The word of the day? Clutch
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📝TODAY’S LINEUP
🍿 Wednesday’s Must-See
⭐ C’s, Bucks, Mavs Win Shorthanded
⌛ Knicks, Magic Pick Up Clutch Wins
📙 Book Back, Suns Snap MIN Streak
📺 Thursday NBA TV Doubleheader
🌆 Nets at Heat, 7:30 ET, NBA TV
⛈️ Thunder at Warriors, 10 ET, NBA TV
🏆 Tournament Returns on Friday
- MUST-SEE 👀
Paolo Banchero wins it for Orlando.
Start your day right with some of the best moments from Wednesday night:
- A wild finish between the Magic and Bulls in Chicago. LaVine for the tie … Paolo for the win
- Another LeBron milestone: With a left wing triple late in the first half, LeBron James passed Jason Terry for eighth all-time in 3-pointers made (2,283)
- The Wolves may have had their seven-game win streak snapped, but no one is stopping the Anthony Edwards highlight streak after this acrobatic euro step layup
- Welcome back Book: In his return game after missing the last five, Devin Booker dropped 31 points, including this tough and-one
- De’Aaron Fox has needed a combined nine seconds to score his first bucket in each of the past two games – three seconds into Wednesday’s game at L.A., six seconds Monday vs. Cleveland
- Another night, another logo triple for Damian Lillard
- The banks in Toronto stayed open late for this Malik Beasley used the glass to beat the buzzer with one of his eight 3s on the night
- Before tonight, the last time seven road teams notched wins on an eight-game night was Feb. 27, 2022
- CELTICS, BUCKS, MAVS WIN WHILE MISSING STARS ⭐
Just like that, the Celtics are back atop the East.
With All-Stars in street clothes, the Celtics, Bucks and Mavericks embodied the “next man up” mentality on Wednesday night.
🍀 Celtics 117, Sixers 107
🏀 Recap
- Derrick White scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, while Jayson Tatum added 10 of his 29, as the Celtics held off the Sixers despite not having Jaylen Brown or Kristaps Porzingis
- Leading by five with just over a minute to play, White drove the lane, drew the defense and kicked it out to a wide-open Tatum for the dagger 3
- Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey each scored 20 for Philly, playing on the second night of a back-to-back and third game in four days
Dame accounted for 72 points on Wednesday.
🦌 Bucks 128, Raptors 112
🏀 Recap
- With Giannis Antetokounmpo missing his first game of the season (strained calf), Damian Lillard and Malik Beasley led the Bucks past the Raptors
- Lillard scored a game-high 37 points and created another 35 with his season high 13 assists
- Beasley posted season-highs of 30 points and eight 3-pointers made, with six of those 3s assisted by Dame
🐴 Mavs 130, Wizards 117
🏀 Recap
- The Mavericks joined the Nuggets and Celtics as the first teams to nine wins this season, and did so without Kyrie Irving (foot)
- Tim Hardaway Jr. had his best game of the season, scoring a game-high 31 and knocking down seven 3s. Hardaway and Luka Doncic combined for 43 of their 57 points in the first half
- KNICKS, MAGIC GET CLUTCH WINS
Splash.
🗽 Knicks 116, Hawks 114
🏀 Recap
- Jalen Brunson finished third in the voting for Clutch Player of the Year award last season. Performances like Wednesday will have him in contention again
- Trailing by seven with 5:20 to play, Brunson and Immanuel Quickley took over — scoring a combined 18 clutch points — as New York closed the game on a 22-13 run to defeat the Hawks
- Julius Randle continued his hot streak, posting his fifth straight 20+ point game with a game-high 29. He added 10 boards and eight assists.
🔮 Magic 96, Bulls 94
🏀 Recap
- Magic rookie Anthony Black missed a free throw with 14 seconds left and a chance to give Orlando a four-point lead and ice the game
- Zach LaVine made them pay, knocking down his fourth 3-pointer of the night to tie the game with 7.5 seconds left
- With Black on the sideline, thinking his miss would mean overtime, Paolo Banchero called game, backing down Alex Caruso and hitting a turnaround jumper that dropped after a friend bounce
- BOOKER RETURNS AS SUNS SNAP WOLVES’ STREAK
KD & Book celebrate a big W.
☀️ Suns 133, Timberwolves 115
🏀 Recap
- Devin Booker and Kevin Durant put up 31 points apiece as Phoenix snapped Minnesota’s seven-game win streak
- This was the first time this season — and fourth time since becoming teammates (regular season and playoffs) — that Booker and Durant each scored 30+ in the same game. The Suns are 4-0 in those games.
- Booker returned after missing Phoenix’s last five games. He’s dropped 30 or more points in every game he’s played this season.
Sabonis throws down.
👑 Kings 125, Lakers 110
🏀 Recap
- The Kings earned their fourth straight win in wire-to-wire fashion in L.A., jumping out to a 20-point lead in the first quarter, and surviving a Lakers’ fourth-quarter rally.
- Domantas Sabonis (29 pts, 16 reb, 7 ast) paced the Kings, while De’Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter each added 28.
- At 38, LeBron James (28 pts, 10 reb, 11 ast) became the second-oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double (Karl Malone, 40), while also breaking a tie with Jason Kidd for fifth place all-time (108).
⚔️ Cavaliers 109, Blazers 95
🏀 Recap
- Donovan Mitchell posted his fifth 30-plus point game of the season, scoring 17 in each half to finish with 34 in Cleveland’s win over Portland.
- Evan Mobley put up his second 20/10 game of the season with 21 points and 12 boards.
- THURSDAY NBA TV DOUBLEHEADER
Flex on ’em, Bam.
📺 7:30 ET, NBA TV
‘Never forget where you came from, and never lose sight of where you are going.’
- Bam Adebayo had those words engraved on a metal plate and placed near the bottom of a framed picture he keeps of the single-wide trailer he grew up in North Carolina.
- That mindset goes hand-in-hand with the core pledge of Heat Culture.
Tonight, the Heat look to push their win streak to seven games (their longest since 2017) as they host the Nets, and Adebayo’s defense will be one of the keys to watch.
- In his seventh season, Adebayo is already a four-time All-Defensive selection, thanks in large part to his ability to defend all five positions.
- He’s elite at protecting the rim, while also being a menace to smaller players on the perimeter.
Brooklyn will test that versatility with the league’s seventh-ranked offense that is great in transition and from beyond the arc – ranked in the top five in both categories.
- It’s the type of opponent that requires defenders that can cover 94 feet. And Adebayo is one of the best.
Chet & Klay.
📺 10 ET, NBA TV
One of the NBA’s other hottest teams takes on the Warriors in the NBA TV nightcap.
After a slow start, the Thunder are rolling. (Pun intended)
- The run started 10 days ago, just after a Stephen Curry game-winner sent the Warriors to a 141-139 win over the Thunder … and OKC to a 3-3 start.
- Since then, the Thunder have rattled off four of five.
- The Warriors are on a four-game losing streak entering Thursday, with Curry (knee) out and Draymond Green suspended for five games for escalating an on-court alteration against the Timberwolves on Tuesday.
