Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving left his side's 129-125 overtime loss against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday with an appreciation for his opposition and MVP favourite Luka Doncic.
Doncic became only the 10th player in the history of the NBA to record his third career 40-point triple-double, finishing with 41 points (14-of-28 shooting) in his 41 minutes while adding 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
The Nets were able to force overtime after Kevin Durant tied the game at 112-112 when he dunked with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation, and instead of allowing Doncic to attempt the game-winner, they forced it out of his hands resulting in a missed Reggie Bullock three-pointer.
In the overtime period, Doncic was not fazed by the Nets' desperation to restrict his shot attempts, scoring two field goals and providing the assists for all four of the other Mavericks baskets in the extra session.
All of the stars shone brightly in the contest, as Durant had 37 points on 12-of-21 shooting, while Irving finished with 39 points on 14-of-31 shooting, and in his post-game press conference Irving compared the experience to that of a pick-up game at the park.
"It's like being at the park playing five-on-five," he said. "Luka brings his guys, me and [Durant] bring our guys, and you know where most of the offense is going through.
"On the defensive end you just want to take the challenge – a few times I got switched onto Luka and I felt I did a good job… there's only so much you can do, but you just try to make it tough.
"It feels good when you can go back-and-forth, but obviously we just want to come out with the win.
"He's a great player, it's a pleasure always to go against him."
Irving was not finished there, diving into what makes Doncic and the Mavericks such a unique puzzle to solve, saying they have "traits of a great team".
"The first thing we need to discuss is how long he's been playing professional basketball," he said. "I think it's been since he was 14 or 15 years old.
"He's used to seeing so many defenses, so many different roles he has played, and now that he's in the NBA you just see how he plays at an incredible pace.
"He makes great decisions, most of the offense goes through him, he takes his time a lot, and gets to the free throw line. He maximises all of the rules of the game of basketball, and uses them to his advantage.
"All of the rest of the guys around him play their roles really well – they're a good team, they're only getting better, and I'm glad we got to see a team like this.
"Down the line, the continuity they have and the trust, because they've been through certain battles – you can see it. They don't panic. That's just good to see, traits of a great team."
Nets coach Steve Nash added to the chorus of praise for the 23-year-old Slovenian, saying it does not matter how predictable the Mavericks' offense is going to be if it is Doncic running it.
"He makes others better," he said. "He makes his teammates better, he makes plays for others.
"14 assists, not to mention all the other times he probably gets the 'hockey assist'. He puts an incredible amount of pressure on.
"All they do is [give it to] him over-and-over again in pick-and-roll, get a matchup and make a play. That's a lot of responsibility for him, and he handles it almost every night."
With his on-court interview immediately after the win, Doncic called it "almost impossible" to slow down Irving and Durant, and when asked how he feels about his gaudy stat-line, he said "as long as we win, I'm good".
The result sees the Nets fall to 1-4, while the Mavericks are now 2-2.
The injury to Cole Anthony announced by the Orlando Magic on Thursday means they may be running out of guards soon.
Already without Markelle Fultz and Jalen Suggs, the Magic will now be missing third-year point guard Anthony, who will be sidelined indefinitely after an MRI revealed a right internal oblique injury.
Anthony was injured in Wednesday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers after he had nine points, five rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes.
The Magic said that Anthony’s return to play will depend on how he responds to rehabilitation and treatment. In four games this season, he is averaging 15.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
Fultz has yet to play this season due to a toe fracture and Suggs has missed the past three games with a right ankle sprain.
R.J. Hampton could see an increase in minutes with the Magic thin in the backcourt, while the only other healthy guards on Orlando’s roster are veteran Terrence Ross and rookie Kevon Harris.
Delon Wright is set to be out indefinitely with a hamstring strain, the Washington Wizards have confirmed.
The guard suffered the injury during the final quarter of Tuesday's victory against the Detroit Pistons, having played 16 minutes and put up five points.
The Wizards confirmed Wright would undergo reassessment on the injury in mid-November, though reports from ESPN suggested he could be out for at least six to eight weeks.
"Delon Wright will be out indefinitely with a grade two strain of his right hamstring," the Wizards said in a statement.
"Wright suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game vs. Detroit. He will be re-evaluated in approximately three weeks."
The 30-year-old arrived as a free agent in the off-season, having spent last campaign with the Atlanta Hawks.
LeBron James has vowed to take a more aggressive approach after the Los Angeles Lakers slumped to 0-4 with a defeat to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.
Denver kept the Lakers waiting for their first win of the season with a 110-99 victory at Ball Arena, improving to 3-2.
Los Angeles are languishing at the bottom of the Western Conference but will get another chance to get up and running when they face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
Lakers superstar James was 8-for-21 shooting, finishing with 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
The four-time NBA champion and MVP is not concerned by posting such low numbers by his high standards.
"I wasn't aggressive enough in a lot of my turnovers," James said. "I was coming off a lot of screens, looking to pass, get guys involved, and I wasn't aggressive enough."
He added: "That's an easy fix for me. I'll be much better on Friday with that. I've done it over and over the course of my career. That's an easy fix. I'm not worried about that."
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is confident the Los Angeles Lakers will turn the corner.
"We're four games in, it sucks to lose, but having 78 games left, there's plenty of time for us to right the ship, and it starts now," Ham said. "It starts yesterday."
Anthony Davis top scored for the Lakers with 22 points in a game that Russell Westbrook missed due to left-hamstring soreness.
James said of Westbrook's absence: "Russ, definitely dealing with a hamstring. I played with [Dwyane] Wade. And I don't know how, but you just have to be cool with all that.
"You can't force it until that thing is ready to go. You've got to be very conscious of that."
