After a no-game Wednesday, NBA action was back with a vengeance on Thursday, with all but four teams playing. And the games were fast, furious, and mostly exciting, with 6 of the 13 pairings going down the wire.
In the end, two teams made a statement, one remained unbeaten, and one continued to struggle.
Warriors Get Huge Win on the Road
Some pundits have been questioning the Golden State Warriors’ 6-1 start, mostly saying they haven’t faced the stiffest of competition. The Dubs silenced the critics on Thursday, outlasting the defending champion Boston Celtics, 118-112 at the latter’s home court—TD Garden—no less.
Steph Curry led the way for the Warriors with a near triple-double of 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists, and a couple of huge treys down the stretch. Buddy Hield—one half of the Splash Buddies—added 16 points and 6 rebounds, along with the trey ball that iced the game.
The Warriors now improve to 7-1, tied atop the Western Conference, while the Celtics drop to 7-2.
Nuggets Pull of Stunner at Home
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets engineered its most impressive win of the season by far, coming back from 16 points down to stun erstwhile unbeaten Oklahoma City Thunder, 124-122, before a rocking home crowd at Ball Center.
Nikola Jokic’s monster triple-double—23 points, 20 rebounds, 16 assists—led the Nuggets. Denver also got 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists from the rejuvenated Russell Westbrook and 24 markers apiece from Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. Peyton Watson added 10 points and 3 swats, none bigger than his game-sealing stop on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s lay-in attempt to end the game.
With the loss, the Thunder are now 7-1, while the Nuggets move to 5-3.
Cavs Net Best Start in Franchise History
The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to their best start in franchise history, notching a ninth consecutive victory with a 131-122 win against the New Orleans Hornets at Smoothie King Center.
All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell paced the Cavs’ balanced attack with 29 points, while Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert added 16 apiece. Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and Ty Jerome chipped in 15, 14, and 11, respectively.
With their ninth straight win, the Cavs are now 9-0 to start the season and are the lone unbeaten team now following Oklahoma City’s loss to the Nuggets.
Lakers’ Struggles Continue
The Los Angeles Lakers are officially reeling.
Coming off a bad loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, the Lakers put up another stinker at the FedEx Forum, where they got manhandled by the Memphis Grizzlies, 131-114.
As was the case against Detroit a day earlier, another bad start doomed the Purple and Gold, who trailed 35-27 after one. The Lakers could never quite recover, especially without leading scorer and early MVP frontrunner Anthony Davis, who tweaked his bothersome left ankle in the game against the Pistons.
The Lakers are now 4-4 after a promising 3-0 start. The Grizzlies, on the other hand, climbed to 5-4.
