NBA Starting 5, Nov. 18: Beard wins it, KD & LeBron shine
Just like that, the In-Season Tournament’s halfway through Group Play.
Here’s where things stand.
Want to get the Starting 5 delivered to you each day? Tap here.
THE LINEUP
- Saturday morning must-see
- Fox has Kings beaming
- 10 games in 2 minutes ⏱️
- Best of behind the scenes
- Fast starts highlight Saturday
Mavs-Bucks, 8 ET, NBA TV
In-Season Tournament Standings
- SATURDAY MORNING MUST-SEE
- Harden Comes Up Clutch: James Harden’s four-point play with six seconds left gave him his first win as a Clipper, and LA its first In-Season Tournament win. Come for the game-winner, stay for the reaction
- History For Jokic: Nikola Jokic put up a never-seen-before stat line in NBA history (26 pts, 16 reb, 18 ast) but the Nuggets fell to the Pelicans
- Busy Drizzy: Drake dropped the Scary Hours edition in the AM, joined the Raptors broadcast in the PM
- Trae’s Viral Handle: Ice Trae put on the brakes and shook his defender for a wide open trey.
- Lakers: First To 3-0: L.A. now stands alone atop West Group A. Up next? A Tuesday matchup with the second-place Jazz, who fell to the Suns on a big night for KD & Book
- Dunks on Dunks: Too many choices for dunk of the night: Malik Monk reaching WAYYY back for the monster dunk, Coby White on the break, Tari Eason throwing down over Daniel Theis, and Max Strus printing himself a poster
- Wemby & Bron Oops: We had a ‘throw it toward the rim and Wemby will go get it’ in San Antonio, and a big AD-to-LeBron combo for L.A. Fun fact: LeBron was already in the league when Wemby was born
- 3 Highlights in 1: This quick sequence from Boston has Jrue showing off his handles, White showing off his vision, and Tatum beating the halftime buzzer
- Is This an Assist?: Check out this ‘pass’ from Middleton to Beasley for the 3. Planned it like that the whole time
- Block Party: We can’t give all the love to the offense. You gotta see these big swats from Utah’s Talen Horton-Tucker and Lauri Markkanen
- FOX HAS KINGS BEAMING
Kings 129, Spurs 120
SAC 2-0, SAS 0-3
▶️ Recap
De’Aaron Fox is back.
And the Kings are on fire.
- Fox scored a season-high 43 points to lead the Kings past the Spurs, moving Sacramento to the top of West Group C and 7-4 on the season with five straight wins
- The Kings improved to 5-1 with Fox, after going 2-3 when he was out with an ankle sprain
- Fox’s Impact: When the reigning Clutch Player of the Year is in the lineup, the Kings are one of the best units in the league. The chart below shows Fox’s impact, including 24.4 more points per game (!)
- Victor Wembanyama had 27 points and nine boards for the Spurs, who took their third Group Play loss
- 10 GAMES IN 2 MINUTES
WEST GROUP A
Lakers 107, Blazers 95
LAL 3-0, POR 1-2
▶️ Recap
- LeBron James matched his season-high with 35 points (bringing him 42 shy of being the first to reach 39K) while Anthony Davis had a first-half block party in the Lakers’ wire-to-wire win
Suns 131, Jazz 128
PHX 1-1, UTA 2-1
▶️ Recap
- Devin Booker dished out a career-best 15 assists with five going to Kevin Durant for 13 of his game-high 38 points as Phoenix got its first Group Play win and handed Utah its first loss despite 37 from Jordan Clarkson
WEST GROUP B
⚜️ Pelicans 115, Nuggets 100
NOP 2-1, DEN 2-1
▶️ Recap
- Not even a historic triple-double from Nikola Jokic (26 pts, 16 reb, 18 ast) could deny the Pelicans, who take over first in the group from the Nuggets. Zion Williamson had 26 points, including this dunk (and HooperVision reaction)
- Jokic tied Wilt Chamberlain for the second-most 25_ points, 15+ rebound and 15+ assist games in NBA history (4). Oscar Robertson leads with 14
⛵ Clippers 104, Rockets 100
LAC 1-2, HOU 1-1
▶️ Recap
- The Clippers snapped two streaks on Friday – their six-game losing streak and Houston’s six-game winning streak – as LA got its first win since acquiring James Harden. Said Kawhi: “He’s one of the Top 75 players this game has seen”
EAST GROUP A
Sixers 126, Hawks 116
PHI 2-1, ATL 1-1
▶️ Recap
- Joel Embiid posted his 7th 30+ point game to lead the Sixers past the Hawks to hold second place in the group behind idle Indiana
⚔️ Cavs 108, Pistons 100
CLE 1-1, DET 0-3 (eliminated)
▶️ Recap
- Without Donovan Mitchell (hamstring), Darius Garland stepped up with 28 points to lead Cleveland to the win, as the Pistons dropped their 10th straight
EAST GROUP B
Bucks 130, Hornets 99
MIL 2-0, CHA 1-2
▶️ Recap
- In a duel of All-Star point guards, Damian Lillard (27 points, five 3s) got the win over LaMelo Ball (37 points, five assists) as the Bucks climbed to the top of the group.
