Sunday featured only four games, with the Utah Jazz getting their second win of the season—a 111-110 win over the San Antonio Spurs—and the Los Angeles Clippers notching their fourth straight win by holding off the Toronto Raptors, 105-103, at home.
The stories of the day, however, were a furious comeback by the NBA’s best team so far and another injury, this time to one of the NBA’s all-time greats.
Cavs Extend Franchise-Best Opening
The Cleveland Cavaliers continued to be the NBA’s lone unbeaten team this season, but it did not come easy.
The unbeaten Cavs faced stiff opposition from the Brooklyn Nets all game long, even trailing 82-68 near the end of the third quarter before rallying in the fourth quarter to notch their 11th straight win before a rocking Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse crowd.
Darius Garland, scored 8 of his 20 points in the Cavs’ furious finish, while Evan Mobley chipped in with 23 points and 16 rebounds. With the win, the Cavs extended their franchise-best start to 11 games, although their streak of scoring at least 110 points a game ended.
Kevin Durant Suffers Calf Strain, Out for at Least Two Weeks
According to ESPN, citing multiple sources, the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant will miss at least two weeks of action due to a calf strain.
Durant, who is norming 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists this season, suffered the injury in the Suns’ 114-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
Durant’s injury figures to be a big blow to the Suns, as the future Hall of Famer has helped the Suns to a perfect 7-0 record in games decided by five points or less—the most by far in the Association.
Victor Wembanyama Makes More History
After Sunday’s games, there is now just one player ever in NBA history to record multiple games of 20+ points, 15+ rebounds, 5+ blocks, and 5+ made 3-pointers.
That player is the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama.
The 7-foot-4 French phenom was all over the court in the Spurs’ 111-110 loss to the Jazz on Sunday, finishing with 24 points, 16 rebounds, and 7 blocks to go along with 6 triples on 9 attempts. Wembanyama’s 7 blocks also make him the youngest to record that many swats in a game, doing so at the age of 20 years, 310 days. He also became just the second player to record at least 7 blocks and 6 triples in a game after the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brook Lopez.
Wembanyama is averaging 18.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 4.0 blocks this season for the 4-6 Spurs.
