LeBron hit the clutch bucket and got the game-sealing block as the Lakers survived a furious Suns rally.
But that wasn’t the only game on Sunday that came down to the wire.
Keep reading for what to know around the league, ahead of Knicks-Spurs in the Emirates NBA Cup championship Tuesday on Prime (8:30 ET).
5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀
Sunday’s Wild Finishes: Blazers survive Steph’s 48; Lakers fend off Suns rally, Hornets best Cavs in OT
Sunday Roundup: Hawks hold off Sixers, Zion returns in Pels’ win, Wolves, Wizards & Nets win big
Thunderous Start: While its Cup hopes were dashed, OKC’s title defense remains on historic pace
What Happened In Vegas: Didn’t stay in Vegas … it was celebrated by the hoops world
What’s Trending: The biggest storylines entering Week 9 & a preview of Monday’s slate
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Tune in at 3 ET/12 PT today as the Spurs and Knicks talk all things Emirates NBA Cup Finals at Media Day, available on NBA TV and the NBA App, ahead of Tuesday’s championship showdown on Prime (8:30 ET, Tap To Watch).
1. SUPERSTARS SHINE IN SUNDAY’S WILD ENDINGS
Steph Curry is back.
Eighty-seven points in two games since returning from a 5-game absence.
Forty-eight points last night, one off his season high. A season-high 12 3-pointers, one off his career high. Twenty-one 4th-quarter points, more than all but 3 players scored in the entire game.
All this, and yet another team in the West’s top 8 felled by the Trail Blazers.
Trail Blazers 136, Warriors 131: In a wild finish that saw nine lead changes in the final 7:24, the Blazers duo of Jerami Grant (35 pts, 7 3s) and Shaedon Sharpe (35 pts 5 3s) achieved a franchise first to guide Portland past an all-time Steph Curry night for their third win over the Warriors this season. | Recap
- Portland Duos: Grant and Sharpe became the first duo in Blazers history to each net 35+ points and 5+ threes in the same game
- Great Late: The two scored Portland’s final 9 points, including a pair of clutch free throws from both. Deni Avdija added 26 pts, 7 reb and 8 ast
- Giant Slayers: The Blazers are 3-0 vs. the Warriors this season, to go with marquee wins over the Lakers, Nuggets and Thunder
Despite the loss, Steph still filled the highlight reels and record books in classic fashion.
- 40s Over 30: For the 45th time since turning 30, Curry splashed 40 or more points, passing Michael Jordan (44) for the most such games in NBA history
- 75th 40-Ball: This was Curry’s fourth 40-point game this season and 75th overall for his career in the regular season
- Dub Trips: Curry hit double-digit threes for the 28th time in his career. There have only been 112 such games in NBA history, giving Curry 25% of all double-digit 3-ball performances
LeBron also delivered a classic performance on Sunday as the King made the Suns pay late on both ends of the floor.
Lakers 116, Suns 114: James (26 pts, 2 blk) hit 2 clutch free throws with 3 seconds left to put the Lakers back in front for good, and ensured victory by blocking Grayson Allen’s attempt at the buzzer, after a 17-2 Suns comeback erased an earlier Lakers’ 24-0 run through the start of the 4th. | Recap
- Lakers’ Lights: The league’s top points-getter, Luka Dončić (29 pts, 6 ast), led all scorers, while Deandre Ayton (20 pts,13 reb) met his former team with his 10th double-double
- LA Rolling: The Lakers are out to their best start through 25 games (18-7) since they were reigning champs in 2020-21
- Book Is Back: Devin Booker (27 pts, 6 reb, 7 ast) led the Suns in his return from missing 3 games (groin)
From bonafide legends to the rookie leader: Kon was on again Sunday, facing one of the game’s best closers in Cleveland.
Hornets 119, Cavaliers 111 (OT): Top-scoring rookie Kon Knueppel followed up Friday’s career-high 33 with a game-high 29 points, outlasting a Cavs comeback in overtime, where Charlotte blanked Cleveland 8-0 to survive. | Recap
- 2nd Half Story: Darius Garland brought the Cavs back from a 17-point deficit with 18 of his season-high 26 points coming in the 2nd half, before Brandon Miller extended the game
- The Sting: Suddenly down and needing a triple to tie it, Miller (25 pts, 6 ast) bounced off contact and drilled a deep three, triggering the OT period where he grabbed five more rebounds for a career-high 13
2. ROUNDUP: JALEN JOHNSON’S HAWKS HISTORY AND MORE FROM SUNDAY
Dyson Daniels wants you to know his teammate Jalen Johnson deserves to be considered among the league’s best, too.
