Starting 5 Daily Newsletter

Game tied, 30 seconds on the game clock, 5 seconds on the shot clock, Luka gets the ball on the right wing surrounded by 2 defenders and the sideline. With nowhere to go, he flings the ball toward the basket with only his right hand for a desperation 3-pointer that somehow banked in

Watch the replay again and this time focus on the celebration by the Mavs bench and Luka’s reaction at the very end as he shows it’s all in the flick of the wrist

Luka hit the final 4 shots of the night for the Mavs – all 3-pointers – finishing with 49 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and a career-high 9 3-pointers as Dallas defeated Brooklyn 125-120 to stay unbeaten
This was Luka’s 15th career game with 40+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for 2nd most in NBA history before turning 25. Luka has 124 more days to get 1 more to tie Oscar Robertson with 16

Cam Thomas had his 2nd straight 30+ point game to open the season and is shooting 62.5% through Brooklyn’s 1st 2 games. The Nets are 0-2 on their season, but their 2 losses have come by a combined 6 points

WEMBY CLUTCH IN 1ST NBA WIN

Jabari Smith Jr. rises up for the dunk. Wemby had other ideas | NBAE via Getty Images

Victor Wembanyama combined his spectacular highlights with a win as he delivered in the clutch to lead San Antonio to its 1st win of the season, 126-122, over the Rockets.

Clutch: Wembanyama finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks, with 13/8/3 coming in the 4th quarter and overtime. Watch the closing seconds of regulation and all of overtime here
Balance: Wemby was 1 of 3 20+ point scorers for the Spurs as Devin Vassell (25) and Keldon Johnson (20) combined for 45 point and 6 3-pointers
20/10 x 2: The Rockets had a pair of 20-10 double-doubles in the loss: Fred VanVleet (24 PTS, 12 AST, 8 REB) and Alperen Sengun (25 PTS, 14 REB, 7 AST)

It wouldn’t be a Wemby game without a treasure trove of highlights. On Friday, the No. 1 pick delivered a dunk party and block party.

Nothing to see here, just Wemby with a spin move to the baseline going under the hoop for the reverse jam and the foul

Nobody is safe when the ball and Wemby are near the rim. Wemby rises up over everyone, including his teammate Jeremy Sochan, and throws down the alley-oop
How about a pair of clutch blocks in the final two minutes as Wemby denied Jabari Smith Jr. twice in one possession

Read More: Michael C. Wright has 5 takeaways from Wemby’s clutch performance and the Spurs win

ALL-STAR GUARD DUELS & FANTASTIC FINISHES

Donovan Mitchell and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined for 77 points on Friday | NBAE via Getty Images

If the Luka and Wemby double feature wasn’t enough, Friday featured 9 more games, including 2 Game 7 rematches, 2 All-Star guard duels and more fantastic finishes.

All-Star Guard Duels

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Donovan Mitchell

Gilgeous-Alexander (34 PTS, 11 REB, 5 STL) and Mitchell (43 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST) put on an absolute show in Cleveland on Friday night as the Thunder outlasted the Cavs 108-105 to improve to 2-0 on the season.

SGA Strikes 1st: Gilgeous-Alexander started fast with 12 points in the 1st quarter, helping OKC build a 15-point 2nd quarter lead

Spida Responds: Mitchell’s scoring increased each quarter – 6 in the 1st, 11 in the 2nd, 12 in the 3rd and 14 in the 4th – as he led Cleveland from 15 down to up 10 with under 3 minutes to play

Fantastic Finish: Rewatch the final 3:47 of the game to see how Cleveland went up late and how SGA and OKC responded to get the W

Chet’s Rookie Record: It only took 2 games for Chet Holmgren to see the OKC rookie record for blocks in a game as he had 7 rejections

Steph Curry has 91 points in his last 2 games in Sactown | NBAE via Getty Images

Stephen Curry vs. De’Aaron Fox

In 1 of 2 Game 7 rematches from last year’s playoffs, Steph Curry continued to get buckets in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center, following up his 50-burger in Game 7 with 41 points in Friday’s 122-114 win.

