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Happy Thursday! A lot went on last night.
Here’s the best of it.
THE LINEUP
- MVPs lead PHI, Den to No. 1 ☝️
- Dame Time goes to another level ⌚️
- Knicks, Nets defend NYC 🗽
- Scores & must-see plays 💥
- Paolo’s World Tour stops in Mexico🌎
📺 Pacers vs. Bucks, 7 ET, NBA
📺 Hawks vs. Magic, 9:30 ET, NBA TV
- LAST 2 MVPS LEAD STATEMENT WINS ✅
There’s a new No. 1 team in the East.
When the season began, the Sixers were picked fourth in the conference. After a 106-103 win over Boston — which hadn’t lost til Monday — Philadelphia takes over the East’s top spot, at 6-1.
Meanwhile, the defending champs left the day the same way they started – on top of the West standings after a statement win over Golden State.
- Joel Em-beast: The reigning Kia MVP stayed red-hot, putting up his fifth straight 25-10 game with 27 points, 10 boards, four assists and four blocks. Oh, and a ridiculously smooth, clutch fadeaway jumper in the final minute
- Maxey on the rise: Rising star Tyrese Maxey shined again with 25 points (including a halftime buzzer-beater), nine boards and two blocks
- Slowing the Celtics: Jayson Tatum (30.5) and Jaylen Brown (23.2) entered the game averaging 53.7 ppg. The Sixers held them to half that average (27 pts)
- Nikola Jokic put up 35 points and 13 boards to outduel Steph Curry, who had 23 points and six 3-pointers – giving him 53 treys on the year, 16 more than anyone else
- Although Steph did get the best of the Joker on this triple
- This is just the third time in their NBA franchise history that Denver has started 8-1 or better: 1976-77, 2018-19
- LILLARD TAKES OVER ON NIGHT OF FANTASTIC FINISHES ⌚️
With Giannis Antetokounmpo having been ejected from the game and Milwaukee trailing late, Dame Time went to another level — and sent Lillard into elite clutch company.
- Lillard scored 18 of his game-high 34 points in the 4th as Milwaukee rallied from 10 points down with 6:22 to play
- Just how clutch is Dame? He now has the third-most 18-point 4th quarters since 1996-97 (16), behind only LeBron and Kobe
- Watch the final 3:10 here
☀️ SUNS 116, BULLS 115 (OT)
Bradley Beal is 1-0 with the Suns. After missing the season’s first seven games with a back injury, one of the offseason’s biggest acquisitions scored 13 points in his debut to help Phoenix get the W in OT.
- Neither team led by more than five for the final 17:30 of the game
- Trailing by four midway through overtime, Phoenix closed the game on a 7-2 run, capped by Jusuf Nurkic’s game-winner. Watch the ending here
- Grayson Allen led Phoenix with 26 points and career-best eight 3s, while Kevin Durant added 25
A couple must-see Bulls highlights:
- Alex Caruso’s ridiculous fake and finish in sloooooooo-mo
- Give former two-time Slam Dunk champ Zach LaVine an open lane and expect fireworks
A Bam, a vet, and a rook delivered Miami its first road win of the season and moved Erik Spoelstra to 19th in coaching wins (708).
- Bam Adebayo scored 16 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter as the Heat held off multiple Memphis rallies
- Kyle Lowry (17 pts, 11 reb, 9 ast) fell one assist shy of his 22nd career triple-double
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. iced the game with a clutch corner 3 with 18.4 seconds left
👑 KINGS 121, BLAZERS 118 (OT)
It took 53 minutes, 24 lead changes and 15 ties, but the Kings lit the beam after it had been on ice with a three-game losing streak.
