Author: NBA Basketball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

It’s easy to overlook what Luka Dončić is doing.

He’s so good it’s almost hard to see it. 

He has been putting up video game numbers for so long that we’re almost inured to them in the same way our olfactory senses stop responding to a constant smell. 

But Giannis Antetokounmpo slapped us out of our slumber following Dončić’s fourth 40-point performance in five days in the Lakers’ 138-117 win over the Heat on Monday. 

“Obviously he’s one of the best scorers to ever play this game, if not the best,” Antetokounmpo said. “Not right now. Of all time. I feel like some people are scared to say that. But it’s got to be out there.”

Dončić has led the league in scoring twice and is on pace to do so a third time. He’s averaging a blistering 38.3 points per game, 8.3 points more than second-place Stephen Curry. Here are the points Dončić has put up in the last five games: 42, 45, 37, 41, 52. 

Yet somehow we’ve never thought of Dončić as an all-time scorer. 

That needs to change. 

While Curry is the consensus greatest shooter ever, different players have been thrown into the conversation for all-time greatest scorer, including Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and even Kevin Durant, the latter of whom is a beacon of consistency but isn’t going to regularly explode for 50-plus points. 

Dončić deserves to be in that club.

He has a career scoring average of 29.32 points, trailing only Jordan (30.12) and Chamberlain (30.07).

And Dončić is only 27 years old. He’s still in his prime. He’s only getting better. 

Before JJ Redick became the Lakers’ coach in June 2024, he said Dončić “has the best brakes in the fu–king world” on his former podcast, “The Old Man & The Three.”

“What he does is there’s a constant change of pace,” Redick said. “He’s on-balance. He’s trying to get you off-balance. Once you’re off-balance, he’s still on-balance, he changes his pace.”

In layman’s terms: Dončić is impossible to guard. 

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra knows that all too well. When asked about defending Dončić ahead of Monday’s game, he pretty much intimated that it’s a fool’s errand. 

“It’s not going to be two defenders on him or even three,” Spoelstra said. “You’re pretty much going to go through your entire roster.”

Dončić is an offensive wizard. He’s a savant. He makes scoring look easy. And it’s time for him to be considered among the all-time greats. 

Against the Heat on Monday, Dončić had 24 points at halftime, becoming the first Laker to score at least 20 points in the first half in five straight games since Kobe Bryant in 2007.

He’s averaging a historical 1.07 points per minute. The only other player who surpassed 1.0 was Chamberlain, who averaged 1.04 points per minute in 1961-62. 

And Dončić is scoring at an extremely efficient rate, averaging career highs in field-goal percentage (49.7) and 3-point percentage (42.7). He’s also third in the league in assists with eight per game. Heck, he’s even playing defense.

He’s having one of the best starts in NBA history, becoming the third player to score at least 225 points through his first six games, alongside Jordan (1985-86) and Chamberlain, who did it twice in 1961-62 and 1962-63. 

Jordan led the league in scoring 10 seasons and is widely considered the greatest player of all time. Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points per game during the 1961-62 season and is the only player to score 100 points in a game. 

The greatest scorer of all time is not an easy debate to enter. But in the modern NBA, does anyone compare to Dončić? And historically, Dončić is already etching his name into the record books.

What he’s doing is stunning. 

Dončić belongs in a very elite club.

The Houston Rockets are off to a red-hot start, leading the NBA with a 7-1 record, as well as holding wins over the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, and San Antonio Spurs. The team has looked like the same hard-nosed defensive team we have grown used to, but this time with some idea of an offensive plan. In addition, the team is playing within the flow of the offense, not forcing things to Alperen Sengun or Kevin Durant, with the “Stand Around and Watch KD” offense of last year showing less and less of itself. Marcus Smart has been a solid addition so far, and Jabari Smith Jr. seems poised for a career year.

Granted, it’s early in the season, but the Rockets look good right now, and it seems some others might agree. The Athletic released it’s new series of NBA power rankings, and low and behold, who sits atop at the moment but your Houston Rockets. Here’s what they had to say about our boys:

Last ranking: Fourth
In the last week: W vs ATL, W at MIL, L at DAL, W vs OKC
Offensive rating: 121.2 (first place)Defensive rating: 108.9 (ninth place)

Starters: Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Şengün
Key reserves: Marcus Smart, Tari Eason, Reed Sheppard, Clint Capela, Bogdan Bogdanović

Houston’s improved depth hasn’t quite made the defense special, which makes sense. The Rockets don’t have great rim protection, they have a small guard in the starting lineup and their best player is 38. The Rockets tried to get away with lineups without centers in Dallas with Şengün nursing a back injury, and it’s one reason they aren’t undefeated anymore. But this offense has taken off, and Houston is deeper than it has been at any point under coach Ime Udoka.

