Starting 5, Feb. 27: Heat win 4th straight, Raptors earn pizza party

Let’s talk win streaks. 

On Monday, the Heat won their fourth straight game despite being shorthanded, while the Raptors won their third straight to win free pizza.

On Tuesday, the Celtics go for their ninth straight win — which would match the longest streak of any team this season — while the Thunder go for six in a row and keep the heat on the Wolves atop the West.

---

THE LINEUP

1. Heat win 4th straight
2. ️ Knicks, Raptors, Nets win
3. ⛈️ Can SGA be OKC’s 3rd MVP?
4. Less is more for Tatum, C’s
5. 8 favorite pics from Monday

An 11-game Tuesday features a TNT doubleheader, nine games on the NBA App and plenty of opportunities to shake up the standings.

League-leading Boston looks to become the fifth team to win nine straight games this season – joining the Cavs, Knicks, Clippers and Magic – when they host the Sixers (7:30 ET, TNT). We dive into Jayson Tatum’s season in Section 4.

In the West, Minnesota hosts San Antonio (8 ET, NBA App) while OKC hosts Houston (10 ET, TNT) with the Wolves and Thunder tied atop the conference standings at 40-17. Learn more about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s season in Section 3.

And ICYMI, the Clippers unveiled their new unis, court and logo for 2024-25.

---

1. HEAT WITHSTAND LATE KINGS RUN FOR 4TH STRAIGHT WIN

Heat Deny Kings’ Rally: Miami visited Sacramento shorthanded – with Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic and Thomas Bryant serving suspensions; Tyler Herro (knee), Terry Rozier (knee), Josh Richardson (shoulder) and Orlando Robinson (back) injured – but came away with a 121-110 win for their fourth in a row. Recap

• Heat build lead: Miami won the third quarter 36-19 to build a 20-point advantage, getting 10 big points from Kevin Love off the bench
• Kings make run: The Kings went on a 25-7 run from 10:30 to 3:41 left in the fourth to trim that deficit to two points
• Heat have final answer: Jaime Jaquez Jr. hit back-to-back buckets to ignite an 11-2 game-ending run by Miami to secure the win, while Caleb Martin provided the exclamation point

Final numbers: The Heat got a combined 54 from Bam Adebayo (28 pts, 10 reb) and Jaquez Jr. (20 of his 26 in 2nd half). The Kings were led by Keegan Murray (28 pts, 6 3s), De’Aaron Fox (27 pts) and Domantas Sabonis (21st triple-double of season with 14 pts, 14 reb, 10 ast).

Standings shakeup: With the win, Miami vaulted Indiana to go from No. 7 to No. 6 in the East, while Sacramento dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 in the West.

Why is this important? There are five key lines of demarcation to watch over the final seven weeks of the regular season. Miami just moved into the top six, while Sacramento dropped out.

• Top 4: Home-court advantage in the first round
• Top 6: Guaranteed Playoff berth
• 7-8: Play-In Tournament – must win 1 game to secure Playoff berth
• 9-10: Play-In Tournament – must win 2 games to secure Playoff berth
• 11-15: Lottery bound

---

2. ROUNDUP: HART’S GAME-WINNER, RAPTORS’ PIZZA PARTY, OLLIE’S FIRST W

Hart wins it for N.Y.: Down 1 with 30 seconds to play, Jalen Brunson put up a three with 20 seconds left that missed. The rebound was deflected toward the corner and saved by Detroit’s Quentin Grimes, who got it to teammate Simone Fontecchio. Watch the final 6:15 in full

• First Hart play: Hart poked the ball away from Fontecchio setting up a wild finish. NY’s Isaiah Hartenstein recovered the loose ball and passed to Donte DiVincenzo on the perimeter
• Second Hart play: DiVincenzo’s pass attempt to Brunson was stolen by Ausar Thompson, who was moving toward midcourt along the sideline when DiVincenzo stole it back in a scramble that saw Brunson emerge with the ball. Brunson found Hart at the basket for an and-1 layup to give the Knicks the lead

Postgame review: The scramble happened after a turnover by Thompson, which Crew Chief James Williams said should have been called a loose ball foul in the pool report after the game.

• Williams: “Upon postgame review, we determined that Thompson gets to the ball first, and then was deprived of the opportunity to gain possession of the ball. Therefore, a loose ball foul should have been whistled on New York’s Donte DiVincenzo.”

Hart finished with 23 points, while Brunson led all players with 35 points and 12 assists as the Knicks escaped with a 113-111 win. Recap

Raptors earn pizza party with 3rd straight win: Earlier this season, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic promised to take players and staff out to dinner on his dime once they won three straight games.

• The Raptors elected to go for pizza rather than a fancy spot, but missed out on the dinner on their first five tries to complete the three-game win streak
• On Monday, behind Scottie Barnes’ team-record fourth triple-double of the season (21 pts, 12 reb, 12 ast, 5 blk), the Raptors defeated the Pacers 130-122 to finally secure their first three-game win streak of the season … and a pizza party to celebrate. Recap

Ollie Gets First Nets W: Dennis Schroder (18 pts, 5 ast) led seven Nets in double-digit points as Brooklyn defeated Memphis 111-86 to give interim coach Kevin Ollie his first NBA win as a coach. Recap

• Ollie: “It’s phenomenal…been a couple up and down days, they just stayed together…they play for each other, they want to win for each other…we played with composure…I’m going to put it [game ball] up for my mom in heaven, and my sister in heaven…I know they was watching over me in this first win.”