“He’s a star. He works so hard.”
Hawks 120, Sixers 117: Johnson’s record-setting fourth straight triple-double, Onyeka Okongwu’s career-best long-range shooting and a bit of everything from Daniels (27 pts, 10 reb, 2 blk) was just enough to hold off an 83-point Philly trio, as Atlanta survived Quentin Grimes’ in-and-out attempt to tie it at the buzzer. | Recap
- Elite Company: Johnson joined Oscar Robertson (5x) and Magic Johnson as the only players with four straight triple-doubles before turning 24. He also became the sixth active player with such a streak, matched only by Nikola Jokić this season
- Philly Standouts: Paul George had his highest scoring game as a Sixer (35 pts), while rookie VJ Edgecombe caught fire in the 3rd quarter, with 17 of his 26 points coming in the frame
Timberwolves 117, Kings 103: With Anthony Edwards out (foot), Bones Hyland scored 9 of his season-high 18 points in the 4th, where Minnesota used an early 14-3 stretch to run away with its seventh win in the last eight games. Julius Randle (24 pts, 10 reb, 3 stl) led five Wolves with over 18 points. | Recap
Pelicans 114, Bulls 104: Five straight points from Zion Williamson, who scored 18 in his first action in six games, capped a 10-0 4th quarter Pelicans run to pull away from Chicago, which dropped its eighth in the last nine games. | Recap
- Get Up: Trey Murphy III stretched for this reverse alley-oop poster and matched Jeremiah Fears’ 20 points to lead New Orleans
- 200 Club: Josh Giddey (11 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast) joined Joker and Cade Cunningham as the only players with over 200 assists this season
Wizards 108, Pacers 89: A 13-4 2nd-quarter run helped Washington pull away from Indy and never look back, snapping a four-game losing streak and picking up its second road win of the season. Marvin Bagley III’s 23 points (season high) and 14 rebounds led the Wizards. | Recap
- Blocks Machine: League blocks leader Jay Huff (2.5 per game) swatted four more to extend his multi-block streak to 12 games, a streak he shares with Pacers’ top-5 all-time blocks members Myles Turner, Jermaine O’Neal and Roy Hibbert.
Nets 127, Bucks 82: Nine Nets scored in double-digits, led by Egor Dëmin’s 17 points, setting the franchise’s largest margin of victory (45 points) in its Brooklyn era and tying Boston for the largest of the season so far. Gary Trent Jr.’s season-high-tying 20 points led Milwaukee. | Recap
3. CELEBRATING THE THUNDER’S FRANCHISE-BEST STREAK AND START
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sat on the postgame podium for an unusual occasion Saturday night. The Thunder had just lost for the first time since Nov. 5, and only the second time all season — falling to the rival Spurs.
He was asked whether the team is eyeing the NBA’s all-time best regular-season record, and if defeat in the Emirates NBA Cup Semis offered clarity on their goals.
“Goals, to me, are pointless trying to reach at when they’re so far away,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You’ve got to take care of everything step by step.”
For nearly 30 games, Oklahoma City has taken care of opponents one by one. It stacked up 16 wins in a row and joined the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors for the best 25-game start ever.
- Early Emotions: The Thunder have been tested from the start, opening their title defense with back-to-back double-overtime victories over the Rockets and Pacers
- Missing Piece: Their first 19 games were played without Jalen Williams (wrist), who made his first All-Star selection and an All-NBA Third Team selection in 2024-25
- Unsung Hero: Ajay Mitchell stepped up in Williams’ absence, averaging 15.9 points in 27.5 minutes through those 19 games
Oklahoma City’s first eight games were victorious. And when they did eventually fall, they came back even more triumphant.
- Bouncing Back: Following a two-point loss to the Trail Blazers on Nov. 5, the Thunder saw them again twice and beat them both times, 122-95 and 123-115
- Cruising Along: They won a franchise-record 16 straight games by a 20.8-point average margin of victory, topping the 15 in a row set from Dec. 3, 2024 to Jan. 8, 2025
- Far And Away: OKC has carried a No. 1 defensive rating throughout this season. Its mark of 103.4 is over 7.0 points better than 2nd-best Houston (111.0)
Gilgeous-Alexander has delivered a stellar season so far. Coming off a career year in which he won Kia NBA MVP, West Finals MVP and Finals MVP, he just keeps on winning.
