It’s a new year, and fresh faces are rising to the occasion and cashing in on the golden opportunity of a fresh start. Two former first-round draft choices and a second-rounder all went off to post career-best performances.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action.
1. Reggie Jackson scored a career-high 27 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Boston Celtics 119-96. Jackson was 9-of-12 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc to bounce back from a recent string of struggles as Russell Westbrook’s replacement in the starting lineup.
Oklahoma City improves to 27-7 overall and 15-3. Both of those marks are the best in the Western Conference.
2. Stephen Curry ripped off his 17th double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 assists as the Golden State Warriors dominated the Washington Wizards 112-96. Klay Thompson added 26 points and David Lee put up 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Golden State extended its winning streak to nine games—its longest span of success since 1975-76.
3. That wasn’t the full story for Curry. He was just 5-of-17 from the field, marking the fifth time in eight games and the 12th time in 33 total appearances that he’s shot worse than 40.0 percent from the field.
Curry is a legitimate star, but he’s been close to boom-or-bust.
4. CJ Miles scored 21 points, his highest total since November 1, 2013, but the Cleveland Cavaliers fell 82-78 to the Indiana Pacers. It was the eighth time this season that Indiana held an opponent under 80 points. The Pacers are 8-0 in those games.
Indiana is a league-best 27-6.
5. LeBron James led the Miami Heat to a 102-97 victory over the Toronto Raptors. The reigning MVP scored 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting as Miami fought off a 26-point performance by rising star DeMar DeRozan of the Raptors.
LeBron is tied for the league-lead with 317 30-point games since he first entered the league. The man he’s tied with: Kobe Bryant.
6. The Miami Heat are 13-0 against the Toronto Raptors during the Big Three era. Chris Bosh had eight points and 11 rebounds on 2-of-9 shooting in the latest chapter of this semi-rivalry.
7. Jon Leuer matched his career-high with 23 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a lopsided 112-84 win over the Detroit Pistons. Leuer was 8-of-13 from the field and added eight rebounds in 21 minutes as the Grizzlies improved to 8-7 on the road.
Ed Davis added 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Grizzlies’ bench collectively scored 52 points.
8. Kenyon Martin scored a season-high 14 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. dropped 10 in 12 minutes as the New York Knicks defeated the Dallas Mavericks 92-80. Carmelo Anthony was just 6-of-16 from the field, but the Knicks’ bench scored 47 points—two more than the starting lineup—to lead the win.
After winning three road games during the month of December, New York has taken two during the first five days of January.
9. Did you really expect to see any defense?
The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 137-115 in a game that saw Brian Shaw’s team earn a plus-20 rebound advantage. Five separate Nuggets players scored at least 17 points, and Denver improved to 8-9 on the road.
That’s what you call balance.
10. One game after setting a career-high with 15 assists, Kendall Marshall set a new career-high with 17 dimes for the Lakers. Pau Gasol added 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a steal to continue his red-hot play since L.A. picked up the former UNC star.
Marshall is averaging 16.0 assists in two starts for Los Angeles.
Bonus Fact: Pau Gasol joined the 16,000-point club and passed both Derek Harper and Rasheed Wallace on the all-time scoring list to move into 97th. Dirk Nowitzki of Germany and Steve Nash of Canada are the only active international players with more points than Pau.