For all of the attention that was given to a wild day of college football, the NBA offered its fair share of excitement on Saturday, December 7. From buzzer-beaters to legendary feats, there was a little bit of everything on this day of professional basketball.
Here’s everything you need to know about last night’s action.
1. Tim Duncan became the 21st player in NBA history to record at least 24,000 points. The next closest active player is Ray Allen of the Miami Heat at 23,963.
2. The Indiana Pacers went on the road to earn a 111-100 win over the San Antonio Spurs in a meeting between two of the NBA’s hottest teams. Luis Scola registered his first double-double of the year, Paul George scored 28 points and David West filled up the stat sheet for 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals, two blocks and no turnovers to lead Indiana’s win.
Indiana moves to an NBA-best 18-2 overall and 9-2 on the road. San Antonio is 15-4 and 8-2 at home.
3. The Miami Heat went on the road to defeat the Kevin Love-less Minnesota Timberwolves 103-82. LeBron James had 21 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and seven turnovers, and Dwyane Wade scored 19 points in his first game back from injury. That’s LeBron’s second double-double of the year.
Most impressively? Miami scored 24 fast break points and 56 points in the paint. Not even Love would’ve prevented that attack.
4. For the seventh time this season, Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving had more turnovers than assists. One game removed from shooting 0-for-9 from the field, he was 6-of-15 for 20 points, six assists and seven turnovers.
Fortunately, Tristan Thompson came up with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Andrew Bynum scored 18 to lead the Cavaliers to an 88-82 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Unfortunately, it’s becoming clear that Irving is meant to play the 2.
5. In defeat, Chris Paul torched the Cavaliers for 13 points and 15 assists. It was Paul’s fifth game with at least 15 assists and 17th game with at least 10 points and 10 dimes. Stephen Curry and John Wall are second in the NBA with seven games with at least 10 points and 10 assists.
How’s that for perspective?
6. Speaking of Curry, he scored 22 points and matched his career-high of 15 assists in 45 minutes during the Golden State Warriors’ 108-82 road blowout of the Memphis Grizzlies. Despite winning by 26 points, Curry, Klay Thompson and David Lee all saw at least 38 minutes of action.
That’s nothing short of a questionable and risky move by head coach Mark Jackson considering both Curry and Lee have battled recent injuries.
7. The Detroit Pistons became the fourth team in the Eastern Conference with a record of .500 or better by moving to 10-10 with a 92-75 road win over the Chicago Bulls. Brandon Jennings scored a season-high 33 points, while the frontcourt trio of Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Josh Smith combined for 36 rebounds.
The results that Detroit envisioned with its offseason acquisitions are coming to fruition.
8. Elite power forwards dueled as Dirk Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to a dramatic 108-106 road upset of LaMarcus Aldridge and the Portland Trail Blazers. Dirk finished with 28 points, seven assists, six rebounds and one block, while Aldridge put up 19 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and a steal.
In the end, it was Monta Ellis who hit a 21-foot jumper at the buzzer to help Dallas improve to 13-8 overall and 4-6 on the road. Portland drops to 17-4 and 9-2 at home.
9. The two teams with the worst records in the Eastern Conference met on Saturday. The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 90-82. Brooklyn improved to 6-14, while Milwaukee fell to 4-16.
Brook Lopez was close to flawless with a season-high 32 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks on 11-of-13 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
10. Rookies clashed in an epic overtime affair as Ben McLemore and the Sacramento Kings outlasted Trey Burke and the Utah Jazz by a score of 112-102 in overtime. Burke hit what appeared to be game-sealing free throws with 11 seconds remaining, but McLemore sent the game to overtime with a 3-point field goal with three on the game clock.
McLemore finished with 15 points and a career-high nine rebounds. Burke tallied his first career double-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Bonus Fact: On top of hitting the buzzer-beater, Monta Ellis was 9-of-18 for 22 points. Ellis has shot at least 50.0 percent from the field in 20 of his past 47 regular season games. In his previous 47, he hit 50.0 percent in just 10.