- Captain Consistency: The 8th-year guard has produced 32.4 points per game on a 56% field-goal percentage, hunting his 4th straight season with 30+ ppg and 50+ FG%
- Prolific Pace: He also currently carries the 2nd-longest 20+ point streak in NBA history — 97 consecutive games — trailing only Wilt Chamberlain’s 126 from 1961-63
The Thunder will twice renew their budding rivalry with the Cup Championship-bound Spurs on Dec. 23 and 25. And with that, the chance for the defending champs to build another streak.
“We can’t be spoiled,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We can’t think we’re above anything.”
4. ALL THE BEST FROM NBA CUP’S STANDOUT VEGAS WEEKEND
A new season-high for the scoring heart of the East’s top-rated offense.
Followed by a new, thrilling chapter in a rising West rivalry, played out on a special stage.
The Emirates NBA Cup semifinals in Vegas captured the attention of the basketball world.
Saturday’s semis saw the Knicks go to another level offensively to oust the Magic, before Wemby’s return gave OKC the challenge it’s been searching for and fans a potential matchup to watch for years to come.
Before Saturday’s fireworks, social media’s top basketball creators took the Cup championship court in Vegas for the Playstation NBA Creator Cup. Meka earned MVP honors as Team Lethal took down Team Agent, but the fans were the event’s biggest winners.
In day two of Cup weekend’s EYBL Scholastic Showcase, Sunrise Christian edged Moussa Kamissoko, Kayden Allen and Long Island Lutheran, and the House brothers of AZ Compass defeated Michai White’s Brewster Academy.
Now all that’s left to do is crown the 2025 NBA Emirates Cup champion, tomorrow on Prime (8:30 ET, Tap To Watch).
Cup MVP frontrunner Jalen Brunson leads the Knicks, winners of nine of their last ten, against Wemby’s Spurs, who have defeated the Thunder, Lakers, Nuggets and Rockets so far in this tournament.
5. WHAT’S TRENDING: BEST OF THE REST BACK IN ACTION TONIGHT
The league is buzzing over what we saw in Vegas over the weekend: OKC’s scorching season pace, an Alien intervention and one of the game’s best bucket-getters lifting New York.
It all sets up a thrilling Cup finale Tuesday (8:30 ET, Prime Video).
But tonight, Peacock’s doubleheader action conveniently catches us up on the top newsmakers across the rest of the league.
After the Rockets kept pace with the Nuggets last week near the top of the West standings, the two contenders face off in Denver (9:30 ET).
- The West’s two top-rated offenses collide (124.4 DefRtg vs 121.4), with Houston gaining the edge defensively with the second-ranked D (111)
- In their previous meeting on Nov. 21, Nikola Jokić (34 pts, 10 reb, 9 ast) got the better of fellow big man Alperen Sengun (14 pts, 5 reb, 6 ast), leading his Nuggets to a 3-point victory
Denver enters on a 4-game win streak, while Houston has won 3 of its last 4.
The Pistons are grabbing attention with their best 25-game start (20-5) in 20 years, sitting atop an Eastern Conference that Boston is quickly ascending (currently 3rd). They meet tonight (7 ET) for the first time since Boston halted Detroit’s franchise-best-matching 13-game win streak on Nov. 26.
- As hot as the Pistons have been thus far, the Celtics have shadowed them in December, with each 4-1 this month and 7-3 over their last 10 games
- Detroit’s 3rd-ranked defense (111.1 DefRtg) matches up with Boston’s top-3 offense (121.4 OffRtg), looking to cool the Cs’ league-leading 17.2 made threes per game in their last 13 contests
On League Pass, the Raptors and Heat look to bounce back from NBA Cup Quarterfinals losses and end 4-game slides (7:30 ET).
- Two top-5 teams in assists with matching 29.4 assists per game averages. Miami’s league-best pace (105.30) propels the 3rd-most points per game (121.7)
Roundup: Cooper Flagg looks to continue his strong rookie season as the Mavs host the Jazz (9 ET), while the Grizzlies, who’ve gone 7-3 in their last 10, visit the Clippers (10:30 ET).
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