Pacers Cool Off Sixers
The Indiana Pacers cooled off the red-hot Philadelphia 76ers, snapping the Sixers’ eight-game winning streak with a 132-126 victory. The Pacers have scored at least 120 points in each of their last seven games, the franchise’s longest such streak since joining the NBA in 1976.
The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton scored a team-high 33 points, dished out a game-high 15 assists, and did not commit a turnover. He’s just the fifth player to record a 30-point, 15-assist game with zero turnovers since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78:
John Stockton (Dec. 28, 1989)
Chris Paul (Jan. 6, 2009)
LeBron James (March 21, 2018)
James Harden (March 1, 2021)
Tyrese Haliburton (Nov. 14, 2023)
Haliburton — who had 25 points, 17 assists, and no errors in his last outing — is the first player in that span to record back-to-back 25-point, 15-assist games with zero turnovers.
Haliburton shot 11-18 from the field, making seven of his 12 attempts from 3-point range. Haliburton has recorded at least 25 points and 10 assists with an effective field goal percentage of 70% in each of his last three games. The only other players in NBA history to record three such games in a row are Wilt Chamberlain (March 15-18, 1968) and LeBron James (Feb. 1-6, 2017).
Teammate Obi Toppin scored a season-high 27 points on 12-15 shooting from the floor. It’s the eighth time Toppin has scored at least 20 points in a game, but this is by far his highest field goal percentage in such a game (his previous high was 63.6%).
The Pacers are averaging 126.5 PPG through 11 games this season. Only three teams in NBA history have recorded a higher scoring average through their first 11 games of a season:
132.4 — Denver Nuggets, 1988-89
128.7 — Denver Nuggets, 1990-91
127.5 — Denver Nuggets, 1983-84
The Sixers were led by Joel Embiid, who scored a game-high 39 points with team-high figures of 12 rebounds, six assists, and three steals. It’s the 30th time Embiid has recorded at least 35 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a game, the second-most such games in franchise history (Wilt Chamberlain, 35).
Embiid shot 11-22 from the field and made all 17 of his free throws. It’s the 33rd time Embiid has made at least 15 free throws in a game, the second-most such games among active players (James Harden, 73).
Sixers guard De’Anthony Melton scored 30 points, the second 30-point game of his career. Melton made eight of his 13 attempts from the field and hit all 10 of his free throws. Embiid and Melton are just the fourth duo in franchise history to each make at least 10 free throws without a miss in the same game:
Moses Malone & Julius Erving (Feb. 16, 1985)
Jerry Stackhouse & Vernon Maxwell (Dec. 20, 1995)
Allen Iverson & Marc Jackson (April 14, 2005)
Joel Embiid and De’Anthony Melton (Nov. 14, 2023)
Tyrese Maxey (27 points) and Tobias Harris (22) also recorded 20-point games for the Sixers. Maxey shot just 9-23 from the floor (39.1%), but Harris connected on 11 of his 17 attempts (64.7%).
Thunderstruck
The much-ballyhooed first regular season matchup between Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama turned out to be a bit of a dud, as Holmgren’s Oklahoma City Thunder destroyed Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs 123-87. The Spurs have lost six consecutive games to fall to 3-8 on the season.
Holmgren was held to fewer than 10 points for the first time in his career, scoring nine points on 3-10 shooting from the field. Wembanyama recorded a game-high 14 rebounds, but misfired on 11 of his 15 attempts from the field and committed a game-high five turnovers.
The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 28 points, shooting 10-16 from the field and 7-7 from the free throw line. He also contributed seven steals, six rebounds, and five assists.
Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 25 points on 55% shooting from the floor in each of his last five games, the longest such streak in franchise history. He’s averaging 33.8 PPG over that span, shooting 60.0% from the field and 90.0% from the free throw line.
The Spurs have now lost 11 games by 35 or more points over the last two seasons. No other franchise has recorded more than two such losses over that span. The Spurs have accounted for three of the four 35-point losses in the NBA this season.
The Spurs have allowed at least 114 points in each of their 11 games this season. The only other teams in NBA history to open a season with at least 11 such games in a row are the 1962-63 Detroit Pistons and 1983-84 Denver Nuggets.
Clips Slide Continues
The Denver Nuggets edged the LA Clippers 111-108, handed the reeling Clippers their sixth straight loss. Denver improved to 9-2 on the season, and have won three of their four games since losing star point guard Jamal Murray to a hamstring injury.
The Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic fell one assist shy of a triple-double, producing team highs of 32 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists. It’s the fifth time Jokic has been Denver’s outright leader in all three categories in a game this season, tying Luka Doncic for the league lead. No other player has recorded more than two such games.
Jokic has recorded at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in each of his last six games, the longest such streak of his career. Only two players since the ABA-NBA merger have recorded a longer streak of 25-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist games: Larry Bird and Kevin Durant, each of whom produced seven such games in a row.
Jokic was uncharacteristically inefficient from the field, making just eight of his 23 attempts (34.8%). However, Jokic connected on all 14 of his free throws, the most he’s ever made in a game without a miss.
Jokic has season totals of 330 points, 153 rebounds, and 92 assists. He’s the first player in NBA history to record at least 300 points, 150 rebounds, and 75 assists through his first 11 games of a season.
The Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon continued his solid play, scoring 20 points on 8-12 shooting from the floor with five rebounds and five assists. Murray’s replacement in the starting lineup, Reggie Jackson, scored 18 points, hitting seven of his 11 field goal attempts.
Paul George scored a game-high 35 points to lead the Clippers, adding seven rebounds and three steals. George shot 13-26 from the field — including 4-11 from 3-point range — and made all five of his free throws.
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has played in each game of the six-game losing skid, matching the longest such streak of his career. The Clippers fell to 0-5 since acquiring James Harden. Harden has been on the losing end of six straight regular season games dating back to last season, the second-longest such streak of his career.
Quick Hitters
Other notes from the third night of In-Season Tournament play:
The Minnesota Timberwolves won their seventh consecutive game, topping the Golden State Warriors 104-101. The Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns scored a game-high 33 points and hauled in 11 rebounds, his third straight 20-point, 10-rebound game. Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski scored in double figures for the first time, scoring a team-high 23 points with seven rebounds and five assists. Golden State’s Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels were all ejected less than two minutes into the game for their roles in a fight that started when Thompson and McDaniels got tangled up in transition.
The Miami Heat picked up their sixth straight win, beating the Charlotte Hornets 111-105. Jimmy Butler returned from a one-game absence to score a game-high 32 points for the Heat, making 10 of his 14 shots from the field. Heat center Bam Adebayo scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, his fifth straight 20-point, 10-rebound game. It’s the longest such streak of Adebyao’s career and matches the second-longest such streak in franchise history. The Hornets’ LaMelo Ball scored a team-high 28 points and distributed a game-high 11 assists, but shot just 9-26 from the field (34.6%).
Dejounte Murray compiled 32 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, and three steals as the Atlanta Hawks knocked off the Detroit Pistons 126-120, extending the Pistons’ losing streak to nine games. The Hawks played without Trae Young, who missed the game after his wife gave birth to their second child on Monday. The Pistons were led by Marvin Bagley III, who scored a team-high 22 points and snagged a game-high 11 rebounds. Pistons rookie Ausar Thompson scored 21 points, adding eight rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks. Both Bagley III and Thomson shot 9-12 from the floor.
The New Orleans Pelicans rolled to a 131-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, stopping a five-game losing skid. Rookie Jordan Hawkins and Brandon Ingram scored 25 points apiece to pace the Pelicans. Ingram also recorded team highs of nine rebounds and seven assists. The Mavericks’ Luka Doncic was held to 16 points on 5-16 shooting from the floor, committing a game-high eight turnovers.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 29 points, nine assists, and five rebounds to lead the Brooklyn Nets to an easy 124-104 win over the Orlando Magic. Mikal Bridges (21 points, 9-17 field goals) and Cameron Johnson (20 points, 7-11 field goals) also had 20-point outings for the Nets, who climbed one game above .500 for the season (6-5).
Jordan Clarkson scored a game-high 30 points on 13-19 shooting from the field as the Utah Jazz dispatched of the Portland Trail Blazers 115-99. Utah’s Lauri Markkanen started his third straight game at center in place of the injured Walker Kessler, tallying 21 points and nine rebounds. Jerami Grant led the Trail Blazers with 26 points, while Deandre Ayton chipped in with 22 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Grant and Ayton each made 10 of their 17 field goal attempts.
The Los Angeles Lakers blew out the Memphis Grizzlies 134-107, dropping the Grizzlies to 2-9 on the season. D’Angelo Russell led seven Lakers in double figures with 24 points, making eight of his 12 field goal attempts. Lakers center Anthony Davis contributed 19 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks, and five steals.