Steph’s Efficiency: Curry needed only 19 shots and 6 free throws to put up his 41 points as he shot 14-19 from the field, 7-10 from 3 and 6-6 from the line
How Good Is That? Curry is only the 5th player ever to score at least 41 points on 19 or fewer shots and 6 or fewer free throws. The other 4: Gary Trent Jr. and Gordon Hayward in 2021, Klay Thompson and Zach LaVine in 2023
Fox Catches Fire: Fox scored 22 of his 39 in the 4th quarter to lead a Kings rally before Steph hit the clinching 3 and kept the beam on ice
Encore: Luckily we don’t have to wait long for another round in this duel as the Warriors host the Kings next Wednesday (Nov. 1)
Read More: Shaun Powell has 5 takeaways from the Curry/Fox duel and the Warriors win

Alex Caruso celebrates with his teammates after his game-winner | NBAE via Getty Images

More Fantastic Finishes

Bulls 104, Raptors 103: DeMar DeRozan scored 11 of his 33 points in the final 2 minutes of regulation as the Bulls forced OT, leading to an incredible sequence from Alex Caruso in the closing seconds. With the Bulls trailing by 2 with 12 seconds to play, Caruso strips Pascal Siakam on the drive, Zach LaVine recovers the loose ball and goes coast-to-coast and finds Caruso in the corner for the game-winning 3
Jazz 120, Clippers 118: Lauri Markkanen had 35 points, 12 boards and 5 3-pointers to lead the Jazz past the Clippers for their 1st win of the season. LA trailed by as many as 14 points and never led until midway through the 4th quarter, setting up a fantastic finish over the final 4:36 of the game.

Nuggets 108, Grizzlies 104: After he got in his pregame sprints, Nikola Jokic posted 22 points, 12 boards and 7 dimes, including a touchdown pass to Aaron Gordon. Jamal Murray added 22 for Denver, while Jaren Jackson Jr. (21 points, 3 blocks) and Marcus Smart (20 points, 5 steals) combined for 41 for the Grizz. Denver led most of the night, but Memphis rallied in the 4th to set up a wild final five minutes
Knicks 126, Hawks 120: Jalen Brunson scored 31 points and made a career-high 8 3-pointers as the Knicks held off the Hawks. Atlanta only led once all game (6-5 early in the 1st quarter) but constantly battled as the teams traded runs, setting up this fantastic finish over the final 4:07 of the game

Derrick White had a game like no other Celtic on Friday | NBAE via Getty Images

Closing Out Friday Night

Celtics 119, Heat 111: Derrick White became the first Celtic in HISTORY with at least 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 5 3-pointers in a game to send Boston to the 119-111 comeback win. All 5 Boston starters scored 17 or more, while Tyler Herro (28) and Bam Adebayo (27) combined for 56 for Miami
Pistons 111, Hornets 99: Alec Burks led 6 Pistons in double figures with 24 points to lead Detroit to its 1st win of the season. Ausar Thompson had 6 points, 13 boards, 6 assists and another block for his resume, while Hornets rookie Brandon Miller scored 17 points
Magic 102, Trail Blazers 97: Franz Wagner posted 23 points, 5 boards and 3 assists – including this Wagner-to-Wagner connection with his brother Mo – as the Magic improved to 2-0

ZION LEADS 7-GAME SATURDAY SLATE

Nobody throws down like Zion. | NBAE via Getty Images

📺 Knicks at Pelicans, (7 ET, NBA TV): Following a nail-biter with the Celtics at MSG, the Knicks are still out for Win No. 1. But there is a rather large obstacle in the way – a 6-foot-6, 284 pound (and healthy) Zion Williamson.

Back with a bang: Zion dropped 23 points, 7 rebounds (plus this monster poster) in his 2023-34 debut for the Pels after injury snatched the end of his 2022-23 season
A strong flock: But Zion wasn’t even the team’s leading scorer in New Orleans’ first win. CJ McCollum dropped 24 points, 6 assists, while Brandon Ingram chipped in with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
“Best duo in the NBA?”: Yes, according to Coach Willie Green.
Let’s not forget: This is the same Knicks team that made it all the way to the Eastern Semifinals. We’re not worried about their ability to bounce back.