- Malik Beasley stayed hot, knocking down six of Milwaukee’s 22 3-pointers and tying the most 3PT over a 2-game span in Bucks franchise history (14)
Knicks 120, Wizards 99
NYK 1-1, WAS 0-3
▶️ Recap
- Jalen Brunson dropped 32 points and six 3s to lead the Knicks to a wire-to-wire victory over the Wizards to improve to 1-1 in Group Play
EAST GROUP C
Celtics 108, Raptors 105
BOS 2-0, TOR 0-1
▶️ Recap
- The Celtics have their second five-game win streak of the season. Behind 23 from Jaylen Brown, Boston improved to 2-0, while Toronto lost its first-ever In-Season Tournament game
- Drake joined the call in the final minutes, as Boston pulled away. Watch the fantastic finish with Drizzy on the mic
Magic 103, Bulls 97
ORL 1-1, CHI 0-2
▶️ Recap
- Two meetings in three nights, and both went down to the wire. Trailing by 15 in the fourth, Chicago used a 22-6 run to get back in it. After an Alex Caruso 3 put the Bulls up with 26 seconds left, Franz Wagner answered with the go-ahead and-one reverse layup with 20.6 to play
- GROUP PLAY: ON THE GROUND ⏰
Voices from the NBA community were on the ground all across an 11-game night. Check out some of the best behind-the-scenes footage from Tournament Night No. 4:
- Jayson Tatum before and after (with Drake) helping Boston get its first Group Play road win in Toronto
- Joy De’Angela was in NOLA for the Pelicans’ big win over the Nuggets. Check out her all-access report, including a postgame chat with Herb Jones
- The King feeds Prince in the corner as the Lakers get the win. AD reacts to LeBron and L.A.’s 3-0 start in Group Play
- Nikola Jokic shows love to Zion and the Pelicans after a hard-fought game for the top of West Group B
- Larry Jamel had the all-access pass to Wizards vs. Knicks in D.C. as New York got the big win
- FAST STARTS HIGHLIGHT SIX-GAME SATURDAY
Mavs at Bucks
8 ET, NBA TV
- Fast Start: Mavs 9-3, best start 12 games since 2014-15
- Luka, who’s already one of the best scorers in the league, is shooting the ball better than ever – from the field, from 3-point range and from the free throw line
- When Giannis drafted Luka to his All-Star team in 2021, he wanted to see the Luka Magic. Tonight, not so much
Wolves at Pelicans
7 ET, NBA App
- Fast Start: Wolves 8-3, best through 11 games since 2001-02
- Edwards, aka AntMan, has gone full-on superhero this year — with a movie’s worth of highlights behind him. Here’s some of his best from this month alone
- Minnesota is tied for the best record (3-1) against winning teams this season
Heat at Bulls
8 ET, NBA App
- Fast Start: Heat 8-4, on seven-game win streak, longest win streak since 2017
- Three games into the streak, Miami lost leading-scorer Tyler Herro to an ankle injury. How did they keep rolling? It starts with Jimmy Butler, who’s increased his scoring from 18.4 ppg to 29 ppg
- Duncan Robinson (20.3 ppg, 3.8 3s) and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14.5 ppg) have both stepped up as well
Thunder at Warriors
8:30 ET, NBA App
- Fast Start: Thunder 8-4, best through 12 games since 2013-14
- OKC is the only team with a top-five player in both the Kia MVP Ladder (SGA 5th) and the Kia Rookie Ladder (Chet 2nd)
- OKC is one of three teams with a top 10 offense and top 10 defense. The other two: conference leaders Boston and Denver
Two more games in the NBA App:
Grizzlies at Spurs
8 ET
Knicks at Hornets
6 ET
