Kevin Durant and Luka Donic will face each other 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 are set to start every 15 minutes, so they’re expected to conclude roughly 15 minutes apart as well. This ensures a steady stream of crunch time action on League Pass from around 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET. If you’d rather not switch between feeds on League Pass, NBA CrunchTime on the NBA App offers a similar experience to NFL RedZone. It features live look-ins on every game, focusing especially on the final moments so you don’t miss any key highlights. This service starts from 9 p.m. ET.
Every team. Every game. Completely FREE.
Tonight, all 30 NBA teams are set to play with 15 games being freely accessible on the new NBA App. The matchups will begin 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)
This week, the Lakers are set to play four games. To surpass Johnson within this week, LeBron would need to average slightly more than eight assists per game, which is higher than his current season average of 7.1 per game (ranking 13th in the league).
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 just two 3-pointers away from achieving a career total of 1,000.
3. The Temp Check: Hottest & coldest teams entering the week
In the previous edition of The Five, we spotlighted two standout players, Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell, and one unbeaten team, the Bucks, as they approached the third week of the season. As we enter Week 4, all three continue to be red-hot: Doncic is yet to score fewer than 30 points in any game this season, Mitchell remains an ideal match for Cleveland, and the Bucks are yet to suffer a defeat – even with Giannis Antetokounmpo observing their ninth consecutive victory to start the season from the bench while enjoying some popcorn.
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports reports that the Bucks continue to be the sole team in the league with an undefeated 9-0 record.
Heat Check: Cleveland, Milwaukee, Memphis and Dallas
This week, our focus is on teams that have both a heat and cold check. The Bucks still hold the heat check, but the Cavaliers are closely following them at the peak of the Eastern Conference standings. Currently, Cleveland is heading into Week 4 with an eight-game winning streak – their longest since their 13-game winning streak from November 11 to December 6, 2017.
In the Western conference, two teams, Memphis (7-3) and Dallas (5-3), are on a three-game winning streak as they head into Week 4. The Grizzlies are only half a game away from Utah and Phoenix in the race for the top spot in the West, while the Mavericks, now two games above .500, trail the Jazz and Suns by 1.5 games for the number one position.
Cold Check: Golden State
As the defending champions, the Warriors (3-7) are heading into Week 4 on the back of a five-game losing streak, ranking 13th in the Western Conference. The question in the Bay Area is whether it’s time to panic or stay patient. Naturally, a streak of five consecutive losses tends to stir some panic. However, the Warriors’ championship history should help curb much of this anxiety, particularly since 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 PM 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 face the Clippers, concluding two crucial 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, will witness their intra-city rivals play against each other on the same night. The Nets will host the Knicks at Barclays Center at 7:30 ET, while the Clippers will host the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena at 10 ET.
The two teams often viewed as the “little brother” in their respective intra-city rivalries – the Nets in New York City and the Clippers in Los Angeles – are both coming into Wednesday’s game on a strong winning streak against their city rivals.
The Knicks have lost the last seven games to the Nets, a losing streak that started on Jan. 13, 2021. From the start of the 2018-19 season, the Knicks have a record of 3-12 against the Nets.
The Clippers are heading into Wednesday’s game on an eight-game winning streak against the Lakers, which started on Dec. 22, 2020. Indeed, the Clippers have had the upper hand in this city rivalry over the last decade, with 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.
The reigning Kia MVP, Nikola Jokic, surpassed Wilt Chamberlain on the triple-double leaderboard, moving him into 6th place of all time.
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.