📺 Jazz at Suns, (10 ET, NBA TV): With two of the Suns’ big three sidelined on Saturday, can the group that just missed last year’s Play-In tournament make their mark early? Or will the 12th-highest all-time scorer, Kevin Durant, step up for Phoenix?

Numbers (and ball) don’t lie: The Suns won the regular season series last season, 2-1. But, in one of those matchups Finland’s Finest, Lauri Markkanen dropped a then-career high 38 points.
New-look Suns: This is far from the same team as last year, with the Suns acquiring KD in Feb. of ‘23, sending Chris Paul to Golden State in July, and trading Deandre Ayton to Portland in September.

Jazzin’ it up: The Jazz are sporting new looks too, but not-so-much on the roster – we’re talking about their vintage photoshoot

Your League Pass guide for the night:

📲Grizzlies at Wizards, (7 ET, NBA App): Tyus Jones revisits his former team following the trade that sent him to DC and Marcus Smart to Memphis

📲Bulls at Pistons, (7 ET, NBA App): A veteran Bulls squad faces a young and scrappy Pistons posse, both eyeing their 2nd wins.

📲 76ers at Raptors, (7:30 ET, NBA App): Cameroon countrymen Pascal Siakam and Joel Embiid square off as the Sixers look to pick up their 1st win

📲Pacers at Cavs, (7:30 ET, NBA App): Bruce Brown, Max Strus and Obi Toppin highlight the new additions in this Midwestern matchup

📲 Heat at Timberwolves, (8 ET, NBA App): From Miami beaches to a place where it quite literally snowed on Friday morning – the Wolves face a Heat squad led by a guy known to have ice in his veins

UNDERRATED STORYLINES TO ‘ENJOY’

Co-founded by Kenny Beecham, Enjoy Basketball is a positive-first, hot-take free media brand that gives NBA fans the news they need to know. Join the FREE 3x weekly newsletter HERE.

The Enjoy Basketball crew joined The Starting 5 for today, with their underrated storylines for this NBA season. Here’s a snippet of what you can find on NBA.com:

Each season has its own unique storylines. The big ones this year include a super-prospect in San Antonio, a terrifying tandem in Milwaukee and a terrifying trio in Phoenix, and (time is a flat circle) LeBron James’ continued rivalry with aging. But we’re not going to talk about any of that today, instead focusing on some of the less-discussed storylines for the true basketball enthusiasts out there. Yes, we include ourselves in that group. Let’s get into it.

Taking a Pao-Leap

Fine, that title might be a bit of a stretch. But coming off his Rookie of the Year campaign, Paolo Banchero is rocketing towards All-Star status, and we don’t think it’s crazy to predict that he might brush up against the “star” label as soon as this year.

How high can Paolo fly this year? | NBAE via Getty Images

Banchero was in the 10th percentile of all forwards on two-point shots, and only shot 30% from deep in his rookie year. So why do we believe he’s ready to fully pop in Orlando? In part, because he shot that inefficiently from the field and still managed to score 20 points per game, and in part because of how he was getting his buckets. Only 46% of his makes were assisted, putting him in the top 10 among all forwards. A rookie showing that type of creation ability is rare–extremely rare. And Banchero doesn’t just create for himself, either, as his assist rate of 17.1% was 10th-best among qualified players 6-10 and taller.

Beyond the statistics though, the eye test– in other words, how comfortable a player looks, how they adjust to NBA speed, and how they respond to different defensive strategies– can give us a good signal for how they will develop, too. Banchero passed those tests with flying colors. Seldom did he look overmatched physically (a 6′8″, 250-pound frame helps with that) and it was very easy to forget that he was a rookie throughout last season, even when his shot wasn’t falling.

The NBA doesn’t often give the Most Improved Player award to a second year player, but there’s a reason why Banchero’s name is popping up in MIP discussions. He’s really good.

For the rest of Enjoy Basketball’s underrated storylines to watch for this season, head over to NBA.com to read more.

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