Category: Basketball

December to remember: Digging deeper on Jaylen Brown's dominant month originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jaylen Brown has a chance Tuesday night in Utah to shuffle past Larry Bird and become the first player in Boston Celtics history to score 30+ points in 10 straight games.

Brown’s impact in December goes beyond his scoring production, however. It’s how he’s generating his points while helping Boston entrench itself near the top of the East standings.

Brown is averaging an NBA-best 32.7 points per game in the month of December. Most notably, his 3-point percentage has crept up to 43.2 percent over the past nine games. That’s up 8.4 percent over his first 20 games of the season. His true shooting percentage has climbed to 64.3 percent over the past nine games, up from 57.8 percent in his first 20 games. 

Brown got good news and bad news on Monday. He was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second time this month. But when the NBA’s All-Star balloting came out, he slotted a surprising sixth in the East.

Brown promptly dubbed the voting a “PR contest” on social media. But even the biggest online troll would have trouble punching holes in Brown’s play this season, particularly as opposing defenses load up against him while 1) Jayson Tatum rehabs and 2) Derrick White and Payton Pritchard navigate some efficiency woes.

To hammer that home: The stat-tracking savants at BBall Index peg Brown in the 95th percentile for matchup difficulty, suggesting opposing teams routinely put their best defenders on Brown.

And yet few have been able to help keep him south of 30 points. 

Let’s dive deeper into how Brown is piling up his points and impacting winning this month: 

Cloud 9.0

Brown is averaging nine free throw attempts per game in December, jumping up more than two attempts per game from the start of the season (6.8 attempts over first 20 games).

Only five players in the NBA are averaging more than 9.0 free throw attempts per game this season: Luka Doncic, Deni Avdija, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Brown is knocking on the door to the top 10 in free throw attempts overall, now averaging 7.5 per game this season.

Even more encouraging: He’s shooting 80.2 percent at the stripe over his last nine games. And part of the reason he’s getting to the free throw line so consistently … 

Stuck in drive

Brown is averaging 19.1 drives per game in the month of December, per NBA tracking data. Only Avdija is averaging more (21.4). Brown is one spot ahead of reigning MVP Gilgeous-Alexander this month, and is scoring with MVP-like efficiency on his treks.

Brown is shooting 62.8 percent off drives in December, while generating points on 76.7 percent of all drives. For the season, Brown ranks third in the NBA at 17.3 drives per game while shooting 58 percent on all shot attempts off those drives.

Foul magnet

To further emphasize Brown’s ability to draw whistles: He’s drawn non-shooting fouls on 3.5 percent of Boston’s plays this season, which ranks in the 99th percentile among all wings, per Cleaning the Glass data.

Only Kevin Durant gets fouled on the floor more often.

Brown is drawing 7.2 fouls per 75 possessions overall, which ranks in the 98th percentile (ninth out of 504 players) per BBall Index tracking. 

Mid-range maestro

Brown continues to thrive in the midrange, making 51 percent of his shots there over the last nine games (58 of 113). He’s on pace to shoot a career best in the mid-range.

Perhaps most notable, though, is that Brown is shooting 78 percent at the rim (28 of 36) over his last nine games, a notable bump up from his 70 percent clip (64 of 91) at the rim over his first 20 games.

Pull-up a chair

Brown is tied for third in the NBA in points off pull-up attempts in December. Only Doncic (14.3) and Gilgeous-Alexander (13.6) create more off the dribble.

Brown is tied with Jalen Brunson at 13.2 pull-up points per game this month. That number is up for Brown after averaging 10.6 pull-up points per game over his first 20 games. 

There are some areas that Brown could tighten up. His turnovers have climbed a bit in December, though he’s handling the ball more often this month. His defensive rebound percentage has dipped at a time when Boston is playing smaller and could use him to be even more active on the glass. He has sometimes sacrificed his pursuit of rebounds in an effort to box out opposing bigs. 

Ultimately, we’re nitpicking here considering how impactful Brown has been. The Celtics own the best offensive rating in the NBA in December, scoring 124 points per 100 possessions. Boston’s +11.1 net rating is tops in the East by three points, and second in the NBA behind only the Thunder (+11.2) in that span.

Brown is a huge reason for that consistent offensive output.

Warriors' Draymond Green provides updated list of NBA championship contenders originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

As the NBA season turns the corner into 2026, Warriors forward Draymond Green has additions and subtractions to his list of serious title contenders. 

Previously, he listed five Western Conference teams as his contenders: the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. 

