Sunday, December 15 was a slow day for the NBA, but the action was still high-octane. 12 teams participated in six ultra-competitive games that featured a buzzer-beater, a fourth-quarter comeback, the continuation of a career year, and the further establishment of an elite championship contender.
The question is, what do you need to know about last night’s action? Let’s find out.
1. The Portland Trail Blazers improved to a a Western Conference-best 21-4 with a 111-109 road overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons. Damian Lillard made up for a 6-of-21 shooting performance by hitting the buzzer-beating game-winner, and LaMarcus Aldridge dropped 27 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks to lead Portland’s offensive charge.
Aldridge for MVP?
2. By defeating the Pistons, Portland has already matched its road win total from a year ago. After going 11-30 away from home in 2012-13, Portland is currently 11-2 on the road in 2013-14.
3. Sick of the Trail Blazers love? Wait, no one is giving them any? Here’s some more from Sheridan Hoops. Portland improved to 21-4, which is tied for the second-best start in franchise history behind the 1990-91 team that opened up at 22-3.
That ’90-91 team reached the Western Conference Finals.
4. Josh Smith scored 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting in the losing effort for Detroit. That’s his highest scoring total as a member of 
the Pistons.
5. Rudy Gay posted yet another excellent stat line with 26 points, five rebounds, four assists, four steals and one block on 10-of-20 shooting from the field. Gay is averaging 25.0 points on 56.3 percent shooting from the floor in two games since he was traded from the Toronto Raptors. He averaged 19.4 points on 38.8 percent shooting in 18 games with Toronto.
Sacramento defeated the Houston Rockets 106-91. Talk about enjoying a fresh start.
6. For just the second time in 23 games, Kevin Love failed to register a double-double. All Love did was scored 30 points, grab nine rebounds, dish out four assists and block three shots to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 101-93 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Minnesota is back to .500 at 12-12.
7. The Orlando Magic came back from 16 points down with seven minutes remaining, but fell short in a 101-98 defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin Durant scored 28 points and hit a clutch free throw with 13 seconds remaining, and Russell Westbrook dropped 20 and 12 rebounds to lead the Thunder’s win.
Oklahoma City moves to 19-4 overall and, most impressively, a league-best 12-0 at home.
8. The Denver Nuggets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 102-93 to move to 14-9. The scoreboard may have remained tight, but the Nuggets dominated the boards. Denver finished with 51 total rebounds, while New Orleans came up with 32.
When you lose the battle on the glass by 19 rebounds, you’re going to lose the game every time.
9. In the loss, embattled second-year Pelicans scoring guard Austin Rivers posted a season-high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. It was his highest scoring total since he posted 27 on December 14, 2012.
One year and one day later, Rivers got hot again.
10. Eric Bledsoe flirted with a triple-double to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 106-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Bledsoe finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals to out-duel Stephen Curry, who tallied 30 points, seven dimes, six boards and three swipes.
Bledsoe has eight 20-point outings in 2013-14. He had four career 20-point performances entering this season.
Bonus Fact: The Phoenix Suns are 14-9 after 23 games. After 23 games in 2012-13, Phoenix was 8-15.