Hey Luka, how do you celebrate doing something only LeBron & MJ have done before?
Luka:
Want to get the Starting 5 delivered to you each day? Tap here.
THE LINEUP 🏀
- Bron, Lakers win KD, Suns duel 👑
- Luka joins elite company 🪄
- Three win streaks hit 5+ games 🔥
- Cavs-Dubs lead Saturday’s 4️⃣ games
- On This Day: Dirk top 🌎 scorer📺 Cavs-Warriors, 8:30 ET, NBA TV📱 3 more games in NBA App📈 In-Season Tournament Standings
- BIG 4TH HELPS LEBRON WIN LATEST DUEL WITH DURANT
🌇 LAKERS 122, SUNS 119
🏆 West Group A: LAL 1-0, PHX 0-1
Round 37 of the LeBron vs. KD rivalry might have played out on a brand-new stage: a purple court in Phoenix, with both players making their In-Season Tournament debuts …
But when it was done, the two greats had added another brilliant chapter to their 16-year history.
- The Duel: LeBron’s 32 and Durant’s 38 marked the eighth time in the regular season (and 14th overall) that LeBron and KD each scored 30+ when facing one another. Watch Friday’s duel highlights here
- Coming into the game, their 65,973 combined points marked the second-largest head-to-head point total in history – second only to MJ and Karl Malone in 2003 (67,365)
- Trailing by 11 late in the third, the Lakers used a 16-4 run to take the lead for good on an Austin Reaves fast break layup with 9:45 to play
- L.A. pushed the lead to seven, but the Suns kept fighting back, making it a one-possession game five different times down the stretch
- But the Lakers always had an answer, capped off by a Cam Reddish corner 3 with 1:10 after four offensive rebounds. Watch the final 5:24 here
Bradley Beal scored 24 in his second game with Phoenix.
- LUKA JOINS ELITE COMPANY IN MAVS WIN
Make it a table for three.
With 44 points in Dallas’ win over the Clippers, Luka Doncic joined LeBron James and Michael Jordan as the only players since the NBA/ABA merger with more than 30 games of 40 points at the age of 25 or younger.
🐴 MAVERICKS 144, CLIPPERS 126
🏆 West Group B: DAL 1-1, LAC 0-1
- Luka shot 81% from the field, including 6-for-9 from 3, in another big performance against the Clips
- When you join His Airness on a historic list, you might as well hit the MJ shrug after making your sixth 3 of the night
- The game turned on a 35-4 run by Dallas over eight minutes spanning the first and second quarters, turning a 12-point deficit into a 19-point lead
🍀 CELTICS 121, NETS 107
🏆 East Group C: BOS 1-0, BKN 1-1
- The Celtics are 1-0 on their new court, winning their Group Play opener behind 28 points from Jaylen Brown and 23 from Jayson Tatum, as Boston stopped a two-game skid
🐝 HORNETS 124, WIZARDS 117
🏆 East Group B: CHA 1-0, WAS 0-2
- Gordon Hayward (27 pts, 9 ast, 4 stl) led three Hornets with 20+ points as Charlotte overcame a 16-point deficit to win their Group Play opener
👑 KINGS 105, THUNDER 98
🏆West Group C: SAC 1-0, OKC 0-2
- It took Domantas Sabonis only 102 games to break the Sacramento-era Kings record with his 15th triple-double (17 pts with a hammer dunk, 13 reb, 13 ast). Kevin Huerter (28) and Keegan Murray (24 with a poster) combined for 52 to overcome SGA’s game-high 33
🎷 JAZZ 127, GRIZZLIES 121 (WEST A)
🏆 West Group A: UTA 1-0, MEM 0-2
- The Jazz built a 21-point third-quarter lead, watched it evaporate, then got a clutch 3 from Jordan Clarkson to hold off Desmond Bane (37 pts, 8 ast, 7 3s) and the Grizzlies
- TRIO OF TEAMS EXTEND WIN STREAKS TO 5+ GAMES
The Sixers, Timberwolves and Rockets entered their first Group Play games hot. They left even hotter, extending their win streaks to seven, five and five games, respectively.
🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔 SIXERS 114, PISTONS 106
🏆East Group A: PHI 1-0, DET 0-1
- Double-doubles by Joel Embiid (33 pts, 16 reb) and Tyrese Maxey (29 pts, 11 ast) led Philly to the Group Play win. With their two-man game developing nicely, Philly won its seventh straight
🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺 T-WOLVES 117, SPURS 110
🏆West Group C: MIN 1-0, SAS 0-1
- The KAT and the Ant (57 combined points) bested Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs in the Group Play opener for both teams, pushing Minnesota’s win streak to five
- Wemby’s tournament debut began with a flying dunk and block on back-to-back possessions. He finished with 29 points, nine boards and four blocks, including one on fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert before swapping jerseys postgame
- The HooperVision crew called Wemby’s dunk “Space Jam Monstars activity” and raved about “superstar” Anthony Edwards
🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 ROCKETS 104, PELICANS 101
🏆West Group B: HOU 1-0, NOP 0-1
- The Rockets closed the game on an 11-3 run – including the go-ahead 3 by Fred VanVleet – to push their win streak to five in a row. Jalen Green (25) and Alperen Sengun (24, including this sweet move) combined for 49 in the win
- CAVS-DUBS HEADLINES SATURDAY’S 4️⃣ GAMES
📺 CAVALIERS AT WARRIORS: 8:30 ET, NBA TV
On Nov. 5, 2023, Cleveland did something it had not done in 2506 days – beat Golden State.
- The Cavs snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Warriors, dating back to Christmas Day 2016, spanning 12 regular-season and four Finals losses
- Tonight, the Cavs will try to get their second win over the Warriors in six days
- Golden State (6-3) and Cleveland (3-5) are both coming off Wednesday road losses: the Cavs against the Thunder and the Warriors against the Nuggets
Matchup to watch: Donovan Mitchell vs. Steph Curry
- Mitchell had 31 points and five 3-pointers in Cleveland’s win over Golden State last Sunday. That’s the most points and most 3s he’s ever made in 18 career games against the Warriors
- Curry has a 68.4% true shooting percentage against the Cavs in 22 career regular-season games – his highest against any opponent
Saturday’s three games available on the NBA App:
📲 Bucks at Magic: 6 ET
📲 Raptors at Celtics: 7 ET
📲 Heat at Hawks: 7:30 ET
- ON THIS DAY: DIRK BECOMES TOP INTERNATIONAL SCORER 🌎
It was a simple catch-and-shoot jumper from 19 feet. A shot he had made countless times.
But this one held massive significance.
- With those two points, Dirk Nowitzki passed Hakeem Olajuwon to become the highest-scoring international player in NBA history
- It happened on this day nine years ago (Nov. 11, 2014), in a 106-98 Mavericks’ win over the Kings
- The record-breaking moment came early in Dirk’s 17th NBA season. He continued to add to the record for four more seasons, becoming the first international player to surpass 30,000 points
Dirk ended his Hall of Fame career with 31,560 points. That’s not only more than any international player has scored, it’s more than all but five players ever.
- Here’s the list: No. 5 Michael Jordan, No. 4 Kobe Bryant, No. 3 Karl Malone, No. 2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and No. 1 LeBron James
Top 10 All-Time International Scorers
- 🇩🇪 Dirk Nowitzki: 31560
- 🇳🇬 Hakeem Olajuwon: 26946
- 🇫🇷 Dominique Wilkins: 26668
- Tim Duncan: 26496
- 🇯🇲 Patrick Ewing: 24815
- 🇪🇸 Pau Gasol: 20894
- 🇫🇷 Tony Parker: 19473
- 🇵🇦 Rolando Blackman: 17623
- 🇿🇦 Steve Nash: 17387
- 🇬🇷 Giannis Antetokounmpo: 16505
Giannis and Kyrie Irving are the only two active players even halfway to reaching the benchmark set by Dirk.
Top 5 Active Scorers Born Outside the US
- 🇬🇷 Giannis Antetokounmpo: 16505
- 🇦🇺 Kyrie Irving: 15834
- 🇲🇪 Nikola Vucevic: 14147
- 🇩🇴 Al Horford: 13640
- 🇷🇸 Nikola Jokic: 12316
We can’t talk about Dirk scoring, without showcasing some of his signature moments and, of course, his signature one-legged fadeaway that helped him rack up all those points.
