The Toronto Raptors will be without Scottie Barnes for at least three weeks after the All-Star forward suffered a right orbital fracture in Monday’s overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Barnes had 21 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and a career high-tying five steals Monday before exiting late in the fourth quarter after being hit in the eye by Nuggets star Nikola Jokic while fighting for a rebound.
Toronto signed the 2022 NBA Rookie of the Year to a five-year contract extension in July that could be worth up to $270million after he became a first-time All-Star last season.
Barnes set personal bests in 2023-24 with 19.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.47 assists per game. He also shot a career-high 34.1 percent from 3-point range.
Toronto is off to a 1-3 start after going 25-57 last season.
Nikola Jokic was in jubilant mood after inspiring the Denver Nuggets' second straight overtime win in the NBA this season.
Coming off the back of an overtime victory against the Toronto Raptors at the Scotiabank Arena, the Nuggets did it again to beat the Brooklyn Nets 144-139 on Tuesday.
Jokic's display saw him become the first player with multiple triple-doubles and multiple 40-point games within his first four matches of a season in NBA history.
The Serbian finished the game with 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists but, when speaking to local TV after the game, said that he was just happy to win.
"We were fighting," he said, when asked about how they ground out the victory.
"We're still not playing the way we're supposed to play, but we're finding a way to win games.
"I think that's the most important thing right now, just to find a way to win a game."
While Jokic made a triple-double, he was one of four players on the Nuggets roster who finished with 20 points or more and one of six who got into double figures.
One of those was Russell Westbrook, who made 22 points in 21 minutes on the court.
"Russ was really amazing, in the third or fourth quarter, I don't know, he kept us in the game.
"He was really good, pushing the pace and made a couple of shots, he was really good today.
"We shared the ball, we found the open guys and that's how we scored a lot."
Westbrook is a relatively new arrival at the Nuggets, having only joined the team in July from the Los Angeles Clippers.
But according to Jokic, he has been a welcome addition to the roster.
"He's always talking, he's always lifting the guys up, he's always pushing the guys. He's a really good teammate and it's good to have him on our team."
Nikola Jokić had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, becoming only the second player in NBA history to reach those totals in a game, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 144-139 in overtime on Tuesday night.
Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon each scored 24 points for the Nuggets, while Russell Westbrook added 22.
Dennis Schröder scored 28 points for Brooklyn, which led by 17 in the second quarter. Cam Thomas scored 26, Cam Johnson had 20 and Nic Claxton added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Thomas gave the Nets a 127-125 lead with the first basket of overtime, but the Nuggets scored the next eight points and led the rest of the way.
Jokic has two triple-doubles in the Nuggets’ first four games and has scored at least 40 twice, with neither of those outbursts occurring within the triple-doubles.
Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, who did it twice, is the only other player to have at least 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists in a game.
The Nets led by one when Dorian Finney-Smith went to the foul line with 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. He only made one of two, allowing Jokic’s inside bucket to tie the score with 8.8 seconds remaining. Finney-Smith then missed an open 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Irving, Doncic lift Mavericks over Wolves
Kyrie Irving scored 16 of his 35 points in the third quarter, Luka Dončić had a late surge to finish with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks held off the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-114 in the first rematch of last season's Western Conference finals.
Anthony Edwards had 24 of his 37 points in the first quarter to set a Target Center record, going 7 for 13 from 3-point range.
Doncic put his stamp on the game with a 33-footer with 1:04 left to stretch the lead to eight points, barking at fans as he skipped back to the bench after a timeout. That was his only make in eight tries from behind the arc.
P.J. Washington added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who played on back-to-back nights after beating Utah 110-102 at home on Monday.
Julius Randle had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who had 20 turnovers that Dallas turned into 25 points.
Irving went 6 for 8 from 3-point range, including one with 2:31 left and Randle tightly guarding him at the top of the key after the Timberwolves pulled within 109-107.
Short-handed Warriors rally past Pelicans
Buddy Hield scored a season-best 28 points, Brandin Podziemski had 19 points and fuelled a furious second-half comeback, and the Golden State Warriors rallied from 17 down to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-106.
Zion Williamson had a season-high 31 points on 12-for-20 shooting and eight rebounds for New Orleans. Brandon Ingram scored 30 points.
Jonathan Kuminga, who started the initial three games for Golden State but was averaging 8.0 points on 33.3% shooting, came off the bench to score 17. Reserve Lindy Waters III had 21 points and nine rebounds in his best game yet for Golden State.
The short-handed Warriors needed everything from everybody with starters Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins sidelined.
Curry missed the game with a sprained left ankle he injured in the second half of Sunday's 112-104 loss to the Clippers. He is set to be re-evaluated on Friday.
Wiggins and De’Anthony Melton each sat out with lower back strains.
Hield returned to the starting lineup and overcame a slow start to make seven 3-pointers after a disappointing home debut Sunday in which he missed 8 of 9 3s and scored eight points.
Michael Malone praised the Denver Nuggets' character as they came from behind to defeat the Toronto Raptors for their first victory of the NBA season.
The Nuggets appeared set to begin the campaign with three successive losses, as they trailed by 15 points in the third quarter at Scotiabank Arena.
However, they battled back with Jamal Murray's last-gasp layup off a feed from Nikola Jokic, who registered 40 points and 10 rebounds, forcing overtime at 114-114, before going on to record a 127-125 win.
And Malone acknowledged the stakes were high following his side's difficult start to the season.
"It feels great to get a win after the first two [losses] at home," he told reporters during his post-match press conference.
"What I'm most proud about is the way we finished regulation [time], a 13-3 run. It shows the guys just never quit, they kept on fighting, they kept on competing, they kept on believing in themselves and their team-mates.
"In overtime, we got off to a great start; I thought the defence was really good. This felt like a playoff game in game three of the season."
On the game-tying play that forced overtime, he added: "We know that we have the best post-up player in the world [in Jokic]. Let's play through him; let him make the right read.
"And obviously him and Jamal kind of playing off of each other. Jamal makes a hell of a finish with the reverse layup. Everything worked out in our favour."
Paolo Banchero claimed he was "in the zone" as he turned in a record-breaking performance for the Orlando Magic.
Banchero finished with a career-high 50 points on Monday as the Magic beat the Indiana Pacers 119-115.
In the process, he matched the fifth-highest scoring effort in a single game in the Magic's history.
Indeed, at 21 years and 351 days old, Banchero is the youngest player to record a 50-point game for Orlando, and the second-youngest player with 50 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in an NBA game. Only LeBron James (20 years, 80 days) in 2005 against the Toronto Raptors did so at a younger age.
And with 37 of those points coming in the first two quarters, Banchero also matched the team record for points in a half.
"Man, I'm tired; I'm tired as hell," said Banchero, who contributed nine assists and 13 rebounds, too. "But it was a hell of a game.
"It was just being in the zone.
"[It] felt like I was in an open gym, back at home, just working on my game. Every shot felt like it was going in and it's a good feeling when you've got a day like that.
"Not every game is going to be like that, but I'm glad today was."
Such was Banchero's dominance, his first-half tally matched the combined efforts of all the Pacers' starters across the opening two quarters.
"That first half was a magical first half, for sure," he said.
Tracy McGrady was the last Magic player to have a 50-point game, when he recorded a franchise-leading 62 points against the Washington Wizards in March 2004.
Devin Booker scored nine of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Phoenix Suns dealt the Los Angeles Lakers their first loss of the season with Monday's 109-105 comeback win.
Kevin Durant added 30 points, 18 of which came in the second half, to help Phoenix move to 3-1 despite trailing 83-76 after three quarters.
The Lakers had their three-game winning streak to start the season halted despite Anthony Davis' 29 points and 15 rebounds. Austin Reaves went 5 of 9 from 3-point range and scored 23 points for Los Angeles, while Rui Hachimura compiled 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
LeBron James had an off shooting night, however, as the Lakers' superstar went 3 of 14 from the field while finishing with 11 points and eight assists.
Phoenix opened the fourth quarter on a 10-1 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from reserves Ryan Dunn and Royce O'Neale, to take an 86-84 lead with nine minutes to go.
The lead traded hands several times down the stretch until Durant knocked down back-to-back jumpers to put the Suns up 105-101 with two minutes left.
Jokic's 40 points helps secure Nuggets' first win
Nikola Jokić put up 40 points and 10 rebounds as the Denver Nuggets got their first victory of 2024-25, a hard-earned 127-125 overtime decision over the Toronto Raptors.
The Nuggets appeared on the way towards an 0-3 start after trailing by 15 points in the third quarter, but battled back to force overtime on native Canadian Jamal Murray's layup off a Jokic feed that just beat the final buzzer to tie the game at 114-114.
Jokic then scored seven points during a 10-2 run to start the extra period as Denver built a 124-116 lead with under three minutes left.
Toronto responded with a 9-3 surge to get within 127-125 with time winding down, and had a chance to win at the end. RJ Barrett misfired on a late 3-point attempt, and the Raptors couldn't get two tip-in tries to go in as time expired.
Murray finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Aaron Gordon had 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for Denver.
Scottie Barnes amassed 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists for Toronto before leaving the game in the final minute of regulation after being elbowed in the eye by Jokic.
Barrett scored 20 points in his season debut. The Toronto native missed the season's first three games with a sprained right shoulder.
Pritchard's eight 3-pointers help Celtics get to 4-0
Payton Pritchard went 8 of 12 from 3-point range in a 28-point performance off the bench that helped the Boston Celtics move to 4-0 with a 119-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Pritchard was 10 of 14 from the field while ending one shy of a career-high for 3-pointers in a game. The defending NBA champions also received 30 points from Jaylen Brown and 21 from Jrue Holiday while pulling away in the second half.
Milwaukee lost its third straight game since a season-opening win at Philadelphia despite Damian Lillard's 33 points and seven assists and a 30-point, 10-rebound, six-assist effort out of Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks were coming off a 115-102 road loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
The Bucks owned an 80-79 edge late in the third quarter before Boston closed out the period on a 11-2 surge, capped by a Pritchard trey at the buzzer, to enter the fourth up 90-82.
Boston then shot 62.5 per cent from the field in the fourth quarter to end any Milwaukee comeback hopes, with Brown recording nine points during the period and Holiday adding eight.
Jordi Fernandez labelled his first NBA triumph as "special" after watching his Brooklyn Nets side upset Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks 115-102 on Sunday.
Fernandez's team outworked the Bucks for four quarters, forcing 18 turnovers and grabbing 12 offensive rebounds while attempting 17 more field goals than their opponents.
Cam Thomas and Dennis Schroder starred in the victory, scoring 61 points between them, handing the rookie head coach a maiden win at the third attempt.
Fernandez is the first Spanish-born head coach in NBA history, with the result marking the end of a 15-year journey through the ranks.
He started with the Canton Charge in the G League, then becoming an assistant for both the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings before his move to the Nets in April.
"It's very special to come all the way from starting from the bottom in the NBA, and working really hard and move up, and move up, and some good moments, some tough moments, different teams, friends, memories," Fernandez said.
"And it's really cool now you look and you have to enjoy this moment because there's only one time that you're a head coach and win a game.
"On the other end, I also feel like, what's the next step? And we've got to move on to the next thing and I want to be in this league, I want to be with this club for a long time."
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