The Los Angeles Clippers remain the hottest team in the NBA with a blowout win against the Brooklyn Nets, the Oklahoma City Thunder continue slipping, this time with a loss in Detroit, and the New York Knicks were the next team to easily handle a bad looking Dallas Mavericks team, with both Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis putting in a strong performance.
Orlando Magic 69 Indiana Pacers 89: The Magic had a 50-point swing from beating the Thunder to their loss in Indianapolis, shooting just 32.1% from the field. The Pacers offense wasn’t a pretty sight either, but enough to get the win, led by 16 points from C.J. Miles off the bench.
Dallas Mavericks 77 New York Knicks 93: The Mavs, besides Harrison Barnes, continue to look very bad, falling to 1-5 on the road. The Knicks offense had some ugly moments, but 24 points from both Kristaps Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony, along with 16 by Justin Holiday off the bench, made the rest less important.
Oklahoma City Thunder 88 Detroit Pistons 104: The Thunder drop their fourth game in a row, getting very little from anyone besides Russell Westbrook, who finished with 33 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists. Andre Drummond didn’t play, but the Pistons didn’t seem to mind, getting 22 off of Tobias Harris (their best player so far this season) and 20 from Aron Baynes.
Boston Celtics 105 New Orleans Pelicans 106: The Celtics continue to struggle, especially when Isaiah Thomas isn’t on the floor. He finished with 37 points, but the team lost by 13 points during his resting moments, and got almost nothing from anyone besides their three starting guards. The Pelicans won their first home game of the season behind 25 points from Anthony Davis and 21 by Langston Galloway.
Philadelphia 76ers 88 Houston Rockets 115: Too many times this season the Sixers don’t just lose, they just look like a D-League team. James Harden scored 33 points to go with 9 assists, while Trevor Ariza (17) and Eric Gordon (16) helped out. Joel Embiid and Ersan Ilyasova each scored 13 points to lead the Sixers scoring in a sad performance from the worst team in the league.
Miami Heat 90 San Antonio Spurs 94: After trailing in double digits for most of the game, the struggling (2-7) Miami Heat made a nice push in the final minutes, but it wasn’t enough. Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points to lead the Spurs, who also got 18 off of LaMarcus Aldridge. Dion Waiters led Miami with 27 points.
Memphis Grizzlies 102 Utah Jazz 96: The Grizzlies win their first road game of the season against a team that’s very similar to them. Gordon Hayward was ice cold from the field, while Marc Gasol (22 points) and Vince Carter (20 points off the bench) led Memphis.
Brooklyn Nets 95 Los Angeles Clippers 127: No Brook Lopez or Jeremy Lin for the Nets? No chance against the hottest team in the NBA. The Clippers won their 7th in a row, once again giving their bench plenty of minutes to enjoy. Chris Paul scored 21 points with 9 assists and 5 steals, Blake Griffin finished with 20 points. Bojan Bogdanovic on pretty good shooting led the Nets with 18 points in 25 minutes.
Eastern Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 8 | 1 | .889 | – | 9 |
| 2 | Atlanta Hawks | 7 | 2 | .778 | 1.0 | 9 |
| 3 | Toronto Raptors | 7 | 2 | .778 | 1.0 | 9 |
| 4 | Charlotte Hornets | 6 | 3 | .667 | 2.0 | 9 |
| 5 | Chicago Bulls | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2.5 | 10 |
| 6 | Milwaukee Bucks | 5 | 4 | .556 | 3.0 | 9 |
| 7 | Detroit Pistons | 6 | 5 | .545 | 3.0 | 11 |
| 8 | Boston Celtics | 5 | 5 | .500 | 3.5 | 10 |
| 9 | Indiana Pacers | 5 | 6 | .455 | 4.0 | 11 |
| 10 | New York Knicks | 4 | 6 | .400 | 4.5 | 10 |
| 11 | Brooklyn Nets | 4 | 6 | .400 | 4.5 | 10 |
| 12 | Orlando Magic | 4 | 7 | .364 | 5.0 | 11 |
| 13 | Miami Heat | 2 | 7 | .222 | 6.0 | 9 |
| 14 | Washington Wizards | 2 | 7 | .222 | 6.0 | 9 |
| 15 | Philadelphia 76ers | 1 | 9 | .100 | 7.5 | 10 |
Western Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Clippers | 10 | 1 | .909 | – | 11 |
| 2 | Golden State Warriors | 8 | 2 | .800 | 1.5 | 10 |
| 3 | San Antonio Spurs | 8 | 3 | .727 | 2.0 | 11 |
| 4 | Portland Trail Blazers | 7 | 4 | .636 | 3.0 | 11 |
| 5 | Houston Rockets | 6 | 4 | .600 | 3.5 | 10 |
| 6 | Utah Jazz | 7 | 5 | .583 | 3.5 | 12 |
| 7 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 6 | 5 | .545 | 4.0 | 11 |
| 8 | Los Angeles Lakers | 6 | 5 | .545 | 4.0 | 11 |
| 9 | Memphis Grizzlies | 5 | 5 | .500 | 4.5 | 10 |
| 10 | Sacramento Kings | 4 | 7 | .364 | 6.0 | 11 |
| 11 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 3 | 6 | .333 | 6.0 | 9 |
| 12 | Denver Nuggets | 3 | 7 | .300 | 6.5 | 10 |
| 13 | Phoenix Suns | 3 | 8 | .273 | 7.0 | 11 |
| 14 | Dallas Mavericks | 2 | 7 | .222 | 7.0 | 9 |
| 15 | New Orleans Pelicans | 2 | 9 | .182 | 8.0 | 11 |