Starting 5, March 7: Wednesday was night of big comebacks around the NBA
Wednesday night was all about the comeback.
Four teams down by at least 15. Two down by 20 or more.
All came roaring back to earn critical wins as the stretch run continues.
THE LINEUP
- Four 15+ point comebacks
- ️ Warriors end Bucks streak
- East Play-In teams win
- Luka and the scoring title
- DEN offense vs. BOS defense
Tonight’s TNT doubleheader tips off in Dallas (7:30 ET) where the Mavs look to snap a three-game slide against the red-hot Heat, who have won seven of their last eight. The Nuggets try to become the only team to sweep the season series against the league-leading Celtics (10 ET).
Air Time returns to the NBA App for Nike x NBA ID members with a special stream celebrating Devin Booker’s first signature shoe, the Book 1, as the Suns face the Raptors (9 ET, NBA App).
This Day In History (March 7, 2017): Dirk Nowitzki – the highest-scoring international player ever – hit his signature one-legged fadeaway to become the sixth member of the 30,000-point club.
1. COMEBACK CENTRAL
Four teams rallied back from 15+ point deficits to win on Wednesday. Let’s see how it happened and how it impacts the Playoff & Play-In races.
De'Aaron Fox scores 44 points and gets his 7th game of the season with at least 40 points in a 130-120 win vs. the Lakers.
Fox, Kings Rally Past Lakers: The Kings were down 19 with under two minutes left in the first quarter. They closed on a 10-0 run capped by a De’Aaron Fox buzzer-beating jumper. After being down eight with 07:46 left in the half, the Kings closed on a 32-9 run capped by another Fox buzzer-beating jumper to take a 15-point lead into the break.
They held on for a 130-120 win behind Fox’s career-high-tying 44 points, Malik Monk’s 26 off the bench and Domantas Sabonis’ league-leading 22nd triple-double (16 pts, 20 reb, 12 ast). LeBron led the Lakers with 31 points and 13 dimes in the loss while passing Karl Malone for sixth on the NBA’s all-time games played list.
- Play-In Race (SAC ↔️, LAL ⬇️): The Kings remain at No. 7 and move within a half-game of Phoenix for No. 6. The Lakers drop to No. 10 in the West with the loss combined with the Warriors’ win.
Cam Whitmore’s windmill helped Houston build its lead before LA rallied.
Clippers Race Past Rockets: The Clippers trailed by 20 in the first half and were down five with 4:42 to play before closing the game on a 19-8 run to come away with a 122-116 win.
Kawhi Leonard (28 pts, 7 ast), Paul George (21 pts, 4 3s) and James Harden (21 pts, 7 ast) combined for 70 points to lead LA, while Houston’s Alperen Sengun followed up his career-high 45 with a massive triple-double (23 pts, 19 reb, career-high 14 ast).
- Playoff Race (LAC ↔️): The Clippers hold the No. 4 spot in the West and move within 1.5 games of Denver for No. 3.
Magic Rally For 5th Straight Win: Trailing by 21 in the first half, the Magic used a 41-20 run to tie the game in the third, then closed the game on a 26-13 run to defeat the Wizards 119-109. Franz Wagner (28) and Paolo Banchero (25) combined for 53 points to lead Orlando to the longest active win streak in the NBA.
- Playoff Race (ORL ↔️): The Magic maintain the No. 4 spot in the East with a half-game lead over New York
JJJ, Big 4th Quarter Lead Grizz: Trailing by 12 entering the fourth, the Grizzlies won the final 12 minutes 34-16 to come away with a 115-109 win over the Sixers. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 11 in the fourth to finish with 30 points, 11 boards and six blocks on the night.
- Play-In Race (PHI ↔️): The Sixers stay at No. 7 in the East, a half-game behind No. 6 Miami and a half-game ahead of No. 8 Indiana
2. WARRIORS SNAP BUCKS’ WIN STREAK
Stephen Curry starts out hot and finishes strong, dropping 29 points on the Bucks in a 125-90 romp.
Warriors End Bucks’ Streak: The Bucks came into Wednesday’s game red hot. But Steph Curry ended up being hotter. Curry splashed six 3s and finished with 29 points to lead the Warriors to a 125-90 win to hand the Bucks their first loss since the All-Star break. Damian Lillard finished with 20 points and five 3s in the loss, tying Reggie Miller for fourth on the all-time 3-pointers made list.
- Playoff Race (MIL ↔️): The Bucks hold at No. 2 in the East, maintaining their lead over the Cavs, who also lost on Wednesday.
- Play-In Race (GSW ⬆️): The Warriors leapfrog the Lakers for the No. 9 spot in the West with Golden State’s win and L.A.’s loss. The Warriors are a half-game up on the Lakers and a half-game back of the Mavs for No. 8.
SGA, OKC Bounce Back: Two days after being held to 20 points in a loss to the Lakers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 37 points and five assists to lead the Thunder over the Blazers 128-120. Jalen Williams (31 pts) and Chet Holmgren (21 pts, 14 reb, 5 ast) added a combined 52 points in the win.
- Playoff Race (OKC ↔️): The Thunder tie the Wolves for the top record in the West, but remain at No. 2 due to a tiebreaker.
3. EAST PLAY-IN TEAMS WIN, HOLD POSITION
DeRozan Delivers For Chicago: DeMar DeRozan scored 17 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter – including an and-1 layup with 1:01 to play to give the Bulls the lead before hitting a pair of clutch free throws with nine seconds left to close out a 119-117 win.
Coby White added 25 points and six assists for Chicago, while Utah was led by a combined 49 from John Collins (25 pts, 13 reb) and Collin Sexton (24 pts).
- Play-In Race (CHI ↔️): Chicago remains at No. 9 in the East, maintaining its two-game lead over Atlanta.
