Sunday, November 24 may have been highlighted by a day of NFL action, but the stars were out in the NBA. There were extraordinary performances, offseason acquisitions building chemistry, and a turbulent season that took a turn for the worst.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s games.
1. The Los Angeles Clippers’ offseason signings had their best collective game of the season. J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley combined for 40 points on 16-of-21 shooting from the field, Darren Collison posted 14 points and five assists in 21 minutes, and Antawn Jamison added 11 points while coming off of the bench.
The end result? The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Chicago Bulls by a score of 121-82. That 39-point margin was the largest that any team has posted this season.
2. One day after his record-setting double-double streak ended, Chris Paul put up 16 points and 17 assists in 27 minutes. It was Paul’s third game in 2013-14 and his 52nd career performance with at least 15 points and 15 assists.
3. In Chicago’s first game since losing Derrick Rose, it finished with an encouraging 24 assists. Unfortunately, the Bulls also shot a disheartening 39.5 percent from the field. Chicago is now 1-6 on the road.
4. The Phoenix Suns defeated the Orlando Magic 104-96 to move to 7-6 after 13 games. That may be a run-of-the-mill statistic, but here’s where things get interesting: the Suns attempted three total free throws.
That’s the fewest number of free throw attempts in team history, and the lowest mark by any team in a win since the Milwaukee Bucks on February 20, 2002.
5. Gerald Green scored 20 points to lead the Suns to the win over the Magic, giving him four 20-point performances and 10 with at least 10 points in 2013-14. Green had three total games with at least 20 points and 12 with more than 10 during the entire 2012-13 regular season.
6. Rodney Stuckey scored 27 points to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 109-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Stuckey hit 27 points in just one game last season.
7. The Nets fell to 3-10 with their loss to the Pistons. VegasInsider.com had given Brooklyn 25/1 odds to win the NBA championship before the season, which was the ninth-best mark amongst any team.
8. Star big men dueled as Pau Gasol dropped 20 points and 10 rebounds, and DeMarcus Cousins put up 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings 100-86. Gasol now has at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive games for the first time since Mar. 3, 2013.
9. Steve Blake put up a game-high 12 assists to pace the Lakers’ offense. Blake now has at least 10 assists in five of his past six games. Prior to 2013-14, he hadn’t registered a single outing with double-digit assists since April 14, 2010.
10. The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Utah Jazz by a score of 95-73. Utah, now 1-14, was astonishingly bad, posting a team slash line of .394/.222/.448. Utah was 13-of-29 from the free throw line.
Bonus Fact: Utah’s starting lineup combined to shoot 12-of-39 from the floor. That’s 30.8 percent.