November 9 was a Sunday like any other in the sports world. The NFL commanded attention from start-to-finish, with not enough eyes going to the extraordinary action transpiring in the NBA.
Here’s what you missed.
1. Isaiah Thomas had 22 points, and both Goran Dragic and Gerald Green scored 19 to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 107-95 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry posted 28 points and 10 assists for the Warriors, but he also committed 10 of the Warriors’ 26 turnovers.
Since 2009-10, Curry has a league-high three games with at least 10 turnovers. Kobe Bryant is the only other player with two of those outings.
2. With Golden State’s loss, there are no undefeated teams in the NBA.
3. In a rematch of the 2011 NBA Finals, the Miami Heat went on the road to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 105-96. Luol Deng scored a season-high 30 points, Chris Bosh had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade tallied 20 points and 10 assists for the victorious Heat.
Wade has two games with double-digit assists in his past five outings. He had two in all of 2013-14.
4. Bosh has scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive games. That’s his longest streak since February 17, 2010.
5. Bojan Bogdanovic scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead the Brooklyn Nets past the Orlando Magic 104-96. Nikola Vucevic had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, but Brooklyn’s backcourt shined with Deron Williams scoring 18 points.
Williams has scored at least 15 points in six straight games—his longest streak since March 24, 2013.
6. LaMarcus Aldridge posted 28 points and nine rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers past the Denver Nuggets 116-100. Portland sank 16 3-point field goals, including five by Wesley Matthews and three from Steve Blake.
Portland has won five consecutive games over Denver. That’s the longest streak of either team since the Nuggets’ eight-game winning streak over the Trail Blazers ended on January 31, 2007.
7. Kobe Bryant and Jeremy Lin both scored 21 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers past the Charlotte Hornets 107-92. Al Jefferson posted 23 points and Kemba Walker tallied 17, but the Hornets were the first team to score less than 108 points against the Lakers.
This was the Lakers’ first win of the season. Charles Barkley can now eat.
8. Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter both posted double-doubles to lead the Utah Jazz to a 97-96 road victory over the Detroit Pistons. Favors posted 16 points, 12 rebounds and a block, while Kanter tallied 14 points and 11 boards to overcome 23 points from Detroit’s Brandon Jennings.
The Pistons are the first team to grab 50 rebounds without overtime in a loss since January 7.
9. DeMar DeRozan posted 24 points on just 12 shots to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 120-88 decimation of the Philadelphia 76ers. Tony Wroten scored 18 points and Chris Johnson had 16 to lead the Sixers, but it wasn’t enough to overcome 17 points from Terrence Ross and 16 in 18 minutes by Louis Williams.
This was Toronto’s biggest win over Philadelphia. Bar none.
10. Reggie Jackson scored 22 points and Jeremy Lamb had 17 to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 101-93 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Rudy Gay posted 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals for Sacramento, but the Kings failed to pull out another big win.
Ben McLemore scored a season-high 16 points for the Kings.
Bonus Fact: The 76ers are the only team without a win.
I’m looking at that Toronto-Philadelphia game highlight, and I noticed they’ve changed the floor. That three-dimensional baseline in Toronto’s arena was cool, I wonder why they decided to replace it.