So with the Rockets cruising, the Thunder hurt and the Spurs off to an up-and-down start, it’s your Rockets who are currently playing the best ball in the NBA. Right behind Houston are the 5-1 Detroit Pistons and the 6-1 Philadelphia LeBrons. I think the Rockets are better than either of those teams, but time will tell. For now, enjoy the the early-season success.

Dalen Terry is on an NBA roster after starting the season on the sidelines.

The former Arizona Wildcats wing has signed a two-year deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The contract comes at a good time for both sides: Terry was without an NBA team after getting by the Golden State Warriors in the preseason, and the Thunder are in need for an athletic swingman after suffering multiple injuries.

Terry is on his third NBA team after playing the first four-plus years of his career with the Chicago Bulls before getting traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

In 218 career games, Terry is averaging 3.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and o.5 steals per game.

The 6-foot-6 Terry arrives in Oklahoma City following injuries to the Thunder’s Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace. The Thunder are also without big man Chet Holmgren for at least two months.

Terry was drafted 18th overall by Chicago in the 2022 NBA Draft. He comes the 17th former Arizona basketball player to be on an NBA team this season, the third-most of any school behind Kentucky and Duke.

It’s giving midseason.

Somewhere in the second quarter, with the Spurs up one and about to be up more, I realized I wasn’t watching the game. I was, instead, watching myself not watch the game, which is a worse hobby and the one I’m apparently best at. The game was fine. The game was exactly what it said on the label: a nondescript tilt between two teams already headed down different tracks. The shine of October basketball had worn off completely and, like summer turning to fall, the Grind had arrived.

Shocking how quickly that happens.

As a first quarter blowout turned into a 2nd quarter snoozer, my brain began to wander a bit. I could be anywhere in the world right now. A plastic stool in Hanoi, a bowl of pho, a little light rain. A mountain pass in the Andes, thin air, nobody asking me for a take. Man, I should be reading books. Seeing films. I should be the kind of person whose passport has all those cool stamps in it. This one precious life the universe handed me was unraveling in real time as Ace Bailey stepped into a 25-foot pull-up three to cut the Jazz’s deficit to one.

Then Stephon Castle missed a layup and I almost decided to call it a night. It was as annoying as it was unremarkable and I just didn’t need it anymore. I reached for the remote and, as I did, Victor Wembanyama, who a minute earlier had similarly flubbed an alley-oop, grabbed the rebound and tipped it back in. Twenty seconds after Bailey’s three. No celebration. Barely a facial expression.

I’d love to tell you that’s the moment I’d been looking for, but that would be too tidy. What I’d been searching for was a hook. A story, a cause, a catalyst. Anything to hold off the particular ennui of being a fan of a good team. And Wemby wasn’t even good last night, not by any stretch. Five of fifteen. Zero for five from three. Five turnovers. He was in that mode he gets in from time to time where he decides the Key to Victory is to simply chuck it.

The Spurs won by 22 anyway, not because of a miracle but because this roster has more than one way to be competent. The Spurs are, mercifully, more than the sum of their parts.

Not that the parts are bad. Quite the contrary. Dylan Harper scored all 17 of his points before the third quarter was half over. Stephon Castle is an animal. De’Aaron Fox looks like the guy we paid for. Tarris Reed continues to grab rebounds in a way that feels like it’s going to be important (seven in about seven minutes last night). Every wing combination we’ve thrown on the court is its own kind of fun.

I mean, look at Harrison Barnes. A man as old as time itself (he’s four years younger than me) had an insanely active night. He knocked down threes from 29, 25 and 24 feet, he ran around, he caused trouble. Early in the fourth he got tangled up with Brice Sensabaugh, slid across the floor, got back up, and just stared at him while the refs reviewed it in slow motion. I’m told that clip racked up 140,000 views on the world wide web within about an hour.

The thing about the Grind is that it doesn’t have to mean anything, which means that everything within the Grind gets to be exactly what it is. A tip dunk. A well executed outlet pass. An old man staring down Brice Sensabaugh. Like, I didn’t come out of the womb craving the Larry O’Brien trophy. I just was at my breakfast table in 1996 watching Michael Jordan dunk on Rik Smits during a SportsCenter rerun, and some part of me said, with zero strategic vision, “Yes. More of that.” More of that was the entire ask and, frankly, it still is.