All-Star Damian Lillard's hot start to the new season has been curtailed after exiting the Portland Trail Blazers' 119-98 loss to the Miami Heat with a right calf strain on Wednesday.
Lillard, who had averaged 37.66 points across his past three games heading into Wednesday's game, limped out with approximately five minutes left in the third quarter.
The Blazers point guard appeared to injure his calf while shooting a three-pointer to cut the margin to 77-70, before limping out after the next offensive play.
Portland confirmed that Lillard had suffered a right calf strain, but the 32-year-old downplayed the severity of the issue after the game.
"It wasn't nothing that I was overly concerned with," Lillard told reporters. "I just know that it wouldn't make sense to try and push through it in the fifth game of the season.
"Honestly if this was a playoff game, I would have played. It would have been tight and uncomfortable, but I would have played. If that gives you any indication of how concerned I am now or would have been."
With Lillard forced out, the Blazers suffered their first loss of the season. Lillard finished the game with 22 points from 26 minutes.
Lillard is averaging 33.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 0.8 steals per game through five games this season.
Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash claimed Giannis Antetokounmpo's forearm struck Patty Mills' throat leading to his furious reaction and first-ever ejection from Wednesday's 110-89 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Nash was thrown out of the game with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter with the Nets up 70-66 after a non-call from the officials when Antetokounmpo drove forward on Mills who was floored.
The Nets coach was incensed by the non-call and yelled at the officials leading to a technical foul from Josh Tiven. That only further irritated Nash who had to be restrained by assistant coaches and players as he argued with the officials, leading to his ejection.
"I was just standing up for our guys," Nash told reporters. "I thought Patty took a forearm in the throat from Giannis right in front of the ref.
"I didn’t think that was fair. I don’t think I was overly demonstrative. I was upset that I got a technical."
When asked why Nash got given the technical, he added: "There wasn’t an explanation, it's a lot going on out there. What happened", happened. I said my piece on the court. That's really all there is."
Kevin Durant, who scored 33 points with six rebounds and two blocks, offered his support to Nash.
"You've got to handle yourself differently as a coach but sometimes you just want to go out there and fight for your guys and that’s what I thought he did tonight," Durant told reporters.
Meanwhile, Ben Simmons struggled again with four points on two-of-seven field shooting with none-of-two from the free-throw line, along with four personal fouls. Simmons has nine field goals and 18 personal fouls in four games this season.
Nets teammate Kyrie Irving was overheard at one point in the game demanding Simmons take a shot. Irving would not be drawn into discussing his under-fire teammate's form.
"If we're going to come in and be honest as a team, I'm not going to come in and be critical of what Ben's done right or done wrong every single night," Irving said. "He's a basketball player, he's a professional, he has the skills to be a great professional, he's done it in the past and he hasn't played in two years.
"You guys keep coming here and asking me like 'what about Ben, what about Ben?' he hasn’t played in two years, give him a f***** chance, stay on him. We're here just to give him positive affirmation while he's out there."
The result moved the Nets to 1-3, while the Bucks are 3-0, with Antetokounmpo in dominant form with 43 points, backing up 44 against the Houston Rockets on Saturday for the most productive two-game span in his 10-year NBA career. The Greek forward scored 34 of his 43 points in the second half.
Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said: "That's vintage Giannis. That's probably about the best. He's had a lot of great performances. That second half he did everything, he was phenomenal… It's hard to put the right words on how good he was in the second half."
Giannis Antetokounmpo went up a gear in the second half while Steve Nash was ejected for the first time as a head coach as the Milwaukee Bucks downed the Brooklyn Nets 110-99 on Wednesday.
Antetokounmpo scored 34 of his 43 points in the second half – 28 of those coming in the paint - as the Bucks put the foot down with a 67-44 after half-time at Fiserv Forum.
The Greek forward backed up his 44 points against the Houston Rockets on Saturday, meaning his 87 points in their past two games is the most across a two-game span in his 10-year NBA career.
The Nets were leading 70-66 in the third quarter when Nash was ejected after being incensed by a non-call from the officials after Antetokounmpo bumped into Patty Mills.
Kevin Durant scored 33 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the field with six rebounds and five turnovers, while Kyrie Irving added 27 points for the Nets who led by as much as 12 points.
Ben Simmons battled again with four points on two-of-seven field shooting with none-of-two from the stripe, along with four personal fouls. Simmons has nine field goals and 18 personal fouls in four games this season.
The Bucks shot at 56 per cent from the field in the second half, with Antetokounmpo supported well by Bobby Portis with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
LeBron's Lakers' winless start drags on
LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers slumped to an 0-4 start after Nikola Jokic put in a dominant display to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 110-99 victory.
Jokic scored 31 points with 13 rebounds and nine assists for the Nugs, who were far better defensively. The Serbian led both teams outright in points, rebounds and assists for the 85th time in his career, which is the most by a center in NBA history.
James, who fell to an 0-4 start for the second time of his career and first since his 2003-04 rookie season, managed 19 points with seven rebounds and nine assists, while Anthony Davis had 22 points with 14 rebounds. Russell Westbrook was out injured.
The Lakers' NBA-worst three-point struggles continued, albeit with a slightly improved eight-of-30 (27 per cent) from beyond the arc.
Sixers' struggles continue as Trent Jr sparkles
The Philadelphia 76ers' early season struggles continued too, going down 119-109 to the Toronto Raptors, leaving them with a 1-4 record.
The Sixers' record is their fifth 1-4 or worse start through five games. Philadelphia were 1-4 in 2017-18 yet made the playoffs, but missed out on the other three occasions when they were 0-3.
Joel Embiid scored 31 points with five rebounds and Tyrese Maxey impressed with 31 points including four three-pointers. Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr bettered him with five triples, scoring 27 points, while Pascal Siakam added 20 points and 13 assists.
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