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LeBron James (39 years and 319 days) is the oldest player in NBA history with three straight triple-doubles. He beat the record of someone named … LeBron James, who was 34 years and 310 days old when he did it.
Wemby’s 50
Victor Wembanyama makes history yet again
I didn’t love how Victor Wembanyama started off his sophomore season in the NBA. The Spurs phenom hasn’t been bad — actually, his stats have been pretty good. He’s had some ridiculous highlights. But the energy from Wemby has been inconsistent. We can probably chalk that up to this being the longest season of his young professional career, along with an Olympic summer that kept him competing most of the offseason.
But lately? Wemby has been catching fire, and that led to him completely deconstructing the Wizards last night. Wemby became the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to score 50 points in a game. Only Brandon Jennings, LeBron James and Devin Booker did it younger (Please note today’s newsletter recognized LeBron as both the youngest AND oldest to do two different feats). It was the second-fastest 50-point game in history, in terms of time on the court, with Wemby getting it done in 26 minutes. Klay Thompson broke the 50 mark in roughly 24-25 minutes once upon a time. Wemby did it in a very Splash Frère fashion:
- Wembanyama enjoyed 18-of-29 shooting from the field and 8-of-16 from 3-point range.
- He’s been on fire from deep over the last three games. After making just 22.6 percent of his 3-pointers in the first nine games, Wemby has gone 20-for-37 (54 percent) in his last three contests.
I will remind you that Wemby is 7-foot-5 but now listed at 7-foot-3 after being listed at 7-foot-4 a year ago. He also had six rebounds and three blocks in 32 minutes of action. He had 42 points through the first three quarters, and the Wizards made it a little bit of a game in the fourth before eventually losing 139-130.
Wemby’s previous scoring high was 40 points against the Knicks in late March. He also had 20 rebounds and seven assists in that one. Wemby’s 50-point game was much milder, if that’s even a thing statistically. This season, he has already had a 5×5 (25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals and five blocks), a near triple-double (24 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks) and this 50-burger. Over Wemby’s last three games, he’s averaging 36 points, 12 rebounds and 4.3 blocks while shooting 59 percent from the field, 54 percent from three, and 76.9 percent from the line. Moral of the story? Don’t let Wemby heat up.
The Last 24
Popovich away from sidelines indefinitely
🙏 Gregg Popovich, 75, suffered a mild stroke on Nov. 2. He’s expected to make a full recovery, but a timeline for his return to coaching has not been set, the Spurs (6-6) announced. Get better soon, Pop.
☀️ Bradley Beal is having fun. The Suns (9-3) guard is playing some really good basketball. Fred Katz has more.
🤔 Bronny James plans to only play home games. He won’t go on the road for G League games. This is the first time I’ve thought this Bronny situation is weird. More here.
📺 The only game tonight. Mavericks (5-6) at Jazz (2-8), 9 p.m. ET on NBA TV or Fubo. Seriously, this is the only game tonight, so watch Luka Dončić light up the Jazz!
📚 Kevin Garnett is 12th! KG embodied everything that is team basketball during his historic career. Check out “The Basketball 100” for more.
About Last Night
Giannis dropped 59 to survive the Pistons
Wemby wasn’t the only guy dropping 50 last night! Giannis Antetokounmpo almost dropped 60 in a 127-120 overtime victory against the Pistons. The Bucks needed every bit of his 59 points, too, and he almost didn’t get to crack 50 at all. Remember when the Pistons beat the Heat on Tuesday night on a last-second lob play that frustrated Erik Spoelstra so much he called a timeout he didn’t have? It almost happened again.
The Pistons ran the play for rookie Ron Holland, and Antetokounmpo tried to break it up at the rim. The Bucks star was called for a foul, it got reviewed and looked clean, and then the refs confirmed the foul call. Because of course they did. Holland had a chance to close out with a free throw with one second left on the clock and no timeouts for the Bucks. He missed them both. Antetokounmpo went into overtime with 48 points and helped close out a win by scoring 11 in overtime. The Bucks were without Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton, so they really needed Giannis’ 59 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two steals.