Look at us. You and me. Like I said, we could be anywhere in the world right now, but we’re right here with the Spurs and the Jazz on a Monday night in November. The stools in Hanoi will still be there someday, but a precocious superstar, having the worst night of his season, is putting a ball back through the hoop like a child tucking in his stuffed animals for the night.

You don’t have to impress some greater importance on a moment like that to make it mean something. You were there. It’s a part of you now and you got to live it.

If that isn’t special, I don’t know what is.

The beautiful game. pic.twitter.com/bX57x1dKoA

— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) November 3, 2026

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Takeaways

• Dylan Harper seems almost casually good at basketball. It’s remarkable and breathtaking, these things he’s doing, but it also has that effect of seeming effortless when he’s casually dismantling another team. In the second quarter he stole the ball and in a blink Vassell was dunking off his pass. In the third, he stole it again and Stephon was finishing an alley-oop before I’d even registered it. He added 8 assists and 7 rebounds on top of all his scoring. I find myself almost taking it for granted at this point, and we’ve really only started to scratch the surface of what he’s capable of. Scary to think about! (For our opponents. For us it’s just exceedingly cool and fun.)
• I know it’s just the Jazz, grain of salt and all that, but I never get tired of seeing the Spurs get out on the break and run. They won fast-break points 26-9, against a Jazz team that turned it over just 11 times, a season low for Utah, so a lot of that was pure rebound-and-go. They also won the paint 52-36 and opened the game on an 18-2 run. Run for days my boys. Grab the ball and never stop running. Only good can come from this. Open looks from three, easy paths to the rim, potential foul trouble for the opponents. Push that pace. Push that pace. PUSH THAT PACE.
• This is not how development works and, to be clear, I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I absolutely crave Tarris Reed minutes. I want him to become a Sasquatch, Godzilla, King Kong, Loch Ness, Goblin, ghoul and a zombie with no conscience. I want basketballs to fear him checking into the game because they’re about to get rebounded to within an inch of their lives.
• I love a wire-to-wire win. Next time you hear me complaing about a wire to wire win feel free to come to my house and take an ice cold waterloo out of my fridge as payment for my sins.

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WWL Post Game Press Conference

So, you’re a Waterloo Man, eh?

I’m a man of all seasons, to be clear, but right now, yes, I am currently in a Waterloo phase of my Sparkling Water career.

Any particular reason?

There is a particular Black Cherry flavor I’ve grown fond of and I just can’t stay away at this point. It scratches this weird nostalgic part of my brain that yearns for a Blue Sky soda I had in my youth. Do you remember Blue Sky soda?

Vaguely. That had kind of cool cans?

Yeah, the cans were cool. I don’t know. I think I had just never experienced the concept of a soda that existed outside the mainstream world of the Coca-Cola and Pepsi family trees, so when I went on vacation and saw this crazy looking can with a cherry sitting on a cloud it just… broke my brain a little bit and I had to have it.

Did it taste good?

Who could say? I was six years old. I’d left the summer heat in Texas and woken up the next day in a Colorado mountain town sipping an alien soda from heaven. Maybe it was good, maybe it wasn’t, but it stirred something deep in my soul that I think I’ve been searching for ever since.

And Black Cherry Waterloos scratch that itch for you?

They do. Publix also pretty regularly throws them in Buy One Get Ones for me and who am I to turn down a deal like that.

There are plenty of things in life that give people anxiety. For me, it’s being late. Or even the threat of being late. Perhaps it’s the military man in me, somebody who made the mistake of showing up late to formation during basic training and paid for it in the front-leaning rest position, beads of sweat dripping off my nose and forming a puddle beneath me on the warm pavement at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, one June morning. If you’re not early, you’re late. That’s been my mantra ever since.

Unfortunately, that familiar anxiety is beginning to build regarding the Phoenix Suns. This team is 12th in the Western Conference standings after starting 1-4, something we’ve seen before. At this point last season, the Suns were also 1-4 and were 13th. The difference then is they were only 3.0 games out of first, and due to an odd scheduling start for the Suns and the fact that they have played the fewest games in the NBA, they are 4.5 games back of the top team in the league. That team? The Rockets…

These slow starts create a significant barrier between the Suns and a proverbial train that’s already leaving the station, headed toward the postseason. That’s right, the Suns are in danger of being late for that train. Anxiety! Because with every passing day and every loss that accumulates, they find themselves falling further and further behind, making it increasingly difficult to hop on board and reach their desired postseason destination.

