Kevin Durant and Luka Donic will compete in one of the 15 games scheduled for Monday night.
Every Monday we will tell you what you need to know heading into a new week of NBA action.
1. Manic Monday and Voting Tuesday
There is no need to check the schedule, your favorite NBA team is playing on Monday night as all 30 teams will be in action on a rare 15-game night around the league.
The decision to have every team play on Monday is a result of the NBA’s decision to hold no games on Tuesday, Nov. 8, which is Election Day in the United States. Rather than following the action on the court, NBA teams will share election information with fans and encourage them to participate in the election.
Not only will Monday be unique with all 30 teams in action, the schedule will roll out a bit differently as a new game will tip off every 15 minutes beginning at 7 p.m. ET with the Hornets hosting the Wizards and concluding with the Clippers hosting the Cavaliers (10:30 ET, NBA TV).
Games will begin every 15 minutes, which also means they will likely conclude every 15 minutes apart. Therefore, from around 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET, there will be continuous crunch time action to view on League Pass. If you don’t want to bother with swapping feeds on League Pass, consider NBA CrunchTime on the NBA App. Similar to NFL RedZone, it offers live look-ins on every game, particularly during the final minutes to ensure that you don’t miss any key moments. This service starts at 9 p.m. ET.
Every single team. Every single game. Completely FREE.
Tonight, all 30 NBA teams will be playing in 15 games that are free to watch on the new NBA App, with matchups starting 15 minutes apart!
Download the NBA App to watch: https://t.co/OVezzsML8x… pic.twitter.com/saryDqRuou
— NBA (@NBA) November 7, 2022
To learn more about Monday’s slate of games, click here to check out a breakdown of all the top storylines.
2. Milestone Watch: Can LeBron ‘pass’ Magic?
In addition to his pursuit of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record (1,107 points to go), LeBron James is chasing another Lakers legend in assists. Entering Week 4, LeBron needs 33 assists to pass Magic Johnson (10,141) for sixth place on the all-time assists leaderboard.
Just last week, LeBron passed Karl Malone for the most games with 20 or more points in league history with No. 1,135 of his career. After the accomplishment, LeBron shared a leaderboard graphic with the caption “Not bad for a pass first guy!” This upcoming assist milestone is more fitting to his basketball instincts, but the truth is there’s never been a better combination of scorer and playmaker than James.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by (@kingjames)
To surpass Johnson this week, LeBron, currently averaging 7.1 assists per game (13th in the league), would need to average slightly above eight assists in the four games the Lakers have this week.
Other milestones to watch for this week
- Kyle Lowry requires eight more 3-pointers to be the 12th player to achieve 2,000.
- Devin Booker is two 3-pointers away from achieving 1,000 in his career.
3. The Temp Check: Hottest & coldest teams entering the week
In the previous edition of The Five, we spotlighted two exceptional players, Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell, and a flawless team, the undefeated Bucks, as they stepped into the third week of the season. As we move into Week 4, all three continue to blaze. Luka hasn’t scored less than 30 points in any game this season, Mitchell remains the ideal addition to Cleveland, and the Bucks maintain their winning streak, remaining unbeaten even as Giannis Antetokounmpo observed their ninth consecutive victory from the bench, enjoying his popcorn.
With a 9-0 record, the Bucks are still the only team in the league that hasn’t been defeated. Photo by Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports.
Heat Check: Cleveland, Milwaukee, Memphis and Dallas
This week, we’re focusing on teams that are both hot and cold. The Bucks still hold the heat check, but the Cavaliers are closely trailing them at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Coming into the fourth week, Cleveland is on an eight-game winning spree – their longest since their 13 consecutive wins from November 11 to December 6, 2017.
In the Western conference, both Memphis (7-3) and Dallas (5-3) are currently on three-game winning streaks as they approach Week 4. The Grizzlies are barely half a game away from Utah and Phoenix, who are holding the No. 1 spot in the West. Meanwhile, Dallas has managed to get two games above .500 and is 1 1/2 games behind the Jazz and Suns for the top spot.
Cold Check: Golden State
As the Warriors (3-7), the defending champions, head into the fourth week with a five-game losing streak and a 13th place in the Western Conference, the question is whether there should be panic or patience in the Bay Area. Certainly, any team experiencing a five-game losing streak would feel some level of panic. However, the championship pedigree of the Warriors should mitigate some of that panic, especially considering it’s still early in the season.
