NBA Starting 5, Dec. 16: Brunson drops 50; Wemby wins vs. LeBron
Jalen Brunson just posted the sixth 50-point game of the NBA season.
The way he did it was a one-of-one.
THE LINEUP
- Must-see from Friday night
- Brunson drops 50, 9-9 on 3s
- Spurs win Wemby-LeBron duel
- Roundup: Embiid tops Wilt
- 7️⃣ Clippers seek 7th straight win
Hawks at Cavs: 7:30 ET, NBA TV
Jazz at Kings: 10 ET, NBA TV
8 more games on the NBA App
1. MONDAY MORNING MUST-SEES
Must-See 3’s:
- Can’t Miss: Brunson dropped a career-high 50 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting display from 3-point range (more on the history he made in Section 2 ⬇️)
- From the logo: In case you were wondering where Trae Young launched this deep 3 from, he let everyone know afterward
- To the roof: Check out the height of this high-arcing 3 from LeBron over Victor Wembanyama (more on this matchup in Section 3 ⬇️)
- Two-man game: The Joel Embiid/Tyrese Maxey combo has been money all season, including this back-and-forth before Maxey splashed the side-step 3
Monster Slams
- Stay for the reaction: Jaylen Brown threw down three dunks on Friday, none sweeter than this slam against Magic rookie Anthony Black. KP on the Celtics bench was all of us
- Watch your back: Zion caught the Hornets with the backdoor cut, then got up for alley-oop dunk as New Orleans got the win
- Defense ➡️ Offense: LeBron with the swipe for the breakaway dunk (check out the Phantom Cam super slo-mo)
2. BRUNSON CAN’T MISS, DROPS CAREER-HIGH 50
Brunson erupts for career-high 50 points vs. Suns
Jalen Brunson turned in a career-best performance in the Knicks' 139-122 win in Phoenix.
Knicks 139, Suns 122
Recap | NYK 14-10, PHX 13-12
Jalen Brunson could not miss.
Seriously.
Already sitting on a season-high 47 points with under two minutes to play, Brunson brought the ball up, took a hard dribble to sell the drive, then stepped back for a 3 on the right wing.
Splash.
50 points.
9-of-9 on 3s.
- History: Brunson became the first player in the 3-point era (since 1979-80) to score 50+ points while shooting 100% from 3 on at 8+ attempts
- That’s not all: In addition to his career-high 50 points, Brunson added nine assists, six rebounds and a career-high five steals in New York’s win in Phoenix
- Great company (Part 1): Brunson became the third player in NBA history with 50+ points, 9+ assists, 5+ rebounds and 5+ steals in a game. The others: Michael Jordan (Mar. 18, 1988) and Rick Barry (Mar. 26, 1974)
- We dug a clip from the MJ game out of our archive for the Starting 5 fam: tap to watch him get to 50 in ’88
- Great company (Part 2): Brunson became the third player in NBA history to shoot 9-of-9 or better from 3. The others: Ben Gordon (Apr. 14, 2006 and Mar. 21, 2012) and former Knick Latrell Sprewell (Feb. 4, 2003)
Julius Randle (23) and RJ Barrett (21) combined for 44 for New York, while Kevin Durant (29, including a stretch of 12 straight) and Devin Booker (28) combined for 57 for Phoenix, who lost Bradley Beal to a sprained ankle.
3. SPURS WIN FIRST WEMBY VS. LEBRON MATCHUP
Two of the most anticipated No. 1 picks in the history of the NBA – one from 2003, the other from 2023 – shared the court for the first time Friday night in San Antonio.
- Wemby on meeting LeBron: “I don’t remember the NBA without LeBron”
Spurs 129, Lakers 115
Recap | SAS 4-20, LAL 15-11
Here are a few of the best visuals from their first matchup, starting with an up-close look at LeBron’s signature chalk toss before opening tip.
4. ROUNDUP: EMBIID, CELTICS ON HISTORIC STREAKS
Both Joel Embiid and the Boston Celtics are throwing it back to the Wilt Chamberlain-Bill Russell days with their current streaks.