A season ago, we found ourselves in the same predicament, but the feeling surrounding the team was much different. A big part of that came down to expectations. Nobody really expected the Suns to be a team that could compete at a high level. The prevailing thought was to let the season play out, sell off assets around the trade deadline, and begin building toward the summer of 2026.

Following that 1-4 start, the Suns began putting things together. The sloppy basketball we’d witnessed early in the season became more organized, and the effort that was evident through those first five games finally started translating into wins. I had this to say after they lost 114-113 to the Grizzlies a season ago:

Losing still stings, but this team isn’t miles away. The execution needs tightening, and these are the aches that come with learning how to win again.

It’s tough to find moral victories in Game 5 when you’re sitting at 1–4, but I’ll say it anyway. I was entertained. Disappointed, sure. The ending wasn’t what anyone wanted. But maybe this year isn’t about wins and losses. Maybe it’s about how they respond to nights like this.

The feeling this year is different, however. Locally, expectations were higher, even if the national perception remained relatively unchanged. The roster construction was clunky, but you could at least see the vision of what this team wanted to become. Regardless, those expectations change the reality of your situation. While the effort has certainly been present, its consistency has begun to wane, and the execution remains frustratingly inconsistent.

Last season, we could talk ourselves into believing thatDillon Brooks and Jalen Green’s absence due to injury was a significant reason for the team’s struggles. And perhaps this year, we’re doing the same thing with Mark Williams. But the feeling isn’t the same. The reality of the situation is slowly sinking in, and it’s one in which hope is becoming increasingly difficult to find. This is a team that doesn’t control its own draft picks, so finding itself stuck in the middle of the standings is essentially a death sentence.

When you consider the anti-tanking rules that will be in place this year, there’s a very real possibility that the Suns could find themselves among the teams with an 8.1% chance of landing the number one overall pick. And how “Suns” would it be for Phoenix to benefit from not being completely horrendous under the league’s new draft lottery structure, only to have to hand that pick over to Houston?

Are we there yet? Are we seriously thinking about this already? (I am) When you start 1-4 and look around the standings at the other teams with only one win, seeing the Kings, Nets, Jazz, Bulls, and Bucks alongside you, it’s difficult not to get a little frazzled. Because those are the teams that were projected to be bad. It’s why we’re running to the trade machine trying to find fixes, because you have no room for a down season when there is no benefit to being bad.

I think back to a season ago and the turnaround we witnessed. What the Suns accomplished was impressive, climbing out of 13th place in the Western Conference and playing some incredibly good basketball along the way. For one fleeting night on January 22, 2026, the Suns had fought their way all the way back to the fifth seed in the Western Conference. After starting 1-4, they went 26-13 to reach that point. That is going to be incredibly hard to replicate.

Can this team reproduce any aspect of what we witnessed last year? Can they put together another impressive run that allows them to hop aboard that train headed toward the postseason?

There is hope if you look hard enough. Through their first 5 games a season ago, the Suns had a 120.5 defensive rating (28th) and -9.8 net rating (27th). This season, they are at 124.0 (30th) and -9.8 (25th). After their 1-4 start a season ago, the Suns posted a 112.3 defensive rating (8th) and a +2.1 net rating (13th). It is possible. We’ve seen it before.

Psst…I’m saying the quiet part out loud…that team can rebound the damn ball…the worst team in rebound percentage last season was the Washington Wizards at 47.1%. The Suns are currently at 45.7%…

We’ve got a long trip ahead of us, my fellow Suns fans, and we’ll spend much of that journey wondering whether this team can recapture any semblance of what it was a season ago. We’ll look for solutions in every corner, talking ourselves into the viability of overpaid players like Domantas Sabonis or Dejounte Murray as mediocre saviors. But with so many red flags surrounding the roster construction, it’s difficult to shake that familiar feeling of anxiety from being late building in the pit of your stomach.

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After garnering considerable praise during the offseason and training camp for his development and diligent work, Adou Thiero has unfortunately yet to suit up in the regular season as he deals with swelling in his left knee. But according to head coach JJ Redick, it sounds like the second-year forward is potentially nearing a return.

“He’s had some live exposures and I think he’s trending in the right direction,” Redick told reporters prior to the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Miami Heat on Monday. “Hopefully by the end of the week he’ll be available.”

Thiero’s latest injury bout marks a turbulent first year and change in the NBA. He missed considerable time as a rookie with swelling in his left knee, which sidelined him for all of preseason and the first 13 games of the regular season, before a sprained MCL in his right knee rendered him unavailable from late December to mid-February.

Fortunately, it sounds like he should be back sooner rather than later; although, swelling in the same knee a year later is undoubtedly concerning.

