Starting 5 Daily Newsletter

Starting 5, Feb. 7: Comeback wins shake up the West

Utah's win against Oklahoma City coupled with Minnesota's loss to Chicago intensifies the jostling for No. 1 in the West.

Updated on February 7, 2024 2:38 PM

The Bulls overcame a 23-point deficit to beat the Wolves in overtime.

The Jazz rallied back from 12 down in the third to beat the Thunder.

That means the Clippers are in first place in the West this deep into the season for the first time in 4,035 days.

THE LINEUP 🏀

🔙 Comeback wins shake up West
🌪️ Roundup: Kyrie wins in Brooklyn
⭐ Rising Stars Draft results
📈 Kuminga on the rise
📸 Favorite Skills Challenge pics

Young, Barnes Named East All-Star Replacements: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver named Trae Young and Scottie Barnes as injury replacements for Julius Randle and Joel Embiid.

ESPN Doubleheader: Philly enters tonight’s matchup with Golden State (7:30 ET) having lost six of its last seven games and just 4-11 without Joel Embiid, who will miss at least four weeks following knee surgery. The Warriors have won three of their last four, thanks in part to the play of Jonathan Kuminga (see Section 4).

Win streaks will be on the line in the nightcap as the Clippers (four straight wins) host the Pelicans (three straight wins) at 10 ET.

1. COMEBACK WINS SHAKE UP TOP OF THE WEST

Coby White dominates, notching 33 points and 7 assists in the Bulls' comeback win vs. the Wolves.

Bulls Storm Back From 23 Down: After nearly pulling off a 30-point comeback to beat Sacramento in their last game out, the Bulls were able to force overtime and close out a 23-point comeback over the Wolves for a 129-123 win.

Twin 33s: Coby White and DeMar DeRozan scored 33 apiece to lead the comeback. White had three points at the half, before scoring 30 points with seven 3s in the second half, including 21 in the fourth. DeRozan scored 10 of his 33 in OT as he outscored Minnesota by himself in the extra five minutes
Passing legends: White posted his third career game with at least 30 points, five rebounds, five assists and five 3s, passing Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen (two each) for the second-most in franchise history behind Zach LaVine’s 11
Ant and KAT: The Wolves duo of Anthony Edwards (game-high 38 pts, 12 reb, 5 ast) and Karl-Anthony Towns (33 pts, 7 3s) combined for 71 in the loss

Big third quarter lifts Jazz: Lauri Markkanen scored 18 of his 33 points in the third as the Jazz closed the quarter on a 19-3 run to turn a 12-point hole into a four-point lead. After trading the lead down the stretch, clutch 3s by Markkanen and Keyonte George sealed the 124-117 win.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28 pts, 7 ast) was held below 30 points for the second straight game, something that’s only happened three times this season
Chet Holmgren (22 pts, 8 reb, 3 stl, 4 blk, 4 3s) put up a stat line only reached by seven other players in the 3-point era, including fellow rookie Victor Wembanyama

What Does This Mean At The Top Of The West?

Introducing the first-place LA Clippers: The Clippers (34-15) had the night off, but thanks to the Bulls and Jazz pulling off comeback wins over the Wolves and Thunder, respectively, LA rose from third to first in the West while OKC, Minnesota and Denver all have matching 35-16 records, trailing LA in win percentage by just .008.

4,035 Days: This marks just the second time the Clippers have been first in the conference at least 40 games into the season
The Previous Time: Jan. 20, 2013, when they were tied for first at 32-9 with OKC

2. ROUNDUP: KYRIE WINS IN RETURN TO BROOKLYN

Full Focus: Kyrie Irving shines in return to Brooklyn

Kyrie Irving finished with 36 points as the Mavericks defeated the Nets in Irving's first game in Brooklyn since being dealt to Dallas.

Back at Barclays: Kyrie Irving’s return to Brooklyn included meeting old teammates, fans, friends and family … and teaming up with Luka Doncic to score a combined 71 points to beat his former squad 119-107.

Kyrie posted 36 points, five assists and six 3s, while Luka finished one assist shy of a triple-double (35 pts, 18 reb, 9 ast)
Must-See plays: Kyrie Irving got up for this alley-oop slam and Luka couldn’t believe it. And check out the courtside view of a Luka Magic spin move for the layup

Knicks stay hot: Donte DiVincenzo (32 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) posted his third 30+ point game of the season to lead the Knicks past the shorthanded Grizzlies 123-113 for NY’s 10th win in its last 11 games.

Jalen Brunson scored 17 of his 27 points in the first quarter, but exited the game midway through the fourth with an ankle injury
Crashing the party: Brunson and Josh Hart broke into Mike Breen and Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier’s opening call to celebrate their 25 years together on the Knicks broadcast

Durant outduels Giannis: In a clash of former MVPs, Kevin Durant (28 pts, 10 reb, 2 blk) and the Suns got the best of Giannis Antetokounmpo (34 pts, 10 reb, 6 ast) and the Bucks in a 114-106 win in Phoenix.