Bulls 124 (5-7), Knicks 123 (5-6): Karl-Anthony Towns nearly joined Wemby and Giannis on the night. KAT had 46 points on 18-of-30 shooting from the field, but it wasn’t quite enough. Zach LaVine had 31 points for the Bulls, and they all survived a game-winning attempt by Jalen Brunson, who had a mid-range jumper go halfway down and out at the buzzer.
Cavs 114 (13-0), 76ers 106 (2-9): No Joel Embiid. No Paul George. No Tyrese Maxey. And the 76ers nearly ended the Cavaliers’ perfect start. They survived 34 points and 10 assists from TikTok star Jared McCain, as the Cavs became the fifth team in NBA history to win their first 13 games of the season.
Thunder 106 (10-2), Pelicans 88 (3-9): Jalen Williams had 31, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 and the Thunder defense smothered the M.A.S.H. unit Pelicans all night. OKC scored 29 points off 24 Pelicans turnovers. Yeesh!
Magic 94 (7-6), Pacers 90 (5-6): After losing four straight following the Paolo Banchero injury, the Magic have now won four straight. They shut down the Pacers offense and Franz Wagner had 29 points to get Orlando back to even.
Kings 127 (7-5), Suns 104 (9-3): No Kevin Durant. No Bradley Beal. No mercy from the Kings. De’Aaron Fox lit up the Suns for 29 points and 10 assists. Despite DeMar DeRozan missing the second half with back tightness, the Kings outscored Phoenix 70-48.
Blazers 106 (5-8), Wolves 98 (6-6): The Wolves need to get out of Portland. The Blazers beat them for the second straight night, this time behind 33 points from Shaedon Sharpe and 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks from rookie Donovan Clingan. Anthony Edwards had 24 points on 25 shots and was 0 of 9 from deep. More on the Blazers below.
Rockets 111 (8-4), Clippers 103 (6-6): The Rockets finally found a way to cool off Norm Powell, and Houston had six different players in double figures. Alperen Şengün finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four blocks.
Lakers 128 (7-4), Grizzlies 123 (7-5): Just that measly 35-point, 14-assist and 12-rebound game from LeBron James as the Lakers got a little revenge on the Grizzlies. No Ja Morant or Desmond Bane in this one, but the Lakers didn’t care. Rookie Dalton Knecht had 19 off the bench.
Celtics 139 (10-3), Nets 114 (5-7): The Celtics hit 22 3-pointers and Jayson Tatum’s 36 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds blitzed the Nets all game long. Boston is now 7-1 on the road to start the season. Imagine when the defending champs go back home and get comfortable.
Stat That 🤯
Getting destroyed out of the gates
We saw the Trail Blazers shock the world Tuesday night. No, it wasn’t that they won— by double digits — against the Timberwolves. It seemed unexpected, but apparently they own the Wolves. This Glen Taylor arbitration against Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore should be moot. Maybe we should start expecting the unexpected when it comes to NBA Cup group play! The “shock the world” moment came in the form of the Blazers the first and third quarters of the game. Those have been the worst of times for the 4-8 Blazers.
It was just the third time the Blazers have won a first quarter this season and also the third time they’ve won the third quarter this season. It was the second time they’ve won both quarters in the same game. The Blazers typically get annihilated in those quarters. Even after winning the first quarter 28-17 and the third quarter 33-21 against Minnesota, Portland is still terrible in both quarters. How bad is it, you ask? I’m glad you want to know.
The Blazers get outscored by 18.0 points per 100 possessions in the first quarter, which is last in the league. In the third quarter, they’re getting outscored by 30.2 points per 100 possessions. Thirty point two! That’s absurd! It’s the second-worst third quarter net rating in the NBA. The Blazers are starting out games not ready to play. And then they’re coming out of halftime even worse. It makes me wonder if they’re just watching “Requiem for a Dream” or something at halftime.
What’s even crazier is the Utah Jazz are actually worse. They’re 29th in the first quarter with a minus-16.9 net rating and 30th with a minus-31.6 net rating in the third quarter. The Blazers are -48.2 per 100 possessions in those two quarters combined. The Jazz are -48.5 per 100 possessions. It’s possible Chauncey Billups and Will Hardy need to just start doing Al Pacino impressions the rest of the season.
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(Top photo: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images )
