Happy Monday to the Starting 5 fam ☀️

Couple things to start your week:

1. A quick question about this Wemby shot: um, how?
2. Nikola Jokic just did a Nikola Jokic thing again.
3. It’s a Leap Year, with Feb. 29 coming on Thursday. So plan accordingly. (And remember to wish Leap Year baby Tyrese Haliburton a happy 6th birthday 😂)

THE LINEUP 🏀

1. 🃏 Joker’s wild last year
2. 🌪️ Roundup: Chet, Kings go off
3. 🔥 Heat, Kings back to form
4. ⏪ Weekend rewind
5. 📸 Photos of the (short) week

Kings-Heat (10 ET, NBA TV) headlines a four-game Monday, with two squads who’ve caught fire lately looking to make leaps up the standings.

LeBron tracker: King James is 74 points from becoming the first player to reach 40,000 points, after dropping 28 on Sunday. Keep tabs here … Know E.B. Henderson? Shaun Powell sat with Edwin Bancroft Henderson II to talk about the Hall of Fame ‘Grandfather of Black Basketball’ … From Bleacher Report: The NBA Mock Draft is still wide open

Trae Young will miss at least four weeks with a hand injury, the Hawks announced … Jimmy Butler and Naji Marshall were among five players suspended for an altercation during Heat-Pelicans on Friday

1. JOKER’S WILD LAST YEAR

On Sunday, as Nikola Jokic’s third straight triple-double powered the Denver Nuggets to a 119-103 win over the Golden State Warriors, the 2-time MVP did something nobody’s done in NBA history. | Recap

Again.

Three straight 14-14: His 32-16-16 line gave Jokic his third straight game with 14+ rebounds and 14+ assists, the first time anyone’s ever done that.

Believe it: If it feels like you’ve been reading that sentence a lot over the past year, it’s not Monday playing tricks on you. Going back to last January, the Joker’s played some of the greatest basketball this league’s ever seen – with milestone after milestone to show for it.

• Jan. 9, 2023: First player to record 10+ pts, 10+ reb, 15+ ast in a game while shooting 100% from the field
• May 10, 2023: First player in Playoff history with 175+ pts, 65+ reb and 50+ ast over a 5-game span
• May 22, 2023: Joined Wilt as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double in back-to-back Playoff series
• June 12, 2023: First player to lead the entire postseason in pts, reb & ast

Moving on to 2023-24…

• Nov. 17, 2023: First player with 26 pts, 16 reb and 18 ast in a game
• Dec. 14, 2023: First player with 10+ triple-doubles in 7 consecutive seasons, and joined Oscar Robertson as the only players with 600+ pts, 300+ reb and 200+ ast through a player’s first 25 games in a season
• Dec. 28, 2023: Joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to record multiple triple-doubles while shooting 100% from the field (min. 10 attempts)
• Jan. 10, 2024: Youngest player in NBA history to record 13K+ points, 6K+ rebounds, and 4K+ assists in their career
• Feb. 22, 2024: First player in NBA history to record 20+ pts, 15+ reb, and 15+ ast while shooting 100% from the field

His third 30-15-15 game gives him three for his career, passing Wilt Chamberlain (2) and behind Oscar Robertson (11). It’s also the seventh time he’s had three straight triple-doubles, passing Wilt into third (behind Robertson at 13, and Russ at 23).

The win gave the Nuggets their seventh straight over Golden State, dating back to 2022.

• Steph Curry passed both Dwyane Wade and Adrian Dantley into 32nd and 31st place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list during the game

2. ROUNDUP: HISTORY FOR CHET, STATEMENT WIN FOR KINGS

Sunday also belonged to a center eight years Jokic’s junior, as Chet Holmgren dropped 29 points with 5 treys and 3 blocks in the Thunder’s 123-110 win over the Rockets, becoming the only rookie in NBA history with 150+ threes and 100+ blks. | Recap

• West top tied up: With the win, OKC became the 3rd team to pick up its 40th win this year, moving into a new tie with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the top spot in the conference
• SGA scores 36: The Thunder’s MVP candidate – and NBA leader in OffRtg (30+ mins. per game) since February started – scored 25 of his 36 pts after the midway point of the second quarter, helping OKC come back from a 16-point deficit

Fox, Kings topple Clippers: Sacramento got 33 from De’Aaron Fox and a 17-pt, 15-reb, 12-ast night from NBA triple-double leader Domantas Sabonis – who became the sixth player ever with 20+ triple-doubles in a single season – on the way to a 123-107 win.

