A Tyrese Haliburton turnover.

…or a Nikola Jokic missed shot?

Which will happen first?

Because neither happened on Thursday night 🤯

THE LINEUP 🏀

1. 🔥  Must-see from Thursday
2. 🏀  Wemby, Hali & Jokic go off
3. 🧊  Jamal Murray in the clutch
4. 🍿  2023 in Review: 2nd quarter
5. 📸  2023 in Photos: 2nd quarter

📺 Bucks at Cavs (7:30 ET, NBA TV): The Cavs have won five of their last six, while the Bucks have won eight of their last nine. This is the first of four meetings this season that will all happen in the next month.

📺 Grizzlies at Clippers (10:30 ET, NBA TV): Keep an eye on Ja Morant’s status ahead of this matchup in LA. He missed Thursday’s game (illness). The Grizz are 4-0 with Morant in the lineup and 6-20 when he’s out.

1. FRIDAY MORNING MUST-SEE

📊 Jaw-Dropping Numbers

• 21 PTS, 20 AST, 0 TOV: Tyrese Haliburton joined Chris Paul (2016) as the only players in NBA history with 20+ points, 20+ assists and 0 turnovers in a game. Haliburton became the first to add 5+ 3s as well
• 26 PTS, 14 REB, 10 AST, 11-11 FG: Nikola Jokic joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to record multiple triple-doubles while shooting 100% from the field (min. 10 attempts)
• 30 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST, 7 BLK, 24 MIN: Victor Wembanyama joined David Robinson as the only rookies to record 30+ points, 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists, and 7+ blocks in a game. Wemby is the first player ever with 30+ points and 7+ blocks in under 30 minutes

💥 Sensational Plays

• How did these shots go in?: Jayson Tatum got the impossible bucket to go for the and-one. Bam Adebayo somehow finished this ridiculous tip-in alley-oop
• Finesse and power: Brandon Ingram hit the smooth crossover before punching home the dunk
• Poster time: Larry Nance threw down the poster dunk off the dish from Zion. AD dropped the hammer off the drop-off dime from LeBron

2. WEMBY, HALI & JOKIC GO OFF

🤠 Spurs 118, Blazers 105: Victor Wembanyama (30 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast, 7 blk) stuffed the stat sheet and the highlight reel in his 24 minutes of work as San Antonio ended a five-game losing streak

🏎️ Pacers 120, Bulls 104: Tyrese Haliburton was dishing and his teammates were swishing (Clyde Frazier voice) as the NBA’s assist leader dished out 20 dimes without a turnover

⚒️ Nuggets 142, Grizzlies 105: Nikola Jokic (26 pts, 14 reb, 10 ast) has recorded 116 career triple-doubles, but this was only his third without missing a shot (Oct. 20, 2018: 11-11 FG, Jan. 9, 2023: 5-5 FG)

🐺 Wolves 118, Mavs 110: Anthony Edwards was in attack mode, scoring a season-high 44 points (6 2s, 6 3s, 14 FTs) to lead the Wolves past the Mavs without Luka (quad)

🍀 Celtics 128, Pistons 122 (OT): Kristaps Porzingis had a season-high 35 points as Boston rallied from 21 down for the overtime win. Cade Cunningham had 31 for Detroit, which lost its 28th straight, tying the longest streak in league history (Philadelphia, Mar. 27–Nov. 29, 2015)

⚜️ Pelicans 112, Jazz 105: Zion Williamson (21 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast) fell two assists shy of a triple-double, while Brandon Ingram (26) and CJ McCollum (22) combined for 48 points

🌇 Lakers 133, Hornets 112: Anthony Davis (26 pts, 8 reb, 4 blk) and LeBron James (17 pts, 11 ast) led the Lakers on the court, and were celebrating this move by Austin Reaves while on the bench

🔥  Heat 114, Warriors 102: Tyler Herro had 26 points while Bam Adebayo added 17 and 11 boards, leading Miami to its fourth straight road game and 10th of the season

3. JAMAL MURRAY IN THE CLUTCH

Before Denver hosts OKC tonight (9 ET, NBA App) in a No. 2 vs. No. 3 Western Conference clash, we look at the importance of Jamal Murray, whose impact on the Nuggets can be felt both on and off the court, as evidenced by Denver’s 2023 title run.

• Even with the league MVP in 2021 and 2022, Denver was unable to advance past the second round without Murray, who was rehabbing a torn ACL
• Once Murray recovered and shook off the rust, Denver was unstoppable, finishing first in the West and going 16-4 in the playoffs

What does that mean for this season? The Nuggets enter Friday second in the West at 23-10 (.697).

• With Murray: 15-4 (.789) – a win percentage that would trail only Boston (.800)
• Without Murray: 8-6 (.571) – would have Denver hovering around the Play-In

Not only does Murray give Denver a second star to complement Jokic, he gives them one of the league’s top clutch performers.

Denver is 12-6 in clutch games – tied for the NBA’s fourth-highest win percentage – but they’re even better with Murray on-court.

• With Murray: 7-2 (.778) – would rank second to Minnesota (.909)
• Without Murray: 5-4 (.556) – would rank 13th

In 22 clutch minutes, Murray has 19 points on 66.7% shooting from the field and from 3. He also has seven assists to just one turnover.

• Murray ranks third in Nuggets history in clutch points (424), trailing only Jokic and Mel
• Fourth in clutch assists (95). First in clutch 3-pointers (46)

4. 2023 IN REVIEW: NBA PLAYOFFS

Our 2023 Year in Review continues with the top moments and performances from the 2023 postseason. (Got time today? Hit the Playoff Hub for your nostalgia needs)

AT&T Play-In Tournament

🔥  Heat’s historic run begins … with a loss. Before they could become the first Play-In Tournament team to win a Playoff series & reach the Finals, Miami lost to Atlanta in the 7 vs. 8 matchup. To get in, Miami had to beat Chicago in an elimination game, where (in a preview of things to come) it got 31 apiece from Jimmy Butler and Max Strus

🐺 Minnesota, too! The Lakers beat the Wolves in OT to open the Play-In out West, securing the 7th seed after losing 10 of their first 12 games to start the year. To notch their own Playoff spot, the Wolves got double-doubles from KAT and Rudy Gobert to beat an upstart OKC team in an elimination game (in a sign of a couple things to come)

First Round

🔥 Butler, Heat upset Bucks: Butler was a supernova in this five-game, 8 vs. 1 upset, averaging 37.6 points on 60% shooting against a top-four defense and an elite perimeter defender in Jrue Holiday. Milwaukee had no answer for Playoff Jimmy, who scored a Heat playoff-record 56 and 42 in the series’ final two games

🌇 Lakers upset Grizzlies: After opening the season 2-10, the Lakers clawed their way back to the playoffs, earning the 7 seed via the Play-In. In the first round, LeBron kept defying Father Time, Rui Hachimura couldn’t miss, and Austin Reaves delivered his “I’m Him” moment in his playoff debut.

🧑‍🍳 Curry, Warriors top Kings in 7: The first-ever NorCal playoff matchup delivered an epic seven-game series. The Kings went up 2-0 at home. The Warriors won the next three. The Kings staved off elimination in the Bay to force Game 7. Then, Steph Curry came to SAC and dropped a then-Game 7 record 50 points to shut down the beam for the season

Conference Semifinals

🍀 Tatum takes down Sixers: Curry’s Game 7 record lasted only two weeks as Jayson Tatum scored 51 points to lead the Celtics to the Conference Finals for the third time in four years, while handing Philly its third-straight East Semis exit.

👑 LeBron vs. Steph (again): After meeting in four straight Finals (2015-18), LeBron James and Steph Curry met in the playoffs for the first time in five years. L.A. took control of the series in Game 4 behind Lonnie Walker’s huge 4th quarter. The Lakers won the series in six, giving LeBron a record 41st playoff series win.

⚒️ Nuggets pass test: Only one team beat the Nuggets more than once in the 2023 Playoffs – the Suns, who tied the series at 2-2 behind extraordinary games from Booker and Durant, who combined for 86 and 72 in their two wins before Denver closed the series in six.

🔥 Heat oust rival Knicks: Miami became only the second No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals. And a round later, they defeated the only other franchise to do so – New York in 1999 – along the way.

Conference Finals

🔁 Deja vu: The final four teams in 2023 matched the same as the 2020 playoffs in Orlando

⛰️ Nuggets sweep Lakers: This series was much closer than 4-0 would suggest, with three of the games decided by six points or less. But the brilliance of Jamal Murray (32.5 ppg on 53/41/95 shooting) and Nikola Jokic (27.8 pts, 14.5 reb, 11.8 ast, this unreal shot) ended L.A.’s run

🔥 Heat survive Celtics: Boston tried to become the first team in 150 tries to win a series after trailing 0-3. They forced Game 7 on Derrick White’s sensational buzzer-beating putback — the second straight season the Heat & Celtics met in Game 7 of the ECF — but the Heat kept making history, winning Game 7 in Boston

NBA Finals

👬 Jokic & Murray’s historic Game 3:  With the series tied 1-1, Jokic and Murray recorded the first triple-doubles as teammates in a Finals game, and the first 30+ point triple-doubles by teammates in any NBA game.

🏆 Nuggets win 1st championship: After 47 years, the Nuggets were finally crowned NBA champions, winning their first title since joining the NBA in 1976 and ending Miami’s magical run from the Play-In to the Finals. Relive the entire journey with the Bring It Home docuseries.

🃏 Jokic named Finals MVP: The Joker became the first player to lead the entire playoffs in points (600), rebounds (269) and assists (190) on his way to winning the Bill Russell Finals MVP.

💦 A different kind of splash: In an iconic Finals moment, our cameras caught Joker throwing Murray into the pool after the Nuggets won their first title

🗣️ Jokic signs off:  “The job is done, we can go home now.”

5. 2023 IN PHOTOS: NBA PLAYOFFS

Intensity and electricity. Pressure and adversity. Elation and agony.

Capturing the emotions of playoff basketball is an art form. Here are six masterpieces from the 2023 NBA Playoffs.