season, his defense has been a steady force