Top Stories

The Five: Everything to know entering Week 4

A potential milestone for LeBron, some intra-city showdowns and more mark what to watch for in Week 4.

Brian Martin, for NBA.com

Kevin Durant and Luka Doncic will square off in 1 of the 15 games on Monday night.

Every Monday we will tell you what you need to know heading into a new week of NBA action.

1. Manic Monday and Voting Tuesday

There is no need to check the schedule, your favorite NBA team is playing on Monday night as all 30 teams will be in action on a rare 15-game night around the league.

The decision to have every team play on Monday is a result of the NBA’s decision to hold no games on Tuesday, Nov. 8, which is Election Day in the United States. Rather than following the action on the court, NBA teams will share election information with fans and encourage them to participate in the election.

Not only will Monday be unique with all 30 teams in action, the schedule will roll out a bit differently as a new game will tip off every 15 minutes beginning at 7 p.m. ET with the Hornets hosting the Wizards and concluding with the Clippers hosting the Cavaliers (10:30 ET, NBA TV).

With the games beginning every 15 minutes, that also means games will most likely be wrapping up about 15 minutes apart, so from approximately 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET there will be consistent crunch time action to watch on League Pass. And if you don’t want to worry about swapping feeds on League Pass, check out NBA CrunchTime on the NBA App — an NFL RedZone-like experience with live look-ins on every game, particularly in the closing minutes to make sure you don’t miss any of the top moments — beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

To learn more about Monday’s slate of games, click here to check out a breakdown of all the top storylines.

2. Milestone Watch: Can LeBron ‘pass’ Magic?

In addition to his pursuit of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record (1,107 points to go), LeBron James is chasing another Lakers legend in assists. Entering Week 4, LeBron needs 33 assists to pass Magic Johnson (10,141) for sixth place on the all-time assists leaderboard.

Just last week, LeBron passed Karl Malone for the most games with 20 or more points in league history with No. 1,135 of his career. After the accomplishment, LeBron shared a leaderboard graphic with the caption “Not bad for a pass first guy!” This upcoming assist milestone is more fitting to his basketball instincts, but the truth is there’s never been a better combination of scorer and playmaker than James.

The Lakers have four games this week, which means LeBron would have to average a little more than eight assists per game to pass Johnson this week, which would top his current season average of 7.1 per game (13th in the league).

Other milestones to watch for this week

  • Kyle Lowry needs eight 3-pointers to become 12th player to reach 2,000
  • Devin Booker needs two 3-pointers to reach 1,000 for his career

3. The Temp Check: Hottest & coldest teams entering the week

In last week’s edition of The Five, we highlighted two hot players (Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell) and one hot team (the undefeated Bucks) as they entered Week 3 of the season. Well, all three are still scalding hot entering Week 4: Luka still has yet to score below 30 points in a game this season, Mitchell continues to be the perfect fit in Cleveland, and the Bucks still have yet to lose a game — even with Giannis Antetokounmpo watching their ninth straight win to open the season while munching on popcorn from the bench.

The Bucks remain the only undefeated team in the league with a 9-0 record. Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Heat Check: Cleveland, Milwaukee, Memphis and Dallas

For this week, we’re looking at teams with both a heat and cold check. The heat check still belongs to the Bucks, but they have the Cavaliers right on their tails at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Cleveland enters Week 4 riding an eight-game win streak — their longest win streak since winning 13 straight games from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6, 2017.

In the West, there are a pair of teams riding three-game win streaks as they enter Week 4: Memphis (7-3) and Dallas (5-3). The Grizzlies are just 1/2 game behind Utah and Phoenix for No. 1 in the West, while Dallas has moved two games over .500 and are 1 1/2 games behind the Jazz and Suns for No. 1 themselves.

Cold Check: Golden State

The defending-champion Warriors (3-7) enter Week 4 riding a five-game losing streak are 13th in the Western Conference. Is it time for panic or patience in the Bay Area? Any time a team loses five straight games, a certain level of panic has to slip through. But the Warriors’ championship pedigree should suppress much of that reaction … especially any of it so early in the season.