His point-of-attack defense and general activity, both of which popped at times during the preseason, could help invigorate the Lakers’ 18th-ranked defense. They’ve often struggled to contain the ball and looked overmatched athletically on the perimeter at times. If he can find a reliable role offensively — and playing alongside Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves increases that possibility — Thiero’s size and athleticism can remedy some of those issues.

For now, though, the focus is on Thiero becoming fully healthy and returning to the floor. Once he does that, determining whether there’s a spot for him in Los Angeles’ wing rotation, one that’s off to a pretty commendable start through eight games, can enter the conversation.

In the meantime, Los Angeles will keep relying on Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle, Jake LaRavia and Quentin Grimes to hold things down at the forward spots. The Lakers will look for their seventh win of the season when they face the Sacramento Kings inside Golden 1 Center Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

Send in your questions now for this week’s episode of The Pindown: A Detroit Pistons Podcast to discuss everything Pistons. Submit your question in the comments section here or on Twitter to @TheRealWesD3 and/or @RobbieBettelon. If you’re on BlueSky, you can also send to @RobbieBettelon.bksy.social.

Join us live Saturday afternoon as Wes and Robbie discuss the beginning of the Pistons’ season. What questions would you like to add to the show?

Plus, The Pindown has a phone line where you can leave a message and hear your voice on the show. Call (313) 355-2717 and leave us a voicemail with your question. Please try to keep the message around 45 seconds or less so we can fit everyone into the show.

The podcast will be uploaded to all audio platforms the following morning.

The Pindown: A Detroit Pistons Podcast Vitals:

When: TBD

Where: Detroit Bad Boys YouTube Channel

How to submit questions:

• Detroit Bad Boys Website: Comment section of the weekly Pindown episode articles.
• Call (313) 355-2717 and leave us a voicemail with your question. Please try to keep the message to 45 seconds or less.
• Twitter: @detroitbadboys, @RobbieBettelon, or @therealwesd3
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As always, leave any questions or topics you want to be discussed in the comment section below.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Bucks fans and fans across the country.

This Milwaukee Bucks season was never going to be pretty and, so far, well, the Bucks could crack mirrors. There’s still plenty to be excited about, of course—namely, the team’s three youngest players—but to this point these Bucks aren’t exactly the dawgs we hoped they’d be. Porous on the perimeter and feeble inside, are these Bucks simply too nice?

Steal a possession? Deny a shot? Not these Bucks.

After seven games, the Bucks have shown promise on the glass—even if there are some warning signs—in an attempt to win the possession game and maximise their opportunities to keep the scoreboard ticking over and the games close. But there is more than one way to skin a cat, and the Bucks aren’t doing much to make life difficult for their opponents—certainly not from a disruption point of view. So far, the Bucks sit dead last in steals per game (5.6 SPG), nearly half a steal worse than their nearest opponent (the Memphis Grizzlies, who average 6.0 SPG). They’re also dead last in opponent turnovers, forcing just 12.7 per game (nearly a full turnover fewer than the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz, who force 13.6 turnovers a night). All this means that Milwaukee isn’t generating extra looks through its defence.

Compounding the issue, the Bucks are mediocre at best when it comes to turning back shot attempts. Myles Turner and (sometimes) Kel’el Ware aside, these Bucks simply do not block shots, averaging just 4.6 BPG thus far, “good” for 18th in the league. But the Bucks’ rim troubles don’t stop there. They’re currently 23rd in the league in defending the paint, conceding 50.9 points in the paint per night, while also allowing 27.6 free throw attempts per night (22nd in the league). It should come as no surprise then that they rank 21st in the league in opponent effective field goal percentage (at 54.8%).

Roster limitations and mantra malfunctions

Realistically, these numbers shouldn’t be too surprising. While Turner blocks shots, he’s never been an elite defender or physical presence—and he’s the Buck with the best defensive reputation. Kyle Kuzma and Jaime Jaquez Jr. compete, but they don’t have the physical gifts or explosive athleticism to be more than useful team defenders. In the backcourt, Tyler Herro has long been a defensive liability—or at least regarded as such. And none of these guys have any “nasty” in ’em.

