Starting 5, Dec. 16: Historic shootout in the Bay Area & top trending topics

Klay Thompson's Weekend:

Return to the Bay. ✅

Be part of a record-breaking 3-point shootout. ✅

Walk off with the win. ✅

 5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION

Dec. 16, 2024

Rewriting Record Books: The Warriors & Mavs splashed more 3s than any game in NBA history

Roundup: Knicks rise in the East, Lakers beat Grizz, Wolves defense shines & the rest of Sunday’s slate

PlayStation NBA Creators Cup: The top hoops creators put on a show & a thrilling finish

What’s Trending: The biggest storylines to know heading into Week 9

League Pass Monday: The Heat & Cavs look to stay hot, plus a matchup of do-it-all bigs

 BUT FIRST … ⏰

One more day until the NBA Cup is decided…

The Emirates NBA Cup championship is set as No. 1 seeds Milwaukee and OKC will meet in Tuesday’s winner-take-all showdown at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (8:30 ET, ABC). Witness the Cup winner crowned in person — secure your championship tickets here!

1. LUKA’S 45 LIFTS MAVS IN RECORD 3-POINT OUTBURST

The Bay Area is used to watching 3s rain down through the Chase Center nets with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson on the court.

But never has there been as big of a downpour as what occurred Sunday night.

The Warriors (27) and Mavs (21) combined for an NBA-record 48 3-pointers made – shattering the old mark of 44 combined 3s (done 5x).

Luka Dončić dropped 45 points and six 3s as part of his 80th career triple-double, and Thompson posted season highs of 29 points and seven 3s in his second game back in the Bay since joining Dallas in the summer as the Mavs prevailed 143-133. | Recap

Season-Highs: The Mavs put up their most points (143), assists (36) and 3s (21) so far this season as they won for the eighth time in their last nine games

Luka’s Company: Dončić became the eighth player with multiple 45+ point triple-doubles, tied with Nikola Jokić, Larry Bird and Elgin Baylor (2 each) and trailing only James Harden (5), Russell Westbrook (5), Oscar Robertson (4) and Wilt Chamberlain (4)

Klay On His Second Game Back: “It still warms my heart to see all the No. 11 jerseys; it still makes me incredibly grateful for the time I did have here, legendary stuff. But now it’s time to do some legendary stuff in Dallas.”

Stephen Curry (7), Andrew Wiggins (5) and Draymond Green (5) combined for 17 of Golden State’s team-record-tying 27 3s on Sunday.

However, it was Golden State’s first loss in 11 games when hitting at least 24 triples

4×20: Wiggins’ 29 points led four Warriors with 20+ in the loss, with Curry (26), Green (21) and Jonathan Kuminga (20) combining to add 67

2. KNICKS RISE, LAKERS ROLL, WOLVES DEFENSE SHINES & MORE

Knicks 100, Magic 91: Karl-Anthony Towns put up 22 points and 22 boards, while Jalen Brunson scored 31 as the Knicks handed the Magic their first home loss of the season (10-1). | Recap | KAT & JB Shine

Moving Up: With the win, the Knicks leapfrogged the Magic in the East, taking over third place and dropping Orlando to fourth

Ironman Hits 500: Mikal Bridges became the fifth player in NBA history to reach 500 career games played without missing a game – and the first player to record such a streak since 1985

Who Holds The Record? Johnny Kerr with 844 straight games, which is a lead of over four seasons for Bridges to chase

Career Highs: Orlando’s Mortiz Wagner (32 pts) and rookie Tristan da Silva (20 pts) both had their best scoring games in the loss

Lakers 116, Grizzlies 110: A dominant game from Anthony Davis (40 pts, 16 reb) and the return of LeBron James (18 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast) from a two-game absence helped the Lakers cool the red-hot Grizzlies. | Recap

AD posted his 11th 40/10 game as a Laker, the fifth-most such games in franchise history behind Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor (81), Shaquille O’Neal (21), Kobe Bryant (13), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (12)

The Lakers never trailed and led by as many as 23 points. The Grizzlies rallied to make it a seven-point game multiple times in the 4th quarter, but L.A. always had an answer

Wolves 106, Spurs 92: Behind Ant Edwards’ 26 points, Jaden McDaniels’ first career double-double and another stifling defensive game, the Wolves defeated the Spurs for their sixth win in the past seven games. | Recap

Upping The Defense: After allowing 111.3 ppg over their first 18 games, Minnesota has allowed just 90.7 over the last seven games

Wemby Stuffs (The Stat Sheet): In addition to printing the poster below, Victor Wembanyama posted his eighth career game with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five blocks

Wemby HOFs: Wemby passed AD for the most such games among active players and tied Patrick Ewing for the seventh-most of all-time, trailing only Kareem, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaq, David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett

Suns 116, Blazers 109: The Suns improved to 13-2 with Kevin Durant in the lineup as KD and Devin Booker combined for 48 points and helped Phoenix take control of the game with a 27-11 2nd-half run. | Recap

Clingan’s Streak: Portland’s Donovan Clingan has blocked a shot in 19 straight games to open his career, tying Pau Gasol for the third longest streak, trailing only Shaq (23) and Alonzo Mourning (57)

Celtics 112, Wizards 98: Boston used a 15-0 run spanning the 1st and 2nd quarters to take control of the game.

Jayson Tatum led the way with 28 points and 12 boards, while Payton Pritchard hit five 3s to join Anthony Edwards as the only players with 100+ 3s this season. | Recap

Pacers 119, Pelicans 104: The Pacers improved to 6-0 on the season when both Pascal Siakam (22 pts) and Tyrese Haliburton (21 pts, 10 ast) put up 20+ points.