The Warriors, as Green explains on a new episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” released Monday, have fallen off his list of serious contenders. But he remains optimistic. 

“We’re 16-15. Can’t say you’re a real contender at 16-15,” Green said of the Warriors record at the time, which now is 17-16. “However, I think it’s starting to come together for us. And I think for us, the one thing that stands out is that we have a great defense.” 

After Golden State’s 120-107 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, the Warriors have a 109.7 defensive rating. That’s the fifth-best in the NBA, and third-best in the Western Conference. 

Green points to the Warriors’ offensive struggles as the reason for their middling record. 

“What has struggled is our offense, and now our offense is starting to turn the corner. Great defense, top two defense in the league, you can contend with that,” Green explained “And so, we’re not a serious contender right now– because of the record, we’re not even a playoff team right now. But, down the line, I think the Warriors are returning to your list of serious contenders.” 

The Warriors are in the middle of a good stretch right now, winning four of their last five games. They have averaged 122.4 points per game during that stretch – much better than their season-average of 115.1 points per game. 

As for the rest of his previous list, Green removed the Clippers because of their abysmal 10-21 start to the season, while the Nuggets and Thunders remain strong contenders, with the Lakers dropping slightly. 

“The Lakers, they’re a fringe. If they can’t figure out the defensive end, you can’t contend,” Green said. “But, if they can figure out the defensive end, we know they have the offensive firepower…” 

“… Right now, they’re on the fringe but not quite a real contender.” 

He made one addition from the Western Conference – the San Antonio Spurs who currently are 23-9 and have notched three wins against the defending-champion Thunder in this month alone. 

In the Eastern Conference, Green has high praise for the Detroit Pistons. 

“They got a serious-contender record, and they’re putting it together,” Green said. “And like I said before, they lost a series they should have won last year. So, I think you have to put them in that category out of the East.” 

Green also mentions the New York Knicks as one of the best teams in the East, but more of a fringe contender. 

It’s still early into the season, but the dog days of January might give Green and the NBA a clearer picture sooner rather than later. 

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Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic suffered a "gut-wrenching" knee injury as the Denver Nuggets lost 147-123 at the Miami Heat.

Jokic was hurt late in the first half in an accidental coming together with team-mate Spencer Jones.

Jones stepped on the foot of Jokic who immediately collapsed to the ground clutching his knee.

The 30-year-old has had a scan and will be re-assessed in four weeks' time.

"Immediately, he knew something was wrong," said Nuggets head coach David Adelman.

"This is part of the NBA. Anyone who gets hurt, it's gut-wrenching, especially somebody as special as he is.

"We'll move on as a team. Obviously, right now, I'm more concerned just about him as a person and the disappointment of going through something like that."

Jokic, who leads the NBA season in rebounds and assists, had 21 points and eight assists in the game before suffering the injury.

The Knicks went to the wire with the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night, ultimately coming out on top with a 130-125 win.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Making his second consecutive start and third this season, Mohamed Diawara wasted no time to get in on the action, backing down his defender and dropping one in to score the game’s first points before draining a three-pointer to put the Knicks up 5-0 in the early going. The five early points already matched Diawara’s career-high, but the French native selected by New York in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft was far from done. 

-- After the Pelicans went on a quick 9-0 run to take the lead, Jalen Brunson stopped the bleeding with a three-point play before hitting his first three-pointer of the night to tie the game. Diawara, who entered the contest with six made threes in 18 attempts this season, drilled his second of the game to re-take the lead. Nearly two minutes later he made another one from downtown to give him 11 points in six minutes.

-- An 8-0 run by New Orleans, including threes from Jordan Poole and Saddiq Bey, gave them a four-point advantage but there was Diawara once again, this time scoring on a running layup assisted by Brunson to pull the Knicks to within two.

-- In nine minutes, Diawara led New York with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting (3-for-3 from deep). He also had a rebound and added two steals. However, he wasn’t the most impressive player on the court in the first quarter as Bey blitzed the Knicks with 23 points, going 8-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from three to help the Pelicans lead 41-37 after a whirlwind of an opening quarter.

-- Tyler Kolek entered the game for the first time to start the second quarter and immediately made his presence felt, making one of two free throws and then hitting a three for the Knicks’ first four points of the quarter. 

-- Despite help from OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns offensively, New York was unable to grab the lead in the early part of the quarter as Zion Williamson, making his first start following seven games of coming off the bench, took over for a stretch, scoring 10 points before getting subbed out. He had 18 points at the half.