Ryan Rollins, on the other hand, has the length, and has shown the capacity to lock down at times. He’s also got some of that defensive stink to him (see his battles with Tyrese Haliburton). But in the early season, Rollins has seemed more intent on getting his shot off in a completely understandable bid to (1) prove himself worthy of the expectations placed on him prior to the season and (2) prove himself worthy of a new, lucrative contract—from Milwaukee or someone else—next offseason. Forest for the trees type stuff.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that, despite their limitations, the starting group prior to last night’s change-up has actually been a real positive for the Bucks. This group—the team’s most frequent five-man lineup with 75 minutes of playing time—has a +21.6 net rating (per Basketball-Reference). Comparatively, just four of the team’s 19 other five-man lineups have fared better, but each of these have played fewer than seven minutes together. In fact, besides the starting group, no other five-man lineup has played more than 17 minutes of action thus far, making it difficult to truly determine which combinations are working and which aren’t.

Another factor to consider is the team’s bench. Outside of AJ Green, the core reserves are all very young, meaning they’re simultaneously learning the NBA game and trying to establish themselves in the league. This is not a new combination, but it’s not an easy one either—and certainly not one that typically leads to winning basketball. Youth aside, the Bucks’ bench also lacks any true defensive aces—at least at this stage—despite their effort (see Kasparas Jakučionis, Brayden Burries, and Nate Ament) or gifts (see Kel’el Ware). All of this is to say that, like the players themselves, Jon Horst has more work to do.

On a bigger scale, could the Bucks’ struggles to disrupt opposing offences in part boil down to a mantra malfunction? Their new motto, “Compete. Together. Get better,” sure is wholesome, but is it all a bit too Brady Bunch? And is Jenkins leaning too much into relationship-building with his new herd of fawns? His decision to bench Rollins suggests not. The likely answer, then, is that this is simply a case of culture first, results later. Build rapport—nurture the youth—then let the metamorphoses begin.

Regardless, for the Bucks to start doing more than show glimpses between the cracks, they might have to find a way to get a little meaner.

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‘I'm finding my footing': Jaylen Brown's role taking shape with Sixers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Jaylen Brown has spent the opening weeks of the season describing the Sixers as a work in progress.

He offered a similarly humble perspective Monday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. His performance, however, provided the clearest look yet at how he can influence this group while sharing the floor with the club’s other established stars.

Brown finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in the Sixers’ 126-107 win over the Chicago Bulls. He shot 9 for 15 from the field, made four three-pointers and did not commit a turnover.

Five of his rebounds came on the offensive end, an area Brown has emphasized while the Sixers continue piecing together their frontcourt rotation.

“Just a mindset,” Brown said. “Just trying to create extra opportunities for my team. As we’re trying to patch together our fives and our front line, I try to make an extra contribution and emphasis on the glass.”

Brown has also been careful about how he describes his place on a roster that already belonged to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

Maxey scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter Monday, continuing his torrid start to the season. He has led the Sixers in scoring while being the only starter to appear in all eight games.

Brown is not interested in interrupting that.

“Maxey’s been leading the way, 100 percent,” Brown said. “He’s been here. This is his team. Him and Joel have been here for a while, so the mindset has been to complement those guys. I’m finding my footing, but Maxey has been leading the way for sure.”

Brown’s footing looked firm against Chicago.

Beyond his scoring, he helped the Sixers control the glass, moved the ball within an offense that generated 23 assists during the first half and supplied the physicality Nick Nurse expects from him.

“The dude is tough and he wins,” Nurse said. “I’ll take that all day long. The degree of difficulty on some of the shots he hit was really amazing. I thought he pounded the glass and got some key rebounds. Makes a lot of winning plays. Man, he’s a winner.”

Brown spent the first 10 years of his career in Boston. He won a championship there, reached another NBA Finals and grew from a 20-year-old prospect into one of the league’s premier two-way wings.

Moving into a new system alongside James, Embiid and Maxey was never going to be seamless.

“I mean, he’s fitting in along with all of us,” James said. “We’re getting better and better. It’s not going to happen overnight. He spent his first 10 years in a system in Boston, in the city, so it’s going to take some adjustment.

“It takes adjustment for him. It’s going to take adjustment for the rest of the guys that joined this franchise as well. But tonight was a great step.”

James pointed to Brown’s “pressure, his shot-making ability, his rebounding ability” and his professionalism.

Brown’s early influence has extended beyond his production.

The Sixers entered Monday with one of the NBA’s best half-court defenses. Brown has been one of the group’s most persistent voices, stressing communication, preparation and attention to opposing players’ tendencies.

“That’s the part that I care about the most as a group, not individually,” Brown said. “Having a mentality night in and night out, respecting your opponent, respecting the game, making sure that we are executing our coverages, we’re being clear in our communication and then we’re also taking away tendencies on a night-to-night basis.

“Those things I just explained are over 50 percent of the battle.”

Brown understands that maintaining those details across an 82-game schedule will require more than reminders.

