Starting 5 Daily Newsletter

NBA Starting 5, Jan. 5: Joker’s game-winner, epic Giannis-Wemby’ duel

Nikola Jokic capped off the Nuggets' comeback with a 39-footer at the buzzer, while Giannis and Wemby clash in San Antonio.

January 5, 2024 2:37 PM

Chuck: “Did you call glass on that?”

Jokic: “My friend, it went in. I’m happy.”

— Charles Barkley and Nikola Jokic on Joker’s buzzer-beating 3

THE LINEUP 🏀

👀 Must-see from Thursday

🃏 Jokic game-winner seals comeback

🔥 Giannis vs. Wemby duel delivers

📈 Streaks: Embiid & Randle

⭐ Giannis, LeBron lead All-Star returns

📺 ESPN Doubleheader + 12 more on the App 📲: A busy night of hoops will require multiple devices to keep up. ESPN has Knicks-Sixers (7:30 ET) and Grizzlies-Lakers (10 ET). The NBA App has everything else.

🗒️ Retirements: Ricky Rubio announced his NBA retirement after 12 seasons on Thursday morning. That afternoon, the Orlando Magic announced that Shaquille O’Neal’s No. 32 will be the first number retired by the franchise on Feb. 13. See Shaq’s reaction and congrats from his mom

🙌 A December to Remember for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Chet Holmgren and Jaime Jaquez Jr. as they were named Players and Rookies of the Month

1. FRIDAY MORNING MUST-SEE

🌟 Stars Show Out in the Bay

Jokic for the Tie: Trailing by 18 with 6:51 to play, the Nuggets rallied all the way to tie the game with 26 seconds left on Nikola Jokic’s jumper in the paint
Jokic for the Win: After a Jamal Murray steal and timeout, the Nuggets inbounded the ball to Jokic, who took three dribbles to get over halfcourt before pulling up from 39 feet to launch a desperation 3. It banked in at the buzzer to cap off a stunning comeback. See it from all angles
Just Like Coach Drew It Up?: Michael Malone took no credit for Jokic’s game-winner. “That’s just a great player making a great play with the game on the line.”
Globetrotter Curry: Steph lost the handle, got down on the court, somehow kept his dribble alive, got up and shook the defense for a step-back jumper. See the recovery up close

⚔️ Wemby vs. Giannis Duel

Around the World: Wemby went full video game mode with this move. He recovered the loose ball at midcourt, took two dribbles, brought the ball around his back to avoid Damian Lillard, and rose up for the and-1 dunk on Brook Lopez. Check out some of the best Around the World moves in recent history
This Giannis vs. Wemby Sequence: Giannis got it started with a spinning slam against two Spurs defenders. On the next trip down the court, Wemby upped the ante by hitting the toss-it-off-the-glass self alley-oop, which looks even more poetic through the lens of the high-def, slo-mo Phantom Cam
Fingertips: Wembanyama showed off every inch of his incredible wingspan as he blocked this corner 3 with his fingertips

2. JOKIC CALLS GAME TO CAP EPIC COMEBACK

Nikola Jokic hits a 39-foot 3-pointer with time expiring to lift the Nuggets over the Warriors, 130-127.

⚒️ Nuggets 130, Warriors 127
🏀 DEN 25-11, GSW 16-18 | Recap

There are two types of game-winning buzzer-beaters. The ones at home, when the building explodes with joyous euphoria. And the ones on the road, where the only sounds heard from the thousands in attendance are gasps, groans and sighs.

Jokic delivered the latter inside the Chase Center in San Francisco on Thursday, banking in a desperation 39-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to cap off a 25-4 game-ending run as the Nuggets stunned the Warriors.

Joker and AG: The two-time MVP finished with 34 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists in the win. Jokic scored nine of Denver’s points in their game-winning run, while Aaron Gordon had 13 of his 30 down the stretch
Jokic Game-Winners: This was the seventh game-winning shot of Jokic’s career and only his second at the buzzer. The last one: March 14, 2019 vs. Dallas
From Way Downtown: Since 1997-98, Jokic’s shot is the longest buzzer-beater by a center, topping the previous mark of 23 feet by Terry Mills on Dec. 30, 1999

Outside of the wild finish, this game followed a similar pattern between these teams in recent years – close games and Denver wins.

Since Golden State eliminated Denver in the 2022 Playoffs on their way to the title, the Nuggets have not lost to the Warriors
Thursday’s win makes it six in a row for Denver, with five of those coming by seven points or less

Steph Curry had 30 points and five 3-pointers for the Warriors, who have one more shot to snap their losing streak to the Nuggets this season (Feb. 25 back at Chase Center).