-- After nearly two scoreless minutes by both sides, the offense picked back up thanks to Brunson who subbed back in and scored eight straight points for the Knicks. But it was Anunoby who tied the game at 65 with a running layup before Poole's three-pointer gave New Orleans the lead once again. Anunoby scored 16 in the quarter after getting blanked in the first.

-- During the scoring barrage in the final two minutes of the half, Diawara hit another three-pointer, his fourth of the game in as many attempts, to give him 16 points but even that wasn't enough as the Pelicans led 75-72 at halftime.

-- Following the break, both offenses went right back to work, trading baskets left and right. Williamson kept his pace going for New Orleans and Trey Murphy III drilled two three-pointers, the second of which gave the Pelicans a 10-point lead. 

-- As for the Knicks' offense, it was a team effort as they got at least one basket from all the starters in the first six minutes, as well as a contribution from Kevin McCullar Jr. after his big night against the Atlanta Hawks. But after Anunoby hit a three with 5:48 remaining in the quarter, both offenses hit a three-minute dry spell. It wasn't until Poole's layup with 2:35 left to play that a ball went in the net. 

-- From there, more bench players for New York hit some shots, including threes by Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson and a floater from Trey Jemison III. Seven players came off the bench for the Knicks, including Miles McBride who returned to the lineup after missing the past nine games with an ankle injury. McBride finished with 14 points in 18 minutes.

-- Nevertheless, when the quarter was over New Orleans extended its lead to 103-96.

-- New York's defense finally showed up in the fourth quarter as it held the Pelicans to just three points in the first five minutes. During that time, the Knicks tied the game on McBride's three-pointer and took the lead on Towns' triple 20 seconds later -- their first lead since the final minute in the first quarter. 

-- After KAT's three-ball, New York went scoreless for two minutes which allowed New Orleans to re-take the lead. But in crunch time, Brunson came alive and knocked down two threes to tie or take the lead and to keep up with Murphy who stayed on fire from deep. Brunson got some help with McBride and Anunoby each hitting big shots to take the lead as the Pelicans would not go away. 

-- But it was Brunson's floater and layup in the final 60 seconds that extended his team's lead before McBride hit four key free throws at the end of the game to seal the game and give New York a wild 130-125 win.

Game MVP: OG Anunoby

Despite going 1-for-8 from deep, Anunoby finished with 23 points after going scoreless in the first quarter and hit big shot after big shot all game. He also had 11 rebounds, three steals and a block and was a game-high plus-16 on the night.

Highlights

Mo is cooking tonight 🔥

5-6 with 13 points early 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/mFdJzcw8Oc

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 30, 2025

Great ball movement ➡️ Tyler Kolek three 🎯 pic.twitter.com/pvovLEugin

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 30, 2025

JB for 👌 pic.twitter.com/vzwRKiTESb

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 30, 2025

TYLER KOLEK DRILLS THE THREE! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hi2NA0hdFJ

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 30, 2025

DEUCE TIES IT 😤 pic.twitter.com/PZRdBadsNM

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 30, 2025

What's next

The Knicks finish off their three-game road trip with a battle against the San Antonio Spurs on New Years Eve at 7 p.m. in what will be a rematch of the NBA Cup Finals.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 27 points and Jimmy Butler finished with 21 as the Golden State Warriors beat the Brooklyn Nets 120-107 on Monday night.

Curry shot 8 for 15 from the field while Butler went 11 for 12 from the free throw line for the Warriors, who bounced back from an overtime loss in Toronto in Sunday to win for the fourth time in five games.

Trayce Jackson-Davis added 11 points and Gary Payton II, De’Anthony Melton and Will Richard each chipped in 10.

Michael Porter Jr. had 27 points and rookie Egor Demin added 23 for the Nets, who had their three-game winning streak stopped.

Golden State was sluggish in the first quarter and trailed by as many as 13 points. The Warriors recovered to lead by two at halftime before Curry, who struggled to find his shot in the first half, scored 10 points to lead Golden State to an 89-85 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Golden State led by 10 with 4:37 left in the fourth quarter before the Nets went on an 8-0 run to make it 107-103 after a pair of three throws from Terance Mann.

On the next possession, Curry leaned into Nic Claxton as he shot a floater and was fouled as his shot went through and hit a free throw.

Demin then answered with a 3-pointer before the Warriors scored on their next three trips, capped by Richard’s dunk that made 116-106 and sealed the victory.

The Warriors improved to 7-12 on the road.

Up next

Warriors: Continue their three-game road trip at Charlotte on Wednesday.

Nets: Host Houston on Thursday.