“A little bit of accountability,” he said. “You learn different guys require different things. How you communicate with each guy may be a little different, but accountability for sure and confrontation if need be.

“The offense is going to be what it’s going to be, but our defense has got to be non-negotiable. That’s something I say all the time. Non-negotiable. You want to be a good team, defense is non-negotiable.”

The Sixers showed both sides of their defensive potential Monday.

They built a double-digit lead during the first half, allowed Chicago to score 36 points in the second quarter and then created separation after halftime. Philadelphia held the Bulls to 20 points in the third quarter before pulling away in the fourth.

Brown did not celebrate their ability to raise their intensity after it slipped.

“I don’t like that we have that,” he said. “It’s good that we have shown the potential, but we’ve got to keep that switch on. It doesn’t work like that where you just flip the switch.

“It can catch up to us and it can bite us against a better team or on a night that we’re not being as crisp on offense. It can’t be a switch just because we’re playing a lesser opponent or whatever the case may be. We’ve got to make sure that mentality is from the beginning to end. Can’t skip any steps.”

That urgency accompanies considerable optimism.

Brown said the Sixers enjoy playing together. He loves when James grabs a rebound because “he’s like a quarterback,” capable of launching an outlet pass or immediately pushing the pace.

The group is learning when to attack, when to move the ball and how to avoid hesitating in its effort to play unselfishly.

“It’s a lot of talent, man,” Brown said. “We like each other, and we’re just kind of building that chemistry of how we can get this thing to a well-oiled machine. I think we’re taking steps forward every single day.”

The Sixers are 7-1 despite Brown believing those steps remain incomplete. They have won close games, erased sizable deficits and received important contributions from different players.

Brown’s performance Monday showed another version of how their pieces can fit.

“We still have a long way to go to being a really, really solid, great team,” Brown said. “But we’ve been able to win some games. We started out the season great, 7-1, and you haven’t seen our best version yet.

“That’s a good sign.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry had stepped to the foul line 50 times this season with the same result. Swish. Bottom of the net. Put a point on the board.

So, when he was fouled with the Warriors leading by two and less than six seconds left Monday night against the Suns, the game had to be as good as over … right?

Well, eventually.

Only after Curry clanked a free throw for the first time this season. Dillon Brooks grabbed the rebound and passed it ahead to Collin Gillespie, who got off a last-second heave from 36 feet.

It was a clean look, albeit an unlikely one, and could have sent the game to overtime. The shot fell short and Curry’s ill-timed miss proved insignificant.

But in a game that he finished with 34 total — his third in a row with 30 or more — it was the one point Curry left on the board that drew the attention.

“I mean, he’s just made so many big free throws in his career,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Obviously he makes all of those. The law of averages catches up every once in a while.”

In addition to being the greatest 3-point shooter in history, it would make sense then that Curry keeps the same standard in a controlled setting, 8 feet, 9 inches closer to the basket. His 91.3% career rate makes him the most efficient foul shooter of all time.

Curry is also responsible for two of the NBA’s four longest stretches of success from the stripe to begin a season. With his streak, he was closing in on himself (52 in a row in 2017-18) for third place and Steve Nash (53 in 2007-08) for second for the most foul shots without a miss.

It would have taken some time to snatch the record away from Jose Calderon (84 in 2008-09).

But with a chance to put the game on ice and move into a tie for third place, for the first time in a competitive game in 204 days, Curry’s shot clanked off the rim, into the hands of Brooks.

Fortunately for the Warriors, the 11 free throws, five 3s and four shots inside the arc that did find the bottom of the net proved to be just enough in the 116-113 win, their fifth in a row.

While Curry’s free throw streak came to an end at 51, he also extended another with his 34-point performance. At age 38 and 233 days, only two older players in NBA history have dropped 30 three games in a row: LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

One miss in a vast ocean of splashes, of course, did nothing to shake Curry’s confidence.

“I’m shocked,” Curry smirked, “when I miss anytime.”

Luka Doncic was proud of the Lakers’ performance thus far this week.

“It’s not bad. Now we got two wins in a row right here, so it’s a great start,” he said.

Doncic then added what he planned to do after the Lakers improved to 6-2 with a win over the Heat Monday night.

“Play some golf,” Doncic said with a smirk as he walked through the tunnel after Los Angeles’ 138-117 win over the Heat on Monday.

The Lakers superstar has become enamored with the sport, going as far as installing a golf simulator in his home. Doncic credits former teammate LeBron James and Austin Reaves as key influences in his golf game.

Now, it appears the green is all the 27-year-old can think about after a great start to the week on the court.

