Starting 5: Spurs roll to 11 straight, big nights around the NBA

The Alien’s looking up. Castle’s in the sky.

The Spurs stretch their streak to 11 straight with a dominant Emirates NBA Cup win over Golden State.

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5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

Spurs On Fire: Win streak puts San Antonio to top of West Group C and tied for overall West standings

Buckets Galore: Franz Wagner, Alperen Sengun carry their respective squads with big nights

Cade’s Cool: Cade Cunningham follows up his 52-point explosion against Giannis and the Heat tonight on NBA TV

The Wolves’ Den: Enjoy an inside look at Timberwolves’ game day

First Impressions: NBA veteran Jamal Crawford shares 10 thoughts on the young season

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BUT FIRST … ⏰

Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons head to Miami for an NBA TV matchup. Can Cunningham continue his hot form after Thursday’s 52-point effort? More on that in Section 3.

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1. SPURS KEEP STREAKING, PACERS OUTLAST KNICKS, HEAT SIZZLE

Spurs 123, Warriors 85 (West C): San Antonio extended the longest winning streak in the NBA this season behind Stephon Castle (32 pts, 5 3PM), taking a wire-to-wire victory while holding Golden State to a season-low 85 points. | Recap

• Spirited Start: The Spurs opened the game on an 18-0 run — the largest run to start a game in franchise history in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98)
• Keep Riding: San Antonio matched its longest winning streak of last season with the triumph

Pacers 106, Knicks 104 (East B): Karl-Anthony Towns (23 pts, 15 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl) had a chance to tie it with a turnaround jumper at the buzzer, but it bounced off the rim, preserving a win for the Pacers over the rival Knicks. | Recap

• Talk of the Towns: Towns put up his 12th consecutive double-double to start the season, surpassing Willis Reed (11) for second-most in team history. Walt Bellamy (13) is the only Knick with more

Heat 133, Cavaliers 121 (East B): Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo each had a season-high 37 points, as Miami posted 37 assists on 46 field goals, led by Davion Mitchell (22 pts, 17 ast). | Recap

• Dynamic Duo: Bam and Giannis join LeBron James and Dwyane Wade as the only duos in Heat franchise history to each record 35+ PTS in the same game
• Making His Mark: Davion Mitchell becomes the third Heat player to record 20+ pts, 15+ ast, and one or fewer turnovers in a single game, joining Wade and Goran Dragic
• Young Cavs Shine: Meleek Thomas (12 pts) hit this wild one-handed buzzer-beater, while Tyrese Proctor (22 pts on 7-for-9 FGA) tied his scoring career high

Grizzlies 142, Pelicans 111 (West B): 10 Grizzlies scored in double figures — a franchise record — as they ran away from the Pelicans, thanks in part to a 76-27 advantage in bench points. | Recap

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2. SENGUN, WAGNER POST HISTORIC STAT LINES

Magic 107, Bucks 99 (East A): Franz Wagner (35 pts, 9 reb, 12 ast, team-high +34) lifted Orlando to its first home win of the season over Jaime Jaquez Jr. (22 pts) and the Bucks. | Recap

• A Magic Spell: Franz is the fifth player in Magic franchise history to record four or more consecutive games with 30+ PTS, joining Tracy McGrady (6x), Shaquille O’Neal (5x), Paolo Banchero, and Dwight Howard
• Wagnerian Vision: Franz is now averaging 7.9 ast — more than double his career average of 3.8 ast

Rockets 125, Jazz 118 (West A): Alperen Sengun (43 pts on 17-for-24 FGA, 12 reb, 5 ast) could not be stopped as Houston put a scrappy Utah team away late, outlasting a strong game from Darryn Peterson (28 pts) and Keyonte George (27 pts). | Recap

• Rocket Royalty: Sengun is the third player in franchise history to record 40+ PTS, 10+ REB, and 5+ AST on 70%+ FG% since 1956-57, the first season FG% was fully recorded, joining Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming
• Rookie Rising: Peterson is the first Jazz rookie since Donovan Mitchell (3x in 2017-18) to record five straight 20-PT games. He’s also the first teenager in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