4. League Pass games to watch: Monday’s free preview

If you’re not yet subscribed to League Pass, Monday night may be the best free trial you ever see as all 15 games on Election Day eve will be streamed for free on the new NBA App. Here’s the full list (all times Eastern):

  • 7 p.m.: Wizards @ Hornets (League Pass)
  • 7:15 p.m.: Rockets @ Magic (League Pass)
  • 7:30 p.m.: Thunder @ Pistons (League Pass)
  • 7:45 p.m.: Pelicans @ Pacers (League Pass)
  • 8 p.m.: Suns @ 76ers (NBA TV)
  • 8:15 p.m.: Bucks @ Hawks (League Pass)
  • 8:30 p.m.: Trail Blazers @ Heat (League Pass)
  • 8:45 p.m.: Raptors @ Bulls (League Pass)
  • 9 p.m.: Celtics @ Grizzlies (League Pass)
  • 9:15 p.m.: Knicks @ Timberwolves (League Pass)
  • 9:30 p.m.: Nuggets @ Spurs (League Pass)
  • 9:45 p.m.: Nets @ Mavericks (League Pass)
  • 10 p.m.: Kings @ Warriors (League Pass)
  • 10:15 p.m.: Lakers @ Jazz (League Pass)
  • 10:30 p.m.: Cavaliers @ Clippers (NBA TV)

The slate begins with No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero and the Magic taking on 2021 No. 2 overall pick Jabari Smith Jr. and the Rockets. The Suns bring the best record in the Western Conference to Philadelphia to take on last year’s scoring champ, Joel Embiid. The Sixers will be without James Harden and Embiid’s status for the game remains questionable as he recovers from illness.

Later on, how about Ja Morant and the Grizzlies putting their three-game win streak to the test at home vs. the defending Eastern Conference-champion Celtics? And, what about the top scorer in the league (Luka Doncic, 36.0 ppg) taking on the third-ranked scorer in the league (Kevin Durant, 31.5 ppg) as the Mavericks host the Nets?

Cap off this epic night with a heat check squad (the Cavs) and the improving LA Clippers squaring off at Staples Center as Cleveland seeks its ninth straight win.

5. National TV spotlight: Must-see matchups

LeBron James and the Lakers take on the Clippers to cap off 2 key intra-city showdowns on Wednesday night.

Wednesday: Knicks vs. Nets (7:30 ET, ESPN) & Lakers vs. Clippers (10 ET, ESPN)

New York and Los Angeles — the two NBA cities to boast a pair of teams — and the intra-city rivals will each face one another on the same night as the Nets host the Knicks (7:30 ET) at Barclays Center and the Clippers host the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena (10 ET).

The two teams that are often seen as the “little brother” in these intra-city rivalries — the Nets in New York City and the Clippers in Los Angeles — both enter Wednesday’s game riding impressive win streaks against their city counterpart.

The Nets have won the last seven meetings with the Knicks, a win streak dating back to Jan. 13, 2021. Since the beginning of the 2018-19 season, the Nets are 12-3 against the Knicks.

Meanwhile, the Clippers enter Wednesday’s game riding an eight-game win streak over the Lakers, a run dating back to Dec. 22, 2020. In fact, the past decade of this city rivalry has been dominated by the Clippers as they are 33-7 over their past 40 games against the Lakers, dating back to the beginning of the 2012-13 season.

Friday: Denver at Boston, 7 ET (NBA TV)

The Celtics and Nuggets each enter Week 4 at 6-3, each having won their past two games to rank third and fifth in their respective conference. Denver is led by the reigning back-to-back Kia MVP in Nikola Jokic, who just passed Wilt Chamberlain for the most triple-doubles by a center (79) and is nearly averaging one through nine games (20.3 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 9.2 apg). Additionally, Denver’s Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are continuing to round into form following extended absences due to injury. Boston has won five straight games against Denver and is one of only two teams (along with Brooklyn) to have two players — Jayson Tatum (30.3 ppg) and Jaylen Brown (25.3 ppg) — averaging at least 25 points per game so far this season.

Reigning Kia MVP Nikola Jokic passed Wilt Chamberlain on the triple-double leaderboard making him 6th of all time.

Friday: Minnesota at Memphis, 9:30 ET (ESPN)

This matchup pits two of the NBA’s most exciting and explosive players against each other: Memphis’ Ja Morant and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards. Much was made of Edwards’ lack of dunks through the first nine games of the season, but he stopped that streak on Saturday with a pair of throwdowns against the Rockets. Meanwhile, there’s been no shortage of highlight plays from Morant early in the season as he’s led the Grizzlies to a 7-3 start.

Related

Latest