---

3. CAN SGA BE OKC’S 3RD MVP?

Since the turn of the century, only two NBA teams have had multiple players win league MVP.

• Philadelphia: Allen Iverson (2000-01) and Joel Embiid (2022-23)
• Oklahoma City: Kevin Durant (2013-14) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — ranked second in each of NBA.com’s Michael C Wright’s past three Kia MVP Ladders — has a chance to be the third Thunder player to win the league’s top individual honor in an 11-season span. That is unheard of in NBA history. Here’s why:

1. Let’s begin with the fact that only four franchises have had three or more different players win MVP.

• Boston: Cousy (1956-57), Russell (1957-58, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1964-65), Cowens (1972-73), Bird (1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86)
• Houston: Malone (1978-79, 1981-82), Olajuwon (1993-94), Harden (2017-18)
• LA Lakers: Abdul-Jabbar (1975-76, 1976-77, 1979-80), Johnson (1986-87, 1988-89, 1989-90), O’Neal (1999-00), Bryant (2007-08)
• Philadelphia: Chamberlain (1965-66, 1966-67, 1967-68), Erving (1980-81), Malone (1982-83), Iverson (2000-01), Embiid (2022-23)

2. Now look at the gaps between the MVP winners. There are a number of cases where a team had multiple MVPs as teammates (Cousy & Russell, Magic & Kareem, Dr. J & Moses) or as contemporaries (Shaq and Kobe, Hakeem & Moses), but when you add a third player into the mix, there is a generation gap.

So how does SGA’s 2023-24 season stack up with KD’s 2013-14 and Russ’ 2016-17 MVP seasons?

Let’s take a look.

SGA is scoring on par with KD and Russ during their MVP seasons and doing so on fewer attempts thanks to a higher field goal percentage (54.8%).

A key to SGA’s field goal percentage is his ability to get to the basket on a league-high 24 drives per game. He not only scores 15.3 points in the paint per game – fifth among all players, tops among guards – he uses the threat of his drives to stop on a dime and unleash his lethal step-back jumper

Defensively, SGA not only leads this trio in steals per game, he leads the entire NBA this season (2.1 per game).

With offense exploding in the NBA this season compared to those from the KD and Russ MVP years, we see SGA’s offensive and defensive ratings higher than the others. The key here is Net Rating (11.7), which compares the player’s impact on both ends relative to their competition.

SGA also has the lowest usage rate (31.8%) of the three players and the highest shooting percentages – 58% effective field goal percentage, 65% true shooting percentage – and best assist-to-turnover ratio.

And Shai is only in his sixth season; KD won his MVP in his seventh season, Russ in his ninth.

---

4. LESS IS MORE FOR TATUM, CELTICS

A year after posting career-high scoring numbers and finishing fourth in MVP voting, Jayson Tatum’s 2023-24 numbers sit just behind last year’s pace.

Here’s why that’s been a great thing for Boston — and how the most efficient season of Tatum’s career has made the Celtics the top team in the East.

• 2022-23: 30.1 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 4.6 apg
• 2023-24: 26.9 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 4.8 apg

Historical Pace In Boston: Ranked fifth on NBA.com’s Kia MVP Ladder for the last four weeks – Tatum’s game has set the tone for the league’s top-ranked offense. Boston’s 121.2 offensive rating is on pace to be the highest in NBA history.

With Jaylen Brown (22.1 ppg), Kristaps Porzingis (20.1), Derrick White (15.8) and Jrue Holiday (13.0) all averaging at least 13 points per game, the Celtics are less reliant on a primary scorer as other teams. Making them dangerous everywhere.

• 2022-23: 21.1 FGA, 46.6 FG%, 54.3 eFG%, 31.9 USG%
• 2023-24: 19.3 FGA, 47.5 FG%, 55.5 eFG%, 29.3 USG%

Tatum is averaging two fewer shot attempts per game this season compared to last, but is shooting the highest field goal percentages of his career (47.5 FG%, 55.5 eFG%). His usage rate is down nearly three percent, but the increase in efficiency has him posting the best advanced metrics of his career.

• 2022-23: 119.2 OffRtg, 110.8 DefRtg, 8.5 NetRtg
• 2023-24: 120.8 OffRtg, 109.9 DefRtg, 11.0 NetRtg

One stat that sets Tatum apart from the rest of the Race to the MVP? Wins. Forty-five of them.

In a season filled with parity, the Celtics hold a five-game edge on the rest of the NBA. With 25 games to play, the Celtics have their best record through 57 games of Tatum’s career.

• 2023-24: 45-12
• 2022-23: 41-16
• 2021-22: 32-25
• 2020-21: 31-26
• 2019-20: 40-17
• 2018-19: 40-17
• 2017-18: 40-17

Running The Show: In his seventh season, one of the elite scorers in the NBA also has assisted on a larger % of Celtics buckets than ever before in his career — with by far the highest assist to turnover ratio.

Tonight, catch JT and the East-leading Celtics as they play longtime rival & fifth-place Philly on TNT (7:30 ET).

---

5. EIGHT OF OUR FAVORITE FROM MONDAY

Monday may have only had four games on the hardwood, but still plenty of chances to catch some fantastic frames.