Trail Blazers 120, Kings 107 (West C): Deni Avdija (34 pts) and Damian Lillard (29 pts, 6 3PM) scored more than half of Portland’s points by themselves, while De’Andre Hunter (24 pts) had his best game of the season. | Recap

• Brilliance: Check out this over-the-head dime from Domantas Sabonis (21 pts, 12 reb, 5 ast)

Clippers 113, Thunder 112 (West B): Brook Lopez (26 pts) continues to turn back the clock for LA, which took its first lead of the fourth quarter with 50 seconds remaining. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (40 pts) was valiant in defeat. | Recap

Bulls 125, Hawks 117 (OT) (East C): Norman Powell (33 pts) and Josh Giddey (15 pts, 10 reb, 14 ast) led Chicago to an overtime win, creating a three-way tie at 1-1 in East Group C. | Recap

• Buddy Buckets: Buddy Hield passed Kyle Lowry for 14th on the all-time 3-point leaderboard

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3. NBA TV: CADE LEADS PISTONS AGAINST GIANNIS AND HEAT

Cade Cunningham could not be hotter.

He’s coming off 52 points, 11 assists and zero turnovers in a double overtime win over the Wizards as he leads the Pistons into Miami to take on the Heat (8 ET, NBA TV).

• “It’s the best I’ve ever done it in my NBA career,” Cunningham said afterwards

Last season against Miami, he sank this game-winner, capping a triple-double.

What will we see Saturday?

Cade’s Pistons have the fourth-ranked defense in the NBA (106.9 DRTG) and are knocking down 3-pointers (13.7 3PM at 37%, up from 11.0 at 35.6% last season), standing at third in the East.

They’re facing a familiar foe in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s 34-12 lifetime against Detroit, including winning 12 of his last 13, and averaging 22.0 ppg, 8.5 reb and 5.1 ast against them.

That’s good for a 73.9% winning percentage — third-best of the Greek Freak’s career against any opponent.

But that one loss? It came earlier this season, as Detroit beat Miami 128-111 on Oct. 23.

Will Giannis continue his historic dominance, or will the Pistons keep rising?

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4. GO INSIDE WOLVES’ WORLD

The Timberwolves go for their sixth straight win tonight against the Chicago Bulls (8 ET), building on the chemistry that was established in the preseason.

LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards have gelled quickly to get the team off to a fast start. When Edwards went out with a right knee injury, Ball helped to carry the Wolves, including dropping some eye-popping dimes in their last win.

The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski takes you inside a day in the life of the Timberwolves, providing a beat-by-beat record of game day and the learning process afterwards, as well as an extended interview with head coach Chris Finch, who felt the positive vibes back in October.

“There’s so much excitement internally,” Finch said. “It just feels like more of a calmer environment in a lot of ways, if that makes sense. It just feels that everybody is in a good place.” | Read More

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5. JAMAL CRAWFORD’S OBSERVATIONS FROM THE SEASON

Jamal Crawford, 20-year NBA veteran, three-time Kia Sixth Man of the Year and current NBC analyst, shares 10 thoughts on the young season in his latest column, including consideration of Victor Wembanyama’s dominant run.

“Wemby continues to find new ways to impose his will on the game. Even with the 3-guard lineup, it hasn’t slowed him down because he’s like, ‘No, I’m going to impose my will. I’m going to do this every single night, and I don’t care who’s on the court, whether it’s 3 guards, or anybody else.’

“He should always be the first option. And I’m not saying the guards shouldn’t be aggressive. But if there’s ever a choice between who’s getting the ball, then it should go to him. And he’s playing with that kind of force and energy. But it’s not just offense where he’s been dominant.

“I think he’s the only player I have ever seen where every highlight package shows both sides of the ball.”

Read more from Crawford, including takes on Jayson Tatum, Luka Dončić and the surging Sixers. | Read more

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