In the victory over Miami, Doncic finished the night with 42 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and two steals. It marked the fourth time in the last five games that Doncic scored at least 40 points.

By halftime Monday night, the Lakers superstar already had 24 points, making Doncic the first Lakers player to score at least 20 points in the first half in five consecutive games since Kobe Bryant in 2007.

The Lakers offense roared against the Heat, with arguably the unit’s greatest showing of the 2026-27 campaign. The squad finished with a season-high 138 points, putting the finishing touches on a historic Doncic performance.

The Lakers superstar seems ready for his next challenge, only this time off the court and on the course.

Deuce's Deep Dives: Kings' Darius Acuff Jr., rookies making early NBA impacts originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

One of the biggest storylines heading into the 2026-27 NBA season was the talented rookie draft class, and they have not disappointed through the first few weeks.

Five rookies currently are averaging over 17 points per game, and a number of top draft picks are having immediate impacts on their teams.

AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall pick, is averaging 19 points per game for an improved Washington Wizards team, while No. 3 overall pick Cameron Boozer has been an all-around force for the 6-1 Memphis Grizzlies.

Versatile forwards Caleb Wilson and Yaxel Lendeborg, both lottery picks, are heavily featured in their teams’ offenses, but it is Sacramento Kings guard Darius Acuff Jr. that leads this draft class, scoring 26.1 points per game.

On “Deuce’s Deep Dives,” NBC Sports California’s Deuce Mason illustrated how Acuff’s play is electrifying the Kings’ fanbase.

“You’re seeing the impacts from Yaxel to Caleb to Cam, and then we bring you to Sacramento with Darius Acuff Jr. giving Kings fans something to be excited about,” Mason said. “Acuff is averaging 26 points per game. That is top 10 in the NBA in scoring, and it’s early, but it’s also ahead of some absolute titans of the game. We’re talking about more points a game than Victor Wembanyama, than [Nikola Jokic], Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson, and he’s only 19 years old.”

Acuff has scored 20 or more points in five games this season, and 30 or more in three, ranking second in the NBA with 23.6 field goal attempts a night.

The rookie’s efficiency leaves more to be desired, shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 31.3 percent on 9.6 3-pointers attempted per game, and his defense clearly needs improvement.

However, it’s not Acuff’s raw statistics that excite Mason, but the skills he has shown when leading Sacramento’s offense.

“The numbers are only part of what makes Acuff so impressive,” Mason added. “It’s his handle. It’s his change of pace. His ability to get to his spots. And even when that shot doesn’t drop, it doesn’t faze him. He keeps going. Defenses have thrown everything at him at this point: full court pressure, physicality, length, size, doubles. It doesn’t seem to rattle him. He has a patience to his game that you do not expect from someone his age. Darius Acuff Jr. is becoming must-watch, and this rookie class is special.”

The Kings won their first game of the season 115-100 over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, with Acuff dropping 25 points and six assists alongside Zach LaVine’s 23 points and Malik Monk’s 24 points.

Sacramento appears unlikely to make the NBA playoffs after its 1-6 start, but with Acuff leading the charge, fans are getting a preview of the team’s future.

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After a series of injuries depleted the Oklahoma City Thunder depth, the preseason favorite signed wing Dalen Terry to a two-year deal, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. While further financial details were not disclosed, it seems most likely that Terry’s deal pays him the veteran’s minimum and is fully non-guaranteed. With the Thunder missing Jaylin Williams, Cason Wallace, and Chet Holmgren for months, Terry will get a chance to audition for a bigger role. If he struggles to find his footing, he will likely be waived for another addition.

Terry spent the summer and preseason competing for a spot on the Golden State Warriors roster. While Terry fell short of a full NBA deal, he was slated to be a centerpiece for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G-League affiliate this season. However, the Thunder have changed those plans.

The Chicago Bulls drafted Terry with the 18th overall pick back in the 2022 NBA Draft out of Arizona. He appeared in 218 games over his first four seasons, but was unable to show enough potential to convince a team to dedicate a rotation spot for him heading into this season. The Bulls had declined Terry’s fifth-year option, and dealt him to the 76ers at last year’s deadline. After failing to get an NBA deal in free agency, he joined the Warriors a series of deals over the summer.

A 6’6 wing who just turned 24, Terry remains an intriguing 3-and-D prospect. The fact that an organization as renowned for scouting and development as the Thunder is willing to give him a trial window further endorses that side of things. Nevertheless, he has averaged just 3.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists on 44.3%/31.4%/63.8% shooting in 11.2 minutes per game over his career.