Four weeks into the 2024-25 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers still haven’t lost a basketball game. They refuse to lose, and it’s set them up for an epic NBA Cup showdown Tuesday night. De’Aaron Fox is on a historic scoring run, and the NBA Cup already has some teams on the verge of missing out on a Las Vegas trip next month. There’s a lot to dive into, especially with the NBA Stock Report. Let’s get to it.
Here’s your latest NBA Rewind!
Stock Report extended
Are the Cavaliers so good that they couldn’t possibly still trend upward on the NBA Stock Report? Absolutely not! They’re still proving themselves and showing people they’re for real. Whether we decide to buy in or not, the Cavs are still rolling and still shooting up the NBA Stock Market. As we head into Week 4 of the Stock Report, we’ve got the teams and players trending in the right and wrong directions.
📈 Cleveland Cavaliers (15-0): Only three other teams in NBA history (the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, 1993-94 Houston Rockets, 1948-49 Washington Capitols) have started 15-0 to begin a season. All three of those teams made the finals, and the Rockets won the championship. The Cavs are still waiting for universal acceptance, but their offense and defense have been elite. They are 0.1 points per 100 possessions behind last season’s Boston Celtics for the most efficient offense in NBA history. Their 41.9 percent shooting from 3-point range would be the best season for a team in NBA history, outside of the 1996-997 Charlotte Hornets, who made 42.8 percent of their 3-pointers with the line moved in to 22 feet all around. The 2015-16 Warriors hold the record at 41.6 percent for an entire season with the adult 3-point line. Only two other teams (2010 Phoenix Suns and 2021 LA Clippers) have made at least 41 percent of their 3-pointers in an entire season (minimum 500 attempts).
📉 Phoenix Suns (9-5): Things haven’t been the best since Kevin Durant went down with his calf strain injury. KD has missed the last five games, and the Suns are 1-4 in them. Bradley Beal has missed the last three games (also with a calf), and they’re 0-3 in those games. The Suns were tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Warriors at 9-2 for the best record in the West. Since then, the KD injury has really dropped them back down to earth. Devin Booker just dropped 44 in Minneapolis to try to snap them out of it, but that was ruined by Julius Randle’s game-winner on Sunday.
JULIUS RANDLE ENDS IT 🚨🚨
ICE. COLD. 🥶#TissotBuzzerBeater #YourTimeDefinesYourGreatness pic.twitter.com/bn1S9g4ILD
— NBA (@NBA) November 17, 2024
Thankfully for the Suns, they have a six-game homestand starting on Monday. However, those six games include Orlando, New York, the Lakers, Brooklyn, Golden State and San Antonio. Get well soon, KD!
📈 Houston Rockets (10-4): Five straight wins for the Rockets by a grand total of 82 points, including a 143-107 thumping of the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. That’s a good streak and some good dominance over the Pistons (just by two points), Wizards, Clippers (twice) and the Bulls. Houston is fifth in net rating on the season, has a top-11 offense and sits top three in defense. You can’t even point to just one guy carrying the Rockets during this time. They are getting contributions from everybody, as the defense clamps down on its competition each night. Ime Udoka has them rolling in Year 2.
📉 Philadelphia 76ers (2-10): Well … Joel Embiid has been back for two of the last three games, and the results are still the same. You can’t just blame Embiid. He’s still working his way into game shape, and the Sixers are still missing Tyrese Maxey. Also, the 76ers sat Embiid and Paul George in the second of those three games. Outside of free-throw shooting, Embiid is off to a slow start. Embiid has scored 33 points on 7-of-26 shooting from the field and a 1-of-10 mark from 3-point range. However, he is 18-of-18 on free throws. They’ve had so many guys (and stars) out of the lineup. You can explain slow starts with plenty of examples, and they do have the bright spot of rookie Jared McCain’s play as of late. However, they shouldn’t be tied with the Washington Wizards.
📈 Orlando Magic (8-6): Shortly after Paolo Banchero went down with his oblique injury, the Magic lost four straight games. Since then? They’ve found their groove. The Magic are third in the East with a five-game winning streak. They haven’t allowed more than 94 points in these five games, and three of those opponents haven’t even cracked 90 points. They’ve won by a grand total of 95 points in those five games. Franz Wagner is playing like the guy they paid him to be, averaging 28.4 points per game in this stretch. I don’t know if they can keep this up, but Paolo Banchero’s return isn’t so desperately needed right now.
📉 Luka Dončić: The Dallas Mavericks star is off to a really slow start this season. It’s wild to say someone averaging 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists is off to a really slow start. That’s how absurdly high Dončić has set the bar for himself. While he hasn’t been bad, he hasn’t been consistently great either. The Mavericks are off to a 7-7 start, and they just won a game in OKC without Dončić playing. And they won a clutch game against OKC at that, which brought them up to 2-6 in clutch games this season. Dončić’s defense has been brutal, and he’s only making 42.5 percent of his shots and 32.1 percent of his 3-pointers. He’ll get it going, but having a start like this could keep him from winning MVP by season’s end.
📈 Detroit Pistons (7-8): We focused so much on their historic ineptitude last season that it’s only fair to celebrate the solid start we see from them so far. They already have seven wins and could be .500 if they beat Chicago at home tonight. Detroit didn’t win its seventh game until Feb. 7 last season. A record-setting 28-game losing streak will often delay something like that. The Pistons haven’t been .500 or better 16 games into the season since November 2018, when they started 13-7. J.B. Bickerstaff has this mostly young team playing defense, just like he had in Cleveland. They still can’t score consistently, but the Pistons are sixth in defensive rating.
Big Story: De’Aaron Fox just made history
The Sacramento Kings actually needed more from De’Aaron Fox in their back-to-back games Friday and Saturday night. They hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz. And Fox scored only 109 points in those two games. He had 60 in a 130-126 overtime loss to the Wolves, then came right back the next night with 49 in a 121-117 regulation win over the Jazz. To go 1-1 in those games is nothing to be shameful about. They nearly beat the Wolves without DeMar DeRozan (back) or Malik Monk (ankle) playing. Then, against the Jazz, Domantas Sabonis (back) joined DeRozan and Monk on the bench in street clothes. Maybe they all just wanted a front row view for what Fox was doing in these two games.
Against Minnesota, Fox had 60 on 22-of-35 shooting from the field, hitting 6-of-10 from deep and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. He had 20 in the fourth quarter to erase a 16-point deficit and force overtime. Fox had six in overtime, but Anthony Edwards spoiled his night. It was the highest individual scoring game in Kings history, surpassing Jack Twyman’s 59-point outing for the Cincinnati Royals in 1960. The Sacramento-era record was 56 points by DeMarcus Cousins in 2016. I was at the Chris Webber game in 2001 when he set the Sacramento record with 51 in an overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers. Sorry for game-dropping that one.
In the win over the Jazz the next night, Fox scored 49 points on 16-of-30 from the field, 3-of-4 from deep and 14-of-19 from the line. He actually should’ve cracked 50 points in that game, but somehow missed four free throws in the fourth and three in the final couple minutes. That’s 109 total points over two games on 38-of-65 (58.4 percent) from the field, 9-of-14 (64.2 percent) and 24-of-30 (80 percent) from the charity stripe. That’s a 69.7 true shooting percentage! This is what shot charts for 109 points over back-to-back games look like.
Fox obviously shot well. You can’t go for 109 in a back-to-back without doing that. To me, the most impressive part was taking what the defense gave him and making them pay for it. He was 20-of-32 on paint shots outside of the restricted area. Fox is one of the best in that no man’s land, where shots are a lot tougher than you think. He has one of the best pull-up jumpers and float games in that area, and he showed it off.
In the last 50 years, this was the second-most points scored in a back-to-back. Kobe Bryant totaled 110 points in March 2007, when he went for 60 and 50 over consecutive nights — in wins over the Grizzlies and Hornets. That was part of a four-game stretch with Kobe going for 65, 50, 60 and then 50, but the 110 on a back-to-back is the modern record. So, why did we limit this to the last half century? Because Wilt Chamberlain had at least 109 points in back-to-backs 15 different times in his career. Fifteen! He did it 10 times in the 1961-62 season alone. He had a back-to-back with 78 points and 61 points. The most outlandish thing about that one? They actually played a back-to-back-to-back, and he had 55 on the third straight night. I guess he ran out of steam.
Fox’s 60-point loss made me wonder how often someone goes for that many points and doesn’t come out with the victory. Let’s break it up by high-scoring games.
- 50-point games (including playoffs): NBA players are 485-177. That’s a 73.2 percent win rate.
- 60-point games (including playoffs): NBA players are 66-26. That’s a 71.7 percent win rate.
- 70-point games (including playoffs): NBA players are 10-5. That’s a 66.7 percent win rate.
- 80-point games (including playoffs): NBA players are 2-0. That’s a 100 percent win rate.
- 100-point games (including playoffs): NBA players are 1-0. That’s a 100 percent win rate.
The last three players to score at least 60 in a game have all lost. Fox on Friday, and then Jalen Brunson and Steph Curry last season. Five of the 26 losses when a player scores at least 60 have happened in this calendar year, adding Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns to the mix in January. I’ll remind you that Dončić scored 73 on the same night (not the same game) that Booker had 62, and Embiid had 70 on the night Towns lost scoring 62 (not the same game). Before that, 60-point scorers were on an eight-game winning streak.
My advice? Either drop 50 or drop 70. That 60 zone has been tough luck lately.
The Week Ahead: The NBA Cupdate
The next few weeks are giving us some incredible NBA Cup moments every Tuesday and Friday. So, let’s use this space to update what each group in the East and West are looking like, just in case you’re still a little confused by this relatively new ordeal. Reminder: Each group consists of five teams, and they will all play four games in group play. The winner of each group moves on to single-elimination for the NBA Cup, along with one wild card from each conference (based on record and point differential as the top two tiebreakers).
East Group A
Driver’s seat: Orlando Magic (2-0, plus-37), New York Knicks (2-0, plus-14)
Lingering: Brooklyn Nets (0-1, minus-2), Charlotte Hornets (0-1, minus-25)
You’re basically out: Philadelphia 76ers (0-2, minus-24)
What’s happening with this group? The Magic are in the best position to move on to the single-elimination portion. They have the largest point differential of anybody so far, and just need to win one of their final two games without getting blown out in a potential loss to advance. Charlotte probably should be “basically out,” except it could run the table to win the group if the Magic loses their final two games.
Games this week: Hornets at Nets on Tuesday | Nets at 76ers on Friday
East Group B
Driver’s seat: Detroit Pistons (2-0, plus-4)
Lingering: Milwaukee Bucks (1-0, plus-14), Miami Heat (1-1, plus-11), Indiana (0-1, minus-13)
You’re basically out: Toronto Raptors (0-2, minus-18)
What’s happening with this group? That’s right! The Pistons can’t be stopped! They won two close games over Miami and Toronto. If they can beat Milwaukee, they might just win this group. They just need a little help from one of Indiana’s opponents to give them a second loss. Miami, Milwaukee and Indiana essentially have to run the table in order to win the group, but Miami would need Detroit to lose its remaining two games.
Games this week: Pacers at Bucks on Friday
East Group C
Driver’s seat: Atlanta Hawks (2-0, plus-13)
Lingering: Cleveland Cavaliers (1-0, plus-18), Boston Celtics (0-1, minus-1)
You’re basically out: Washington Wizards (0-1, minus-12), Chicago Bulls (0-1, minus-18)
What’s happening with this group? I’m just as shocked as you are that the Hawks are leading this group. Especially since their win over Boston had Trae Young out injured. The Cavs will face Boston on Tuesday and determine whether or not the Celtics still have a chance to advance. I’m being harsh on the Bulls and Wizards, but a double-digit loss out of the gates does hurt you quite a bit.
Games this week: Cavs at Celtics on Tuesday | Celtics at Wizards on Friday | Hawks at Bulls on Friday
West Group A
Driver’s seat: Houston Rockets (1-0, plus-21), Portland Trail Blazers (1-0, plus-14)
Lingering: Minnesota Timberwolves (1-1, minus-10), Sacramento Kings (0-1, minus-4)
You’re basically out: LA Clippers (0-1, minus-21)
What’s happening with this group? Everything is so up in the air with this group, despite the standings. Only the Wolves have played two games, but they did beat Sacramento in one of them. If Portland loses twice and Minnesota wins out, the Wolves will take the group. If Sacramento wins out and Minnesota loses a game, the Kings will take the group. Houston has set itself up to compete for at least the wild card, if not winning the whole group.
Games this week: Blazers at Rockets on Friday | Kings at Clippers on Friday
West Group B
Driver’s seat: Oklahoma City Thunder (1-0, plus-16), Los Angeles Lakers (1-0, plus-5)
Lingering: Phoenix Suns (1-1, minus-8), San Antonio Spurs (0-1, minus-5), Utah Jazz (0-1, minus-8)
You’re basically out: No one… yet!
What’s happening with this group? We know the Lakers have been here before, and they feel very comfortable in how they approach this format. The Chet Holmgren injury could complicate things for the Thunder, even though they started with a massive win over the Suns. The teams lingering need to run the table and get some help to advance.
Games this week: Thunder at Spurs on Tuesday | Jazz at Lakers on Tuesday
West Group C
Driver’s seat: Golden State Warriors (2-0, plus-8)
Lingering: New Orleans Pelicans (1-0, plus-7), Dallas Maverick (0-1, minus-3), Memphis Grizzlies (0-1, minus-5), Denver Nuggets (0-1, minus-7)
You’re basically out: No one … yet!
What’s happening with this group? The Warriors are in great shape to advance, but they might want to get a blowout win to help their chances. If they blow out the Pelicans on Friday, they’ll probably win the group. Unless Denver gets Nikola Jokić back and they just go off. They Nuggets would still need New Orleans to lose twice, though.
Games this week: Nuggets at Grizzlies on Tuesday | Pelicans at Mavs on Tuesday | Warriors at Pelicans on Friday | Mavs at Nuggets on Friday
(Top photo of De’Aaron Fox: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)