Indiana (12-15) has won three of its last four games, while the Pelicans (5-22) have dropped four straight. | Recap

3. PLAYSTATION NBA CREATOR CUP DELIVERS A THRILLING FINISH

What do you get when 18 of the biggest hoops creators get together in Las Vegas for the third PlayStation NBA Creator Cup?

Plenty of viral moments going out to their 125 million collective followers, including a thrilling finish as MVP Trey Phills scored the game-winning bucket with five seconds left as Team Professor rallied over Team Lethal for the 78-77 win. | Full Game Highlights

All-Access Pass: Go inside the locker rooms, to warmups, meeting fans in the crowd and key highlights from inside the arena

Arrivals: The Creators walk the red carpet and get a glimpse of the Emirates NBA Cup as they prepare for the game

Bringing The Highlights: Check out the best plays from Team Lethal and the PlayStation Creator Cup Champions Team Professor

Making Coach Proud: When you play for shooting coach Chris “Lethal Shooter” Matthews, the jumper has to be on point. And Kris London delivered with three 1st quarter triples and a Jordan shrug

4. WHAT’S TRENDING AROUND THE NBA

The Emirates NBA Cup culminates with tomorrow night’s championship game in Vegas, but the storylines across the NBA are just heating up. 

Let’s catch you up on a few of the top headlines entering Week 9:

Top Seeds Go For The Cup: The Emirates NBA Cup Championship (Tuesday, 8:30 ET, ABC) is set with NBA leading scorer Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks taking on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the league’s top ranked defense.

MVP Candidates: Giannis and Shai rank second and third, respectively, in the most recent Kia MVP Ladder

Next-Level Defense: OKC leads the NBA in defensive rating (103.1) and is the only team with more steals than turnovers through 25 games since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78

Shake It Off: Remember when the Bucks were 2-8 through 10 games? It seems like a distant memory as they have gone 12-3 in their last 15 games – tied with OKC and Boston for the top record in the league during that time

Getting Defensive: OKC isn’t the only team winning with defense, as the top four teams in the West all rank in the top 10 in defensive rating: No. 2 Memphis (5th), No. 3 Houston (2nd) and No. 4 Dallas (T-10th).

Beware Of Wolves: Minnesota’s defense is finding its groove, holding opponents to 90.7 ppg over the past seven games as the Wolves have gone 6-1 and risen from 11th to 7th in the West

Mavs’ Month: Over the past 30 days, the Mavs are 12-2 while averaging 123.9 ppg and scoring 120+ points 10 times despite being without Luka Dončić for stretches

Team Turnaround: The Grizzlies, who have won 10 of their last 12 games, lead the NBA in scoring (122.1) after ranking last (105.8) a season ago. No team in NBA history has gone from last to first in scoring in consecutive seasons

Getting Historic: Already a three-time Kia NBA MVP, Nikola Jokić is having a career year, putting up historic stat lines on a near nightly basis.

Sitting atop the Kia MVP Ladder, Jokić has a chance to join an exclusive club if he secures a fourth MVP.

Party Of Five (For Now): The only players with 4+ MVPs in NBA history: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), Bill Russell and Michael Jordan (5 each), LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain (4 each)

Offense Rules The East: While the top teams in the West boast the NBA’s top-ranked defenses, the top teams in the East also hold the top three offensive ratings in the NBA – and in the same order.

Top 3 (Standings & OffRtg): Cavs (120.2), Celtics (119.9) and Knicks (119.7)

4th place Orlando has the league’s 3rd best DefRtg

Beating The Best: While their run for the NBA Cup ended in the semifinals, the Atlanta Hawks continue to make noise in the East by knocking off some of the conference’s elite.

Hawks vs. Playoff Teams: Atlanta is a combined 6-2 (.750) against teams in the East top six – Cleveland, Boston, NY and Milwaukee. The rest of the East has a .250 win% against those four teams

Meanwhile, in 5th place …

5. MONDAY: HEAT & CAVS LOOK TO STAY HOT, JOKIĆ VS. SABONIS

Tonight’s six-game slate on NBA League Pass features some of the hottest teams and players entering Week 9.

Heat at Pistons (7 ET): Who owns the longest active win streak in the Eastern Conference? The fifth-place Miami Heat, who are going for their fifth straight win when they visit the Pistons.

After opening the season 3-5, the Heat have gone 10-5 since, climbing from 10th to fifth place in East in the process

During their win streak, the Heat have averaged 122.8 ppg (10.5 above their season average), led by 26.3 ppg from Tyler Herro

Cavaliers at Nets (7:30 ET): Cleveland’s 22-4 start matches the 2008-09 Cavs for the best start through 26 games in franchise history.

Déjà Vu? 16 years ago, that team pushed that start to 26-4, which led to a league-best 66-16 record and a run to the East Finals

Lights Out Shooting: The Cavs continue to lead the NBA in both field goal percentage (50.3%) and 3-point percentage (39.9%) as they look to become the first team to shoot 50/40 for a season

Nuggets at Kings (10 ET): Two of the most versatile bigs in the league go head-to-head as reigning MVP Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets visit Domantas Sabonis and the Kings.

Jokić leads the NBA with nine triple-doubles and nearly averages one with points (31.5), rebounds (13.3) and assists (9.8) – ranking second in the NBA in all three categories

Sabonis leads the NBA with 22 double-doubles and joins Jokić and Giannis as the only players averaging at least 20/10/5

nk to the starting lineup at the beginning of December, the Kings own the NBA’s top offensive rating (124.7)

Rounding Out The Night: Sixers at Hornets (7 ET), Bulls at Raptors (7:30 ET), Jazz at Clippers (10:30 ET).