Sixers 124, Pistons 92
Recap | PHI 17-7, DET 2-23
- With his ninth-straight game with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, Embiid passed Wilt (eight games in 1965) for the longest such streak in Sixers franchise history
- For the second-straight game, Embiid needed only three quarters against Detroit to reach those marks, finishing with 35 points and 13 boards before sitting the fourth
- This is the seventh time that Embiid has posted back-to-back 30/10 games in just three quarters against the same opponent – the most by any player in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98). The next closest: AD (4), Jokic and Luka (3 each) and Shaq (2)
Celtics 128, Magic 111
Recap | BOS 19-5, ORL 16-8
- The last time the Celtics opened the season 13-0 at home, Russell won the first of his five MVPs in 1957-58
- That season, Boston opened that season 17-0 at home, a mark this Celtics squad can match on Jan. 5
- Jayson Tatum had 30 points to lead the way, while Jaylen Brown had 18, including a pair of poster dunks
More losing streaks snapped
The Spurs weren’t the only team to end a losing streak on Friday.
Wizards 137, Pacers 123
Recap | WAS 4-20, IND 13-10
- The Wizards snapped their six-game skid thanks to a pair of 30+ point games from Kyle Kuzma (31) and Jordan Poole (30). Tyus Jones added his second-career triple-double (13 pts, 10 reb, 11 ast) as Washington put up a season-high 137 points
️ Hawks 125, Raptors 104
Recap | ATL 10-14, TOR 10-15
- Trae Young (38 pts, 11 ast) posted his second straight game with 35+ points and 10+ assists to help Atlanta snap a five-game losing streak. Trae now has 33 career 35/10 games – the most in the NBA since he entered the league in 2018-19
Rounding out an eight-game night
Rockets 103, Grizzlies 96
Recap | HOU 13-9, MEM 6-18
- It’s hard to script a better return game than Dillon Brooks had in Memphis on Friday. He scored a team-high 26 points, including the dagger 3 with 39.4 seconds left to lead his new squad past his old squad
⚜️ Pelicans 112, Hornets 107
Recap | NOP 15-11, CHA 7-16
- The Pelicans got a pair of 20/10 games from Jonas Valanciunas (season-high 29 pts, 13 reb) and Zion Williamson (21 pts, 11 reb) to defeat the Hornets for their third-straight win
5. CLIPPERS SEEK 7TH STRAIGHT WIN
The Clippers are rolling. How’d they become one of the league’s hottest teams?
Wind it back to Nov. 1, when LA acquired James Harden from Philadelphia.
- Five days later, he made his Clippers debut
- Five games later, the new-look Clippers were still searching for their first win together
Bringing in an All-Star guard with the season already underway was going to require an adjustment period. Chemistry, flow and ultimately success weren’t going to happen overnight.
The first big adjustment came from Russell Westbrook, who requested to come off the bench.
- His first game as a reserve came against Houston on Nov. 17, when LA got its first win with its new roster
- Beginning with that W, the Clippers went 5-3 to close out November. They were starting to build momentum
As the calendar flipped to December, LA found its groove. They have yet to lose this month, bringing a six-game win streak into Saturday’s game against the Knicks (10:30 ET, NBA App).
Let’s take a closer look at how LA went from 0-5 in their first five games together, to 6-0 so far this month:
- Team Offense: LA is averaging 118.8 ppg during the streak, up nearly 14 ppg from the first five games together. Shooting 50.3% from the field and nearly 40% from 3 as a team helps
- Harden: Has found a great balance of scoring and playmaking. Coming off a 28-point, 15-assist game, he’s close to averaging 20/10 during the streak
- Kawhi: Not only has Leonard played in all 24 games this season, he’s been on absolute fire during the streak, averaging 28.3 ppg on 59.6% FG, 51.6% 3P, 93.8% FT shooting splits
- George: Increased scoring efficiency has kept his per-game numbers steady while his usage has come down, a great sign for a team with multiple stars to share the scoring load
- Westbrook: Made the biggest sacrifice for this to work (10 fewer minutes per game), but has energized LA in his new role, averaging 8.5 ppg and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field and nearly 39% from 3