3. 1ST GIANNIS VS. WEMBY MATCHUP: AN INSTANT CLASSIC

Led by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 44 points (19-28 FG), 14 rebounds and seven assists, the Bucks defeat the Spurs 125-121.

🦌 Bucks 125, Spurs 121
🏀 MIL 25-10, SAS 5-29 | Recap

Victor Wembanyama celebrated his 20th birthday with 27 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, two break-the-internet moves, and a near-upset of the Bucks.

Milwaukee closed the game on a 13-4 run over the final 3:30 to turn a five-point deficit into a four-point win to avoid its first three-game losing streak since Dec. 2022.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 44 points, 14 boards and seven assists, emerging as the victor in his first duel with Victor
🗣️ Khris Middleton on the duel: “To see those two guys go at it, I don’t think the league has ever seen anything like that”
Damian Lillard added 25 points and 10 assists for Milwaukee, while Devin Vassell had a team-high 34 points and six 3s for San Antonio

Wemby on this shot: “I’m resourceful, even with no dribble I can do some stuff.”

Clutch time highlights

Vassell followed his own shot for the slam to put the Spurs up by five with 3:40 to play

Giannis followed that up with back-to-back wide-open 3s. The Spurs dared him to shoot and he made them pay.

Watch the final 1:19 uncut, or follow along for the blow-by-blow:

Both Sides: Wembanyama blocked Lillard’s layup attempt, went to the ground, got back up, trailed the fast break and got a catch-and-shoot 3 for the tie with 1:09 left
Old-Fashioned 3: Giannis responded with a driving and-1 dunk. He hit the ensuing free throw for his final points of the night to put the Bucks up 3 with 53 seconds left
Wemby Denial: After a Jeremy Sochan missed 3, Giannis drove right into Wemby’s chest looking for the dagger, but Wemby rejected the shot (here’s a bonus angle) to keep it a 3-point game with 23 seconds left
For the Tie: The Spurs got Tre Jones a wide-open corner 3 attempt for the tie, but it missed and the Bucks sealed the game at the free-throw line

4. EMBIID, RANDLE MEET WITH STREAKS ON THE LINE

When Joel Embiid began playing basketball at age 15 in Cameroon, his coach at the time gave him a tape of the perfect player for Embiid to model his game after: Hakeem Olajuwon.

🗣️ Embiid: “Hakeem is one of the guys I’ve always wanted to follow. He started playing basketball so late, and he’s from Africa, so we kind of have the same backstory. He’s been one of my idols.”
🗣️ Watch and Learn: “I watched that tape at least six days out of seven every week. Just watching him move, he was so amazing. I would just go to the gym, watch whatever move he did, and do it by myself.”
🗣️ Hakeem: “I feel honored for him to take it that seriously. At the same time, he has the tools and the talent to be able to do those moves. That’s him, that’s his game. So he can take it to a whole other level.”

And he has. The level that Embiid is playing at right now is historic.

When the Sixers host the Knicks tonight (7:30 ET, ESPN), Embiid will look to extend his streak of 30+ points, 10+ rebounds games to 15. Hakeem’s longest streak of his Hall of Fame career was four games.

Embiid has the longest streak since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1972 (16 games)
The only player with more than Kareem: Wilt Chamberlain with streaks of 20, 25, 31 and the record 65

Tyrese Maxey has been asked about Embiid’s greatness a lot during this run. So much so that the Philly media can recite his standard quote on demand: “Joel Embiid is very good at basketball.” But when Embiid’s run of 30/10 games passed Wilt for the Sixers’ franchise record, Maxey elaborated a bit:

🗣️ Maxey: “He’s getting better, which is scary. He did a layup today that I normally do — eurostep, high (off the) glass, a touch layup. And I looked at Pat Bev and said, ‘He’s 7-2, and he just ran full-speed and did the layup I just did.’ That’s scary. … We appreciate him and try not to take it for granted.”
🗣️ Patrick Beverley: “He’s the most dominant player in basketball right now and it’s not even close.”
🗣️ Hornets coach Steve Clifford: “He’s just such a dominant presence at both ends of the floor. When he just brings the ball up the court and plays one-on-one, there’s really not much you can do”

Embiid isn’t the only player in this matchup looking to keep a streak alive. Julius Randle has scored at least 20 points in 19 straight games, dating back to Nov. 26.

It’s the longest streak by a New York Knick since Carmelo Anthony in 2014 (22 games)
The only player with a longer active streak: Joel Embiid (26 games)

5. GIANNIS, LEBRON LEAD 1ST ALL-STAR RETURNS

We go from one historic streak (Embiid’s current run) to another as LeBron James took his first step toward a historic 20th straight All-Star selection and 20th as a starter as he leads all Western Conference players in the first fan voting returns.