Saturday, Nov. 16 was a night in which the 2013-14 NBA regular season was altered in a major way. The final undefeated team was taken down, a star scorer returned from injury, and a perceived contender fell to 3-6 with yet another stunning loss.
Here’s everything you need to know about last night’s action.
1. The Indiana Pacers are undefeated no more after losing 110-94 to their rival—and yes, they’re actually rivals—Chicago Bulls. Paul George failed to top 20 points for the first time this season for the Pacers, while Luol Deng put up a game-high 23 points and Derrick Rose scored 20 on 6-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc en route to Chicago’s win.
Indiana is now 9-1, while Chicago is 5-3 overall, 4-0 at home and 1-3 on the road.
2. Kyrie Irving tied a career-high with 41 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 103-96 victory over the Washington Wizards. Bradley Beal scored 28 for the Wizards, John Wall had 12 assists and Cavs power forward Tristan Thompson finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
3. LeBron James scored 30 points and Michael Beasley picked up 15 to lead the Miami Heat to a 97-81 win over the Charlotte Bobcats. Chris Bosh scored seven points in 16 minutes and Dwyane Wade had four in 23 to cap off what was a strange night for Miami.
Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 22 points.
4. Shelvin Mack had 12 points and 12 assists in 24 minutes during the Atlanta Hawks 110-90 road victory over the New York Knicks. It was the second time in three games that the Knicks lost by at least 20 points at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks had never previously lost a home game by 20-plus points under head coach Mike Woodson.
5. Hack-a-Howard backfired for the Denver Nuggets, as Dwight Howard sank 17-of-24 free throws and finished with 24 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 122-111 home win. Chandler Parsons added 20 points, Terrence Jones had 14 and 12 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin continued his Sixth Man of the Year campaign with 16 points, seven assists, four rebounds, a steal and one block.
6. Jrue Holiday took on his former team and dropped 14 points and 12 assists to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 135-98 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Anthony Davis continued his instant rise to the ranks of the elite with 13 points, nine rebounds, one assists, eight blocks and two steals to provide supporting fire.
Michael Carter-Williams, the player who is replacing Holiday, didn’t play, but Tony Wroten finished with 19 points.
7. The Pelicans’ win over Philadelphia was highlighted by the return of sharpshooting big man Ryan Anderson. In his first game back from a toe injury, Anderson came off of the bench to put up 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. He hasn’t missed a beat.
8. Russell Westbrook scored 26 points and Kevin Durant dropped 24 to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 92-79 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Serge Ibaka added 15 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks, and O.J. Mayo topped 20 points for the fifth time in six games for Milwaukee.
9. Chris Paul ripped off his 11th consecutive double-double and his 10th straight to open up the season to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 110-103 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Blake Griffin led the scoring charge with 30 points and 12 rebounds, and DeAndre Jordan put up nine points, 16 rebounds and five blocks for L.A.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, is now 3-6 in its first season under head coach Jason Kidd.
10. The Minnesota Timberwolves moved to 7-4 on the season and 5-1 at home with a convincing 106-88 victory over the Boston Celtics. Kevin Love had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Nikola Pekovic added 20 and 10, and Kevin Martin scored 20 points.
This team is a legitimate force to be reckoned with.
Bonus Fact: Indiana Pacers fans need not worry about one loss. The last time a team started 9-0 was in 2002-03, when the Dallas Mavericks reached that point. Dallas went on to win 60 games and reach the Western Conference Finals.
Maxwell Ogden is a regular contributor to Sheridan Hoops. Make sure you follow him on Twitter.