4. League Pass games to watch: Monday’s free preview
If you’re not yet subscribed to League Pass, Monday night may be the best free trial you ever see as all 15 games on Election Day eve will be streamed for free on the new NBA App. Here’s the full list (all times Eastern):
- 7 p.m.: Wizards @ Hornets (League Pass)
- 7:15 p.m.: Rockets @ Magic (League Pass)
- 7:30 p.m.: Thunder @ Pistons (League Pass)
- 7:45 p.m.: Pelicans @ Pacers (League Pass)
- 8 p.m.: Suns @ 76ers (NBA TV)
- 8:15 p.m.: Bucks @ Hawks (League Pass)
- Trail Blazers vs Heat at 8:30 p.m. on League Pass.
- 8:45 p.m.: Raptors @ Bulls (League Pass)
- 9 p.m.: Celtics @ Grizzlies (League Pass)
- 9:15 p.m.: Knicks @ Timberwolves (League Pass)
- 9:30 p.m.: Nuggets @ Spurs (League Pass)
- 9:45 p.m.: Nets @ Mavericks (League Pass)
- 10 p.m.: Kings @ Warriors (League Pass)
- 10:15 p.m.: Lakers @ Jazz (League Pass)
- 10:30 p.m.: Cavaliers @ Clippers (NBA TV)
The slate begins with No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero and the Magic taking on 2021 No. 2 overall pick Jabari Smith Jr. and the Rockets. The Suns bring the best record in the Western Conference to Philadelphia to take on last year’s scoring champ, Joel Embiid. The Sixers will be without James Harden and Embiid’s status for the game remains questionable as he recovers from illness.
Later on, how about Ja Morant and the Grizzlies putting their three-game win streak to the test at home vs. the defending Eastern Conference-champion Celtics? And, what about the top scorer in the league (Luka Doncic, 36.0 ppg) taking on the third-ranked scorer in the league (Kevin Durant, 31.5 ppg) as the Mavericks host the Nets?
Cap off this epic night with a heat check squad (the Cavs) and the improving LA Clippers squaring off at Staples Center as Cleveland seeks its ninth straight win.
5. National TV spotlight: Must-see matchups
On Wednesday night, LeBron James and the Lakers will face off against the Clippers, concluding two significant intra-city clashes.
Wednesday: Knicks vs. Nets (7:30 ET, ESPN) & Lakers vs. Clippers (10 ET, ESPN)
New York and Los Angeles, the only two NBA cities with two teams each, will see their intra-city rivalries play out on the same night. The Nets will be hosting the Knicks at 7:30 ET at the Barclays Center in New York, while the Clippers will host the Lakers at 10 ET at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
In these intra-city rivalries, the two teams often viewed as the “little brother” – the Nets in New York City and the Clippers in Los Angeles – both come into Wednesday’s game with impressive winning streaks against their city rivals.
The Nets have emerged victorious in their last seven encounters with the Knicks, a winning streak that started on Jan. 13, 2021. From the onset of the 2018-19 season, the Nets have a record of 12-3 against the Knicks.
The Clippers head into Wednesday’s game with an eight-game winning streak against the Lakers, a streak that started on Dec. 22, 2020. The Clippers have had the upper hand in this city rivalry for the past ten years, boasting a record of 33-7 in their last 40 games against the Lakers since the start of the 2012-13 season.
Friday: Denver at Boston, 7 ET (NBA TV)
The Celtics and Nuggets each enter Week 4 at 6-3, each having won their past two games to rank third and fifth in their respective conference. Denver is led by the reigning back-to-back Kia MVP in Nikola Jokic, who just passed Wilt Chamberlain for the most triple-doubles by a center (79) and is nearly averaging one through nine games (20.3 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 9.2 apg). Additionally, Denver’s Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are continuing to round into form following extended absences due to injury. Boston has won five straight games against Denver and is one of only two teams (along with Brooklyn) to have two players — Jayson Tatum (30.3 ppg) and Jaylen Brown (25.3 ppg) — averaging at least 25 points per game so far this season.
Current Kia MVP Nikola Jokic surpassed Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time triple-double leaderboard, putting him in 6th place.
Friday: Minnesota at Memphis, 9:30 ET (ESPN)
This matchup pits two of the NBA’s most exciting and explosive players against each other: Memphis’ Ja Morant and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards. Much was made of Edwards’ lack of dunks through the first nine games of the season, but he stopped that streak on Saturday with a pair of throwdowns against the Rockets. Meanwhile, there’s been no shortage of highlight plays from Morant early in the season as he’s led the Grizzlies to a 7-3 start.
