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Happy Monday! 🌞
Remember how last season ended with most of the West crammed into the standings, fighting for position during the final month of the year?
[whispers]
It may be happening again…
THE ALIGNMENT 🏀
- 🤯 The West gets wilder
- 🔥 Beal loses 43 in return
- 🔭 Unexplored territory for ‘The Land’
- ⏪ Weekend Rewind
- 📸 Stories and photos of the week.
This No. 3 vs. West No. 5 highlights a night of six games, everything in the NBA app, when the Cavaliers and Kings meet on ‘The Land’ at 7 ET. Much more on the Cavs, who just set a new franchise record for best start to a calendar year, in Section 3
1. THE WEST GETS WILDER
Seat belt: Looking ahead to Sunday, a game, a game! – separated the four best teams in the West. Everyone won, resulting in some gymnastics rankings and the closest race in the West in 16 years.
Where are things now? The Thunder and Timberwolves are tied for first place, at 35-15. At 33-15, the third-place Clippers are tied in the loss column, but one game back in the standings with two games in hand. The Nuggets, at 33-16 (three games ahead of Los Angeles), are a half-game behind… but they’re technically in fourth place because the Clips have a better winning percentage.
16 years have passed …as one game separated the top four teams in the West at this point in the season. That year, 2008, saw the New Orleans Hornets, Lakers, Rockets and Spurs within one game of each other on April 12.
How was your Sunday?
Down 23 points, OKC wins in double overtime: With 6:44 left in the third and the Raptors building a lead on the Thunder from the first Q, a three-pointer by Scottie Barnes put Toronto up 76-53. Over the next 18-plus minutes, culminating in Aaron Wiggins’ goal. game-tying layup to force overtime with five seconds left, OKC would go on a 57-34 run and ultimately win 135-127 in double overtime. | Summary
- The advantage of extra time: OKC got 19 combined overtime points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (seven), Chet Holmgren and Lu Dort (six each)
- The tiebreaker: With a 2-2 record against each other this year, OKC’s best record in the Northwest Division breaks the two way tie with the Wolves at the top of the table
Chris Finch named West All-Stars coach: For the first time since 2004, a Timberwolves coach will lead the Western Conference All-Stars after Minnesota’s 111-90 victory over the Rockets on Sunday led by Anthony Edwards (32 points, 22 in the third quarter). Although the Wolves & Thunder are tied in the standings, Finch’s staff wins the All-Star tiebreaker with a conference-best record (24-8). | Summary
Klaw and Beard give Los Angeles 11 of 13: Miami took a quick lead, then another early in the fourth quarter, but James Harden’s final 11 points (3 of 3 from behind the arc) sent the Clippers to their 11th victory in 13 games, 103-95. Harden and Kawhi Leonard each had double-doubles in the win. | Summary
Nuggets recover, stay 1/2 game out: After trailing throughout the first half, Denver rallied in the second behind double figures from each of its starting five for a 112-103 victory over Portland. Nikola Jokic (29 pts) led the way, while Jamal Murray (21 pts, 10 ast) had a double-double. | Summary
2. SUMMARY: BEAL DROP THE MOST PTS OF ANY 2023-24 RETURN
Bradley Beal finished with a game-high 43 points for Phoenix as the Suns defeated the Wizards in Beal’s first game in Washington DC since being traded to Phoenix.
After spending his first 11 seasons in the NBA With the Washington Wizards finishing his career as one of the franchise’s all-time greats, Bradley Beal returned to DC on Sunday for the first time since an offseason trade sent him to Phoenix.
…And lost more points (43) than any other player in his return to his old home this season.
- 43: Bradley Beal on WAS, February 4
- 26: Dillon Brooks at MEM, December 15
- 25: Damian Lillard at POR, January 31
- 25: Jordan Poole at GSW, December 22
- 20: RJ Barrett in NYK, January 20
- 20: Dario Saric in OKC, November 3
Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic added 18 points and the Suns shot a combined 61.4% in a 140-112 victory. Summary | Tribute video to Beal
The highest pace of Wagner’s Magic career: Franz Wagner lost 38 (here is his best work) to lead the Magic over the Pistons, 111-99, and make it three consecutive wins for Orlando. | Summary
Pacers win despite Miller’s career high: Hornets rookie Brandon Miller scored a career-high 35, but Indy, who got a near triple-double from Pascal Siakam (25 pts, 8 reb, 9 ast), took a 26-13 lead in the first and never looked back. for a 115-99 finish. Miller’s 35 marked the most by a Hornets tower since Alonzo Mourning in 1993. | Summary
Celtics defeat exhausted Grizz: Led by Jayson Tatum’s 34 points in just three quarters, Boston never trailed in its 131-91 victory against a Grizzlies team with just eight active players – and 13 on the injury report. Scotty Pippen Jr. led Memphis with 19 points. Marcus Smart, who had to miss due to injury, was given a warm welcome by the Boston crowd. | Summary
Balance and draws propel the Jazz to overcome the Bucks: Six Jazz players scored in double figures, led by Lauri Markkanen’s 21, while Utah grabbed 52 rebounds to Milwaukee’s 32 en route to a 123-108 victory. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 and Bobby Portis scored 27. | Summary
3. UNexplored TERRITORY FOR ‘THE EARTH’
Longest winning streak in the NBA belongs to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are on a five-game streak entering their matchup against the Kings tonight (7 ET, NBA app). How about the best record of a team’s last 10 games? The Cavs and Knicks are tied 9-1. In your last 15? The Cavs are in sole possession of the league’s best record at 13-2.