Hammer vs. Hammer: KD and Giannis didn’t just exchange buckets to open the fourth, they swapped emphatic slams just 32 seconds apart
Suns Big 3: Devin Booker (32 pts) and Bradley Beal (25 pts, 10 reb) added a combined 57 points as the trio improved to 13-7 when playing together, including a 7-3 mark in their last 10 games

Pacers race past Rockets: Trailing by 10 early in the third, the Pacers outscored the Rockets 43-19 over the next 10 minutes of game time to build a 14-point lead. Houston had one last push before Tyrese Haliburton iced the game with a driving runner with 22 seconds left.

Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 29 points in the 132-129 win, while Haliburton had 18 and seven assists in 29 minutes, his most since returning from a hamstring injury. Jalen Green scored a game-high 30, including this alley-oop from Cam Whitmore

Heat win season series vs. Magic: Jimmy Butler (23 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast) led seven Heat players in double figures in a wire-to-wire win over the Magic 121-95 to take the season series 3-1 over their Florida rivals.

Terry Rozier and Bam Adebayo added a combined 32 points for Miami while Paolo Banchero (23 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast) led the Magic

3. PANINI RISING STARS DRAFT RESULTS

Pau Gasol, Tamika Catchings and Jalen Rose make their selections for the 2024 Panini Rising Stars game.

Victor Wembanyama is making a habit out of being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in basketball drafts as Pau Gasol selected the French phenom with the first pick in the Panini Rising Stars Draft on Tuesday.

Gasol and fellow honorary coaches Tamika Catchings and Jalen Rose selected their seven-player squads, while coach Detlef Schrempf will lead the G League roster.

Team Pau

Rookie Ladder Dominance: Four of the top six players from Steve Aschburner’s latest Kia Rookie Ladder will suit up for Team Pau: (1) Wembanyama, (3) Brandon Miller, (4) Jaime Jaquez Jr. and (6) Brandin Podziemski
No Repeat Picks: Gasol won the competition last year in Utah, but did not select any of the players in the pool from that 2023 squad: Banchero, Keegan Murray, Benn Mathurin or Jaden Ivey

Team Tamika

Sophomore Loaded: Catchings has only two rookies on her squad as she leaned toward a more experienced roster, headlined by Banchero – a first-time All-Star and reigning Kia Rookie of the Year
40-Point Club: Of the 41 players that have posted a 40+ point game this season, only two were in the Rising Stars pool and both ended up on Team Tamika: Banchero (2x) and Murray

Team Jalen

Two Thunder, One Jalen: Rose drafted OKC teammates Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, who have played 1,133 minutes together (35th most out of 2000+ two-man lineups in the NBA)
However, with two Jalens in the pool, Rose was only able to get one as Duren went to Tamika
Crowd Favorite: Rose selected the only Pacer in the pool as second-year guard Benn Mathurin will have the home fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse rooting for Team Jalen

Team Detlef

Ignite Infused: Four of the seven players on the G League squad represent G League Ignite: Izan Almansa, Matas Buzelis, Ron Holland II and Tyler Smith
G League Leaders: The roster is rounded out by Mac McClung (reigning AT&T Slam Dunk champion and the G League’s fifth-leading scorer at 23.5 ppg), Oscar Tshiebwe (the third-leading rebounder at 12.1 rpg) and Alondes Williams (one of five players to average 20-5-5)

4. KUMINGA ON THE RISE

When it comes to young stars on the rise, look no further than Jonathan Kuminga.

Kuminga – who played in the 2022 Rising Stars game during his rookie season after becoming the second player ever drafted out of G League Ignite – is having the best stretch of his young NBA career.

Past 10 games: 24.9 ppg on 60.8% FG, 53.8% 3P, 79.6% FT shooting splits
How good is that? Kuminga joins Kevin Durant and Bernard King (3x) as the only players in Warriors franchise history to average such numbers over a 10-game span
Think about this: Durant accomplished that 10-game run in Feb. 2018, in the middle of his 11th NBA season, and it was the only time he’s ever had such a stretch in his career
Can he keep it going? The Warriors visit the 76ers tonight (7:30 ET, ESPN)

When comparing this 10-game stretch with the rest of Kuminga’s season, we see an increase in minutes (+10.1) and a massive jump in scoring (+12.1).

This is more than just playing more minutes, getting up more shots, and thus scoring more points. Kuminga is doing all of this with incredible efficiency. His field goal percentage has seen a similar jump to his minutes (+10.5), while his 3-point accuracy has nearly doubled (+26.8).

5. A FEW FAVORITE 📸 FROM NBA ALL-STAR SKILL CHALLENGES

In honor of the new LED courts at Lucas Oil Stadium at All-Star 2024, our photos series continues today with a few favorites from the Kia Skills Challenge, which first debuted at the 2003 All-Star Game in Atlanta.