- Malik Monk supplied the clutch play usually provided by the injured De’Aaron Fox, scoring 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and overtime
- Domantas Sabonis fell one assist shy of a triple-double (27 pts on 11-14 FG, 11 reb, 9 ast), while Portland’s Jerami Grant scored a game-high 38 points
- The first Murray Twins duel saw Portland’s Kris swat away the shot by Sacramento’s Keegan, while the Murray family loved this corner 3 from Keegan
- KNICKS, NETS DEFEND NYC
Before.
After.
The Knicks quieted the buzz surrounding Victor Wembanyama’s MSG debut from the jump. Opening the game on a 13-0 run and leading by 30 at one point, New York picked up its second straight win to move to 4-4.
- Jalen Brunson led three Knicks with 20+ points, finishing with 25, including this deep 3 over Wemby
- After going 0 for his first 7 shots, Wemby finished with 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting, nine boards and a block
One of the breakouts of the young season has been Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas, who entered Wednesday at 28.7 ppg and dropped 14 in the first half…
- But when Thomas went down with a sprained ankle early in the third quarter, Lonnie Walker IV got the call off the bench, scoring 13 of his team-high 21 points in the second half
- After the Clippers averaged 121 over the season’s first five games, the Nets held LA to a season-low in scoring – the second time in a row the Clippers have been held under 100 points
- SCORES & TOP PLAYS ROUNDUP
One must-see play (or sometimes two) from the rest of Wednesday’s 14-game slate:
Anthony Edwards had 26 points, eight dimes, two blocks, an even bigger windmill slam than the big one earlier this week and one casual off-the-backboard slam
What’s the best part of this play: the no-look dime from Tyrese Haliburton or the baseline slam by Aaron Nesmith?
You don’t get a poster from Landry Shamet every day. On Wednesday, we did
Any one of SGA’s 15 buckets could have qualified, so we’ll just link to all of them
Houston’s four straight wins means a double dose of Jalen Green: the Dunkstronaut dunk and the smooth up-and-under
OG Anunoby had 26 points in the Raptors win, including two on this hard-driving baseline slam
- PAOLO BANCHERO’S WORLD TOUR GOES TO MEXICO
Basketball’s a global game. And it’s hard to think of someone taking that more literally than Paolo Banchero this year.
Tonight’s Magic-Hawks game in Mexico City (9:30 ET, NBA TV) will be the sixth country that the reigning Kia NBA Rookie of the Year has played in during 2023.
- Where’s He Played? The US, for 52 games between the NBA and USA Basketball exhibition games. Canada, on Feb. 14. Twice in Spain and twice in the United Arab Emirates for FIBA World Cup Showcase games. Seven games in the Philippines for the FIBA World Cup. And Mexico, today.
Tonight’s game represents the 13th regular season and 32nd overall NBA game played in Mexico – the most of any place outside the US and Canada
- Both teams enter the game with matching 4-3 records, tied for the fifth-best record in the East
- The teams arrived in Mexico City on Tuesday and got to experience a bit of culture. Come for the luchador two-man game between Jalen Suggs and Admiral Schofield, stay for the half-court hook shot by Cole Anthony
The Dime? Or Dame? Thursday’s Bucks-Pacers game (7 ET, NBA TV) also features a showdown between two of the East’s best point guards: Haliburton and Lillard.
- It’s early, but Haliburton’s averaging 11.9 assists per game. To put that in context, only 10 players ever have averaged at least 11.5 assists in a season
- The Bucks were looking to level up late in games. And they’ve done just that with Damian Lillard. The Bucks are 4-0 in games featuring clutch time, with Lillard averaging a league-high eight clutch points on 53% shooting
🏀 FRIDAY: IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT
After the closest regular season night in nine years (min. 7 games), Tournament Night 2 brings the Group Play opener for 13 teams
- Nine Games, Nine New Courts: The Wizards, Pistons, Celtics, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Spurs, Rockets, Kings and Suns all debut their new designs today
- A Few Stars In Action: LaMelo Ball, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Victor Wembanyama, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and the new Clippers big three of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden all play their first In-Season Tournament game
