The 2014-15 NBA regular season continued on Friday, November 7 with a healthy slate of games. 22 teams took the court in 11 outings, with almost every feat in the book being achieved.
A legend moved up an all-time list, another point guard registered a triple-double and a rising star drained a buzzer-beater. To cap it all off, a dark-horse contender improved to 6-0 and a number of teams earned statement wins.
Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action.
1. DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points and Kyle Lowry ripped off a triple-double to give the Toronto Raptors a 103-84 victory over the Washington Wizards. Lowry put up 13 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and a steal for Toronto, while Otto Porter Jr. led Washington with 13 points of his own.
With Lowry’s fourth triple-double in a Raptors uniform, he passes Damon Stoudamire for the franchise record.
2. LeBron James posted 22 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds, one block and a steal to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Denver Nuggets 110-101. Kevin Love added 19 points and Dion Waiters had 17, while Randy Foye tallied 28 points and nine dimes for the Nuggets.
One game after dishing out just six team assists against the Utah Jazz, Cleveland had 25 against Denver.
3. Mike Conley scored 20 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 91-89 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tony Allen had four steals and Marc Gasol put up eight points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks for the victorious Grizzlies.
Memphis is 6-0 for the first time in franchise history.
4. DeMarcus Cousins posted 25 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks to lead the Sacramento Kings to yet another victory. This time around, it was a 114-12 double-overtime escape of the Phoenix Suns.
Sacramento is 5-1. It didn’t win its fifth game in 2013-14 until December 7.
5. Deron Williams went off for 29 points and Brook Lopez scored 20 to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 110-99 victory over the New York Knicks. Carmelo Anthony countered with 19 points, but he shot 5-of-20 from the field just one game after going 5-of-21.
With five rebounds in 13 minutes, Kevin Garnett passed Walt Bellamy for No. 9 on the NBA’s all-time rebounding list.
6. Al Jefferson scored 34 points, Lance Stephenson beat the buzzer and Kemba Walker stuffed the stat sheet to lead the Charlotte Hornets past the Atlanta Hawks 122-119 in double-overtime. Walker posted 15 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks, but it’s Stephenson who was the hero.
Stephenson hit his first career game-winning buzzer-beater to give Charlotte the win.
7. Mike Dunleavy scored 27 points and Jimmy Butler had 23 as the Chicago Bulls downed the Philadelphia 76ers 118-115 without Derrick Rose. Philadelphia put forth a miraculous comeback effort, scoring 39 points in the fourth quarter, but it ultimately fell short.
Tony Wroten scored a career-high 31 points with seven assists, five rebounds and a steal for the Sixers.
8. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 19 points to guide the Detroit Pistons past the Milwaukee Bucks 98-95. Jabari Parker scored 18 points and Brandon Knight had 17 with nine assists and six rebounds, but Milwaukee fell short.
Parker’s 18 points were his most as an NBA player.
9. Dirk Nowitzki went for 27 points and 10 rebounds in a 105-82 Dallas Mavericks victory over the Utah Jazz. Nowitzki was 11-of-18 from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in Dallas’ convincing win.
Chandler Parsons was just 1-of-11 for five points, marking the second time he’s scored five or less points this season. He did it once in all of 2013-14.
10. Evan Fournier scored 20 points and Aaron Gordon scored six in overtime to lead the Orlando Magic to a 112-103 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tobias Harris picked up 17 points and 16 rebounds for Orlando, while Gorgui Dieng had 11 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals for Minnesota.
Unfortunately, the story of the game was Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio leaving with a sprained ankle.
Bonus Facts
- Roy Hibbert put up 22 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, but it was the Boston Celtics which emerged victorious at 101-98 over the Indiana Pacers.
- Carmelo Anthony had 19 points on 5-of-20 shooting. He’s the first player to convert no more than five field goals on at least 20 attempts in consecutive games since himself in 2004.