The last time the Cavaliers They started a calendar year so hot that… [checks notes, clears throat] … they have I’ve never done this before.
Best start to the year ever: At 13-2 since the start of 2024, the Cavs just surpassed the franchise record for best start to a calendar year, eclipsing the 12-3 mark set by the 2008, 2010 and 2016 teams, all led by LeBron James.
- The history: Two of those Bron-led teams, the 2008 and 2010 clubs, lost to Celtics teams headed to the finals. The other? They won Cleveland’s only NBA title
- Coincide: Four Cavs teams have gone 11-4 in their first 15 of the year: 1989, 1992, 2009 and 2022. Two of those teams (’92 and ’09) reached the Conference Finals.
- A little amazing: These Cavs actually lost the first game of the year, falling 124-121 to the Raptors on January 1. Since then, they are 13-1.
Why should I care? Despite the Knicks’ January record, the Cavs are a half-game ahead of them in the standings, in third place at 31-16. Both teams have moved almost in unison: On January 1, CLE and NYK were seventh and eighth in the East, respectively.
Ward off: While the Western Conference race sees a stalemate at the top, that’s true for the second through fifth place spots in the East, where just 2 games separate the second-place Bucks and the fifth-place Sixers.
Opportunity in February? The Cavs entered February with the weakest schedule of the month, with a combined winning percentage of .429 among their opponents, compared to .601 for the Wizards, who have the toughest schedule.
What’s behind the race? On the one hand, Donovan Mitchell is playing one of the best games of his career. Selected to his fifth consecutive All-Star Game, Spida is averaging 32.2 ppg and 8 ppg over his last five games, numbers Cleveland hasn’t seen in five games since LeBron.
- Maximum defense since January 1: The Cavs are tied for the best DefRtg in the league in 2024, at 105.4 points per game. Who are they linked to? You may have guessed it: the New York Knicks
- The Allen effect: While OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson, NBA players leaders in NetRtg (min. 30 mpg) since Jan. 1, have generated headlines with their early success, with Mitchell and Jarrett Allen ranking third and fourth in that same time.
4. WEEKEND IN REVIEW
Register again? Review what happened in the last few days.
Friday
- Russ joins the 25K club: Russell Westbrook became the fourth active player to score 25,000 career points, joining LeBron James, Kevin Durant and James Harden.
- Jokic joins another: Nikola Jokic has had rare company all year. He did it again on Friday, joining Wilt and Elgin Baylor as the only players to score 27+ points, 22+ rebounds and 12+ assists in a game.
- Zion wins the confrontation against Wembanyama: Brandon Ingram’s block on a Victor Wembanyama putback led to a sequence in which Zion Williamson scored the winning layup with 3.8 seconds left, as the Pelicans beat the Spurs, 114-113.
- Zion at Wemby: “We haven’t seen anything like that… he’s an incredible player.”
Saturday
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers achieved a big victory over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
- Lakers end Knicks’ 9-game streak: Austin Reaves took control late as Los Angeles took advantage of a 33-19 fourth quarter to rally and end New York’s nine-game winning streak, tied for the longest in the league this year.
- Lakers 2, Gardens 0: That means two straight games for Los Angeles, who beat the Celtics at TD Garden (where Boston opened the season 20-0) on an East Coast road trip.
- Steph drops 60, Hawks win in overtime: Curry scored the second 60-point game of his career, but the Hawks took control in overtime for the 141-134 victory.
- Historical score: Steph’s 60 made him the fifth player in the last two weeks to drop below 60+, and the sixth of the season. Those five 60+ games are more than we’ve seen in all but two seasons in NBA history, behind 1961-62 and 1962-63.
5. STORIES AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Give me, back to the place where he became famous.
ICYMI …the NBA All-Star Game The starters and reserves are ready. …that’s how they are Panini Rising Stars …Steph and the Lakers led the best-selling t-shirts and merchandising of the season so far… Stephen vs. Sabrina will pit Curry against Ionescu in the First NBA vs. triple challenge WNBA at the State Farm All-Star Game on Saturday night… Damian Lillard made his first trip back to Portlandand K.D. to Brooklyn …the NBA will be associated with Special Olympics Indiana and Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis as part of the 2024 NBA All-Star Game… with Chris Finch coaching West, Doc Rivers and his staff train the Eastern Stars
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