POWERED BY

Steph blessed the hoops world with a performance for the ages last night—but first, we have something to announce…

Tomorrow, we do the uncommon. The Enjoy x BIGFACE Collection, crafted for those who live the game, drops in extremely limited quantities.

Be ready tomorrow at 12pm EST at enjoybball.com. ☕️ 🏀

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Luka Doncic, Alex Caruso, and Enjoyers Bryan, Jakub, Lucas, and Na'Jay! 🎉

Game Recaps

Steph’s 56 PTS power Warriors to 121-115 win in Orlando

There’s been a lot of talk about the Warriors’ future this season, with continued success from guys like Brandin Podziemski and Quinten Post signaling that there could be a youth movement coming to the Bay Area soon.

Not if Steph has anything to say about it!

Last night, after a dominant first half by the Magic during which it felt like Paolo Banchero (41 PTS) just couldn’t miss, Steph turned on the jets in front of Orlando’s home crowd and carried Golden State to a victory. Curry ended the night with 56 points after dropping 35 in the second half, sinking 12 triples and coming within one three of his single-game career high in three-pointers made. The Warriors are now winners of five straight—night night, Orlando!

Cade, Malik lead Pistons over Celtics 117-97 for eighth straight win

A year after posting the worst losing streak in NBA history and ending the season with a 14-68 record, the 33-26 Detroit Pistons are on an eight-game winning streak (their longest since 2008) with their latest victory coming against the reigning champs. What a sentence.

The Celtics played a decent game, with Jayson Tatum (27 PTS) leading the way and the team shooting over 42% from three. But Detroit followed a recipe that’s worked all throughout this year—let Cade Cunningham (21 PTS, 11 AST) get his double-double, let Jalen Duren (13 PTS, 11 REB) get his double-double, and unleash Malik Beasley (26 PTS, 6-11 3PT) on the perimeter. Game, set, match.

Elsewhere around the NBA…

• A late Minnesota surge in the fourth quarter made things interesting against LeBron (33 PTS, 17 REB) and Austin Reaves (23 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST), but L.A. ended up with a 111-102 win over the Wolves, who were led in scoring by Terrence Shannon Jr. (25 PTS) and were without Anthony Edwards (18 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST) down the stretch after a third quarter ejection.

• After a strong first half for Nikola Jokic (32 PTS, 14 REB, 10 AST) and the Nuggets, Giannis (28 PTS, 19 REB, 7 AST) brought the Bucks to a 121-112 win in Milwaukee—Brook Lopez (22 PTS) also contributed for the Deer.

• Zion Williamson (27 PTS, 11 AST, 10 REB) recorded his first career triple-double last night as the Pelicans did away with the Suns 124-116. Phoenix benefitted from a 36-point night from Devin Booker, but it just wasn’t enough against Z.

• The Kings shot the lights out in a 118-101 win in Utah on Wednesday, led by none other than Zach LaVine (22 PTS, 4-8 3PT) and Keegan Murray (26 PTS, 5-10 3PT). Walker Kessler (25 PTS, 14 REB) went a perfect 10-10 from the field for the Jazz.

• Lookin’ sharp(e)! In the Blazers’ 129-121 win over Washington, Shaedon Sharpe dropped a career-high 36 PTS off the bench to fend off Jordan Poole (24 PTS) and the Wizards.

• Philly’s Tyrese Maxey got to 30 PTS despite a cold shooting night (12-32 FG, 0-10 3PT), but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Knicks’ star power. Jalen Brunson (34 PTS, 7 AST) led New York to a 110-105 win over the Sixers.

• The Thunder rallied from down 18 in the first quarter to steal a 129-121 win over the Nets in Brooklyn, thanks in part to a balanced offensive attack that saw four OKC hoopers (SGA, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Aaron Wiggins) score 22+.

Top Five Friday

Detroit is on pace to win 46 games this season after only winning 14 last year, and that 32-win improvement would tie for the fifth-largest single-season win increase in NBA history.

Fifth-largest. Top Five Friday. Perfect! Let’s take a look at the rest of that top five. 🤩

1. 2007-08 Boston Celtics: +42 wins (24-58 → 66-16)

Two things happened in the 2007 offseason that transformed the Celtics from the Eastern Conference’s worst squad to the team that would go on to win the ‘08 Finals: Boston (1) traded for Ray Allen and a high second-round pick that turned into Glen Davis and (2) brought in Kevin Garnett just four years removed from his MVP campaign. With Paul Pierce already on the team, the Celtics had the best defense in the league in ‘07-’08 and went on to record an NBA-best 66-win record.

2. 1997-98 San Antonio Spurs: +36 wins (20-62 → 56-26)

With the Spurs as dominant as they were in the 90s, you might be surprised to learn that they had a 20-win season stuck in the middle of that stretch. David Robinson only played six games in ‘96-’97 due to injury, which put the Spurs in a great position to do well in the draft lottery. And they did better than “well”, jumping up to the first-overall pick and adding Tim Duncan to their squad. He and D-Rob powered the Spurs to the fifth-best record in the West the season after.

3. 1989-90 San Antonio Spurs: +35 wins (21-61 → 56-26)

Surprise! More San Antonio. Almost a decade before Tim Duncan joined the team, David Robinson himself had a huge impact on the Spurs’ success when he was drafted. Robinson’s unanimous ROTY campaign in ‘89-’90 saw him average over 24 points and 12 rebounds a game, leading the Spurs to the fifth-best record in the league.

4. 2004-05 Phoenix Suns: +33 wins (29-53 → 62-20)

The ‘03-’04 Suns had talent on their squad, with Stephon Marbury and Amar’e Stoudemire both averaging over 20 points per game and young guys like Joe Johnson and Leandro Barbosa also contributing. But after bringing in Steve Nash through free agency, the seven-seconds-or-less Suns powered their way to an NBA-best 62 wins, an MVP award for Nash, and a Coach of the Year win for Mike D’Antoni.

5. 1979-80 Boston Celtics: +32 wins (29-53 → 61-21)

The three reasons why the Celtics got so good in ‘79-’80? Larry Bird, Larry Bird, and Larry Bird. After drafting the future HOFer in 1978, Bird didn’t find his way onto the court until the season after, when he averaged over 21 points and 10 rebounds per night en route to a ROTY win and a fourth-place finish in MVP voting.

Three in the Key

Score big on a daily basis with Locked On newsletters

• Our NBA newsletter delivers only the latest news for all things basketball.

• Receive exclusive game day insights and fantasy tips to level up your game.

• Stay connected to team updates and analysis without the fluff - 100% free.

Join all the action

Signing Off

TGIF, Enjoyers! Thanks for sticking with us this week. As the weather gets warmer, make sure to spend some time outside this weekend—it’s good for you, we promise. See you Monday!

Austin Zeglis