Cavs’ Comeback Falls Short: After pulling off a 22-point comeback against Boston on Tuesday, the Cavs’ bid for a second straight 20+ point comeback in back-to-back days fell short. The Hawks closed the game on a 10-2 run for the 112-101 win behind 23 points apiece from Saddiq Bey and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
- Playoff Race (CLE ↔️): The Cavs hold the No. 3 spot in the East, a half-game behind Milwaukee.
- Play-In Race (ATL ↔️): The Hawks hold the No. 10 spot in the East, two games back of Chicago.
4. LUKA AND THE SCORING TITLE
When LeBron James became the first player to surpass 40,000 points last week, one of the first questions asked was whether any current players could challenge that mark.
One name that frequently came up was Luka Doncic, who like LeBron, entered the NBA as a teenager and has proven to be one of the league’s most prolific scorers since day one.
Doncic enters tonight’s Mavs-Heat game (7:30 ET, TNT) as the NBA’s leading scorer at 34.6 points per game and in a strong position to win his first scoring title as he holds a 3.5 ppg lead over second-ranked SGA.
- Luka would be the second straight international player to win the scoring title after Joel Embiid became the first in 2021-22 and defended the title in 2022-23.
- Doncic finished as the runner-up last season with a career-best 32.4 average. He’s upped that by over two points this year, and with Embiid injured, Doncic has taken over the driver’s seat.
Luka leads the NBA in 40+ point games (12), ranks second to Embiid in 50+ point games (2) and joins Embiid as the only players with a 70+ point game this season, with Luka’s 73 not only being the top mark this season, but the highest scoring NBA game since Kobe’s 81 in 2006.
Only nine players have ever averaged 34+ points per game for an entire season. Luka would be the 10th (and 18th instance). He would be just the fourth player (and fifth instance) since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976-77 and join some elite company.
- The list: Michael Jordan (1986-87, 1987-88), Kobe Bryant (2005-06) and James Harden (2018-19, 2019-20).
Luka became the 6th-youngest and 7th-fastest to score 10,000 points.
More Than A Scorer: Luka can create a club of his own when combining his elite scoring with his overall game this season. No player has ever averaged 34+ points, 9+ rebounds and 9+ assists before – Luka’s on pace to be the first.
- To find a player with Luka’s scoring, you have to drop the rebounds and assists down to six each (James Harden had two 34/6/6 seasons).
- To find a player with Luka’s rebounds and assists, you have to drop the scoring down to 31 (Russell Westbrook in 2017 and Oscar Robertson in 1964 had 31/9/9 seasons).
- Speaking of Russ and Big O, Luka enters tonight tied with Robertson (4) and one shy of Westbrook (5) for the longest streak of 30+ point triple-doubles.
- When combining the points he scores (34.6) and the points he creates with his assists (23.5), Luka is responsible for 58.1 ppg, which is on pace to surpass Tiny Archibald (56.7, 1972-73) for the highest mark in NBA history.
At just 25 years and 46 days old (when Dallas ends its season on Apr. 14), Luka can become the youngest scoring champion since Kevin Durant (23y, 210d) in 2011-12.
5. DYNAMIC DUOS: NUGGETS OFFENSE VS. CELTICS DEFENSE
Does Nikola Jokic’s mind have a “share my location” feed from Aaron Gordon whenever they share the court?
It can feel like it when you see some of the passes that Jokic regularly tosses to Gordon for dunks and alley-oops.
Passes like this.
And this.
And don’t forget about this.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone: “If you’re spacing the floor correctly, he doesn’t have to look to see where you are. He can just use that back, tap, side, tap, one-handed, pass, whatever it may be to find you.”
Since Gordon arrived in Denver via a trade with Orlando on March 25, 2021, he and Jokic have played 224 regular season and 35 playoff games together. And in that time, have developed a chemistry that perfectly blends Jokic’s court vision with Gordon’s athleticism and ability to finish around the basket.
Jokic ranks fourth in the NBA with 9.2 assists per game, with 1.7 of those going to Gordon. Jokic has passed to Gordon 600 times this season with 98 resulting in an assist (16.3%).
Warriors coach Steve Kerr on this Joker-AG connection: “The pass at the end to Gordon for the dunk…I was kind of right behind him [Jokic], I don’t even think he saw him, he just knew he’d be there.”
While the defending champs bring the Jokic-AG show to tonight’s matchup with the league-leading Celtics (10 ET, TNT), Boston has a dynamic duo of its own that has wreaked havoc over opposing backcourts all season long.
The Celtics enter Thursday with the league’s top-ranked offense (121.5) and second-ranked defense (110.2) as they are the only team ranked in the top four on both ends of the court.
The trio of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis spearheads the offense, but the team’s defensive identity and attitude come from the backcourt duo of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday.
- Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla: “Those two guys have a tendency to affect the game in ways that people may not see sometimes, it just goes under-looked. It’s their ability to just make winning plays … they just have an innate ability to affect [not just] the box score, but affect the momentum of the game on both ends.”
White and Holiday are two of 10 guards to hold their matchups to 2+ percent worse shooting than their expected shooting percentages.
White (sixth) and Holiday (11th) also rank in the top 11 among all guards in defensive win shares.
Holiday has five All-Defensive Team selections on his resume (including three First Team), while White earned his first selection last season.
- Kristaps Porzingis on White and Holiday: “I didn’t realize how good D. White was; he’s kind of under the radar a little bit. But man, he’s special. The way he plays, like 90 plus percent of the time he makes the right play … that’s the perfect teammate you want … I’m happy to have both of those guys on my team.”
After the Nuggets became the first team to beat the Celtics in Boston this season (ending a record 20-0 home start), can the Celtics return the favor in Denver tonight?
