New Year, Same Success: Thunder and Cavs Dominate as they Start 2025

Giannis creates one last poster to wrap up the year 2024.

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION

Jan. 1, 2025

Thunder, Cavs Rolling: The conference leaders push their win streaks to 12 & 8, respectively

NYE Roundup: Wemby makes history, Bucks rally, Celtics roll, Grizz hold off Suns

Motown Revival: After matching last season’s win total in 2024, Detroit looks to keep rising in 2025

A New Year Begins: Denver & Atlanta want to start the new year as hot as they ended the last

Rewind: Look back at 2024’s leaders & the best moments from the past 25 years

BUT FIRST … ⏰

2024’s final scores and 2025’s first slate…

If your New Year’s resolution is to watch more hoops, we’ve got you covered with eight games to open 2025, all available on League Pass.

 1. CONFERENCE LEADERS OKC, CLEVELAND CLOSE 2024 IN STYLE

Thunder 113, Timberwolves 105: Minnesota entered Tuesday’s game with a defense allowing the fewest points in the league in December (102.3).

But they had no answers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who dropped 40 points on 15-of-23 shooting to lead OKC to its 12th straight win – matching the longest run of the OKC era, from 2012-13. | Recap

SGA was surgical as he sliced and diced the Wolves’ defense apart.

Bursting past a defender with a straight-line drive to the basketSnaking his way around multiple defenders to find a shot at the rimSplashing stepback 3s after freezing a defender with a drive fakeHitting fadeaway jumpers over 7-footers when he was finally kept out of the paintPushing the pace in transition for 11 points off Wolves turnoversSee It All: Three minutes of Shai’s best from Tuesday night

It was Shai’s fourth 40+ point game of the season – tying Giannis and Joker for the NBA lead – and third in his last five games as both SGA and OKC enter 2025 scorching hot.

Game-Changing Run: After a trio of Mike Conley 3s put the Wolves up 12 with 8:30 left in the 3rd, OKC closed the quarter on a 36-10 run with SGA leading the way with 19 points on 7-of-7 shootingOwning The Paint: SGA scored 16 of his 40 in the paint on Tuesday; he ranks fourth overall and first among guards in paint scoring this season (13.4 ppg)SGA: “I get to the rim on anybody… I prepare for those moments, no matter who I play – best defense in the league, the worst defense in the league – it’s the best league in the world and I know that, that’s why I work so hard.”

Cavaliers 122, Lakers 110: Jarrett Allen (season-high 27 pts, 12-14 FG, 14 reb, 3 blk) and Donovan Mitchell (26 pts, 6 3s) combined for 53 points to lead the Cavs past the Lakers for their eighth straight win. | Recap

Allen’s Efficiency: Allen posted his eighth career game with at least 25 points on 85% shooting, tying Artis Gilmore for the sixth most in NBA history. He trails only Wilt, Jokić, Shaq, Barkley and KareemCavs’ 29-4 Start: Cleveland is off to its best start ever through 33 games and matched the 2008-09 Cavs for the best 33-game stretch in franchise historyLeBron At 40: In addition to becoming the 30th player to score in a game at age 40+, LeBron (23 pts, 7 ast) became the 10th player to ever score 20+