With the W, Sacramento moves to fifth in the West, while LA falls 2.5 games behind OKC and Minnesota. | Recap

Cavs right ship, sweep Wizards: Cleveland avoided its first three-game losing streak since December with a late 22-4 run, completing the season sweep over Washington with a 114-105 win. Jarrett Allen (22 pts, 12 reb) and Caris LeVert (18 pts, 12 reb) led the way, while this massive swat was one of five for Evan Mobley. | Recap

Dejounte helps Hawks halt Magic: Dejounte Murray (25 pts) finished a rebound shy of a triple double, while Jalen Johnson added 21, as the Hawks beat Orlando 109-92 to stop the Magic’s win streak at 3. | Recap

Bulls charge late, drop Pelicans: Down going into the 4th, Chicago rattled off a 33-24 final frame to pick up the 114-106 win and stay two games up on the Hawks for ninth in the East. DeMar DeRozan (24 pts) led five starters in double-figures, as Nikola Vucevic (22 pts, 13 reb) notched his 500th career double-double. | Recap

Turner’s season-best stops Mavs’ streak: Myles Turner dropped a season-high 33 points, matching 33 from Luka Doncic on the other side, as Indiana won 133-111 – the league-best 19th time this season the Pacers have put up 130 or more. They’re 17-2 in those games. Dallas came into the game riding a 7-game win streak, tops in the Western Conference. | Recap

• Said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who coached the Mavs for 13 years: “The whole game for us was about our edge, our competitiveness. We just wanted to stay aggressive and not look at the scoreboard, just play our game. You’re never going to have an easy game against a team like Dallas.”

Trio leads Suns over Lakers: Grayson Allen (24 pts, 6 treys), Jusuf Nurkic (18 pts, 22 reb, 7 ast) and a late clutch run by Royce O’Neale sent the Suns to a 123-113 win over L.A. For the Lake Show, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell became the first Lakers trio to each score 20+ pts in five straight games. | Recap

Giannis goes big; Rivers wins in return to Philly: Giannis Antetokoumpo (30 pts, 12 reb, 9 ast) combined with Damian Lillard for 18 first-quarter points – as the Bucks jumped out to a big early lead and won 119-98 in Doc Rivers’ first game back in Philadelphia. Rivers, who coached the Sixers from 2020-23, saw his team hold Philly to 37% shooting to pick up their second straight win. | Recap

• Said Rivers: “We had been putting such an emphasis on defense. The last few games we’ve been terrific. When you have Giannis on your team, if you can get stops and get him in transition, Giannis in transition is a problem for everybody.”

Hornets stay hot, beat Blazers: Double-doubles from Nick Richards (21 pts,10 reb, 3 blk) and Miles Bridges (18 pts, 10 reb) propelled Charlotte to a 93-80 win over Portland, as the new-look Hornets improved to 5-1 since Grant Williams, Seth Curry and Tre Mann made their debuts on Feb. 10. | Recap

Wemby swats 5, but Jazz stop skid: Victor Wembanyama blocked five shots – and added a sky-high, full-extension (even for Wemby) slam – but Utah got 26 points from Lauri Markkanen to end a five-game losing streak with a 128-109 win. The W moved them within three games of the Warriors for the final Play-In spot in the West. | Recap

3. LOOKING TO MAKE LEAP, HEAT & KINGS MEET

Heading into Monday’s matchup (10 ET, NBA TV), the Kings and Heat find themselves in similar spots: toeing the line between a guaranteed playoff spot (top 6) and the Play-In Tournament (7-10). With bruising losing streaks in the rearview, here’s a few signs that they’re picking up speed.

Let us explain: The seventh-place Heat lost seven straight from mid to late January. The seventh-place Kings dropped four in a row around the same time. Since then, Miami’s won seven of nine. Sacramento’s won 10 of 15, including two against the defending champs.

What’s turned the tide? Both teams have looked a little more like themselves – led by their stars.

• True to form: Heat Culture’s built a reputation around grind. After sitting at 14th in the NBA in defense in January, the Heat rank 1st since February opened.
• Setting the tone? Jimmy Butler, who ranks 1st in DefRtg among players playing 30+ minutes a night. But Tyler Herro (4th), Bam Adebayo (5th) and Terry Rozier (7th) are right behind him
• Kings holding court: Sacramento’s gotten back to its signatures: speed, shooting and rebounding. They’re 3rd in pace, 7th in True Shooting and 3rd in defensive rebounding since Feb. 1, paced by De’Aaron Fox (2nd in pace) and Domantas Sabonis (6th in True Shooting, 1st in Def Reb%)

4. WEEKEND IN REVIEW

A lot went down this weekend. Catch up in less than a minute here (maybe two if you’re checking to see if any of your friends were born on Feb. 29).

Friday

• KD passes Melo into 9th: Kevin Durant passed Carmelo Anthony into ninth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, dropping 28 points to surpass Melo’s total of 28,289. Next up? Shaq, in eighth place at 28,596
• More on KD: Durant’s one of just six players ever to have career scoring averages over 27 ppg, while appearing in more than 500 games. The others: Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, LeBron & Jerry West
• Wemby’s 5×5: The Spurs rook became the 15th player to record a 5×5 game (quintuple-quintuple?), becoming the youngest to do so and needing the fewest minutes
• But … LeBron & AD led the Lakers to the win, combining for 58 points in the dub

Saturday

• Ailing Paolo comes up clutch: Saddled by illness since coming back from All-Star, the Magic’s Paolo Banchero hit a late jumper to send Orlando past Detroit
• The Celtics won their eighth straight, pulling away from the Knicks to jump out to their longest win streak of the season

5. PHOTOS FROM THE (SHORT) WEEK

Hoops came back on Thursday, following a three-day break after All-Star.

But the league still managed to print some 🔥frames.