Five things to know about the NBA today.
1. James Harden comes alive in fourth quarter
At one point in Monday’s blowout win against the Indiana Pacers, James Harden was doing snow angels on the floor.
He had a right to celebrate. Harden got hot, scored 21 of his season-high 35 points in the fourth quarter and the Clippers won their eighth straight game, 151-127 over the Pacers.
Harden just moved to 24th on the all-time scoring list, surpassing 25,000 career points. At one point in Monday’s game, Harden scored 18 straight points.
The win moved the Clippers into a tie for sixth in the Western Conference. They play the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
2. Grizzlies lose big in last game before Ja Morant returns
As the fourth quarter began Monday night in Oklahoma City, the Memphis Grizzlies trailed 94-66. The Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes.
It was the fifth straight loss for Memphis, but just as the team has hit its low point, it might have some reason for optimism.
Point guard Ja Morant is eligible to rejoin the team tonight at New Orleans. He was suspended for the first 25 games this season after being shown holding up a handgun during a livestream video in May.
Morant averaged 26.2 points, 8.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds in 61 games last season. The Grizzlies are in desperate need of the scoring and excitement Morant brings. Memphis won 50 games the past two seasons and is on pace to get half of that this year.
3. Pistons lose again with no help coming
The Detroit Pistons’ season continues to get worse. On Monday, the Pistons lost their 24th straight game, 130-124 to the Atlanta Hawks.
This was despite Cade Cunningham having a career-high 43 points with seven assists and three steals.
Trae Young scored 31 points with 15 assists for Atlanta and at least 30 points with at least 10 assists for the fourth consecutive game.
Detroit is just two away from tying the NBA record for most consecutive losses. Coach Monty Williams and Co. will try to keep that from happening against the Utah Jazz at home on Thursday.
4. Boston tries to keep winning streak going against Golden State
We’re just through a quarter of the NBA season and the Boston Celtics, winners of five straight games, find themselves in a must-keep-winning situation.
Even with that winning streak, even with a 20-5 record, the Celtics have the Milwaukee Bucks breathing down their necks in the Eastern Conference.
So going into tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors, the Celtics need to stay hot.
The Bucks have won four straight and both teams are 8-2 in their last 10.
The Warriors come in still without Draymond Green, who could miss up to three weeks for his suspension after taking a swing at Jusuf Nurkic.
5. Snakebit Suns need win to keep it steady
With the news that Bradley Beal will miss two weeks with an ankle injury that he suffered in the game he returns from another injury, the Phoenix Suns are hoping to keep themselves steady until they can finally get their Big 3 together.
Phoenix plays at Portland tonight and has a schedule of a few winnable games in the time leading up to Beal’s return. The Suns play Portland twice, the Houston Rockets and the Charlotte Hornets before Jan. 1.
Kevin Durant has continued to be one of the league’s best scorers, averaging 30.6 points and shooting right at 52% from the floor. Devin Booker is scoring 28.1 points per game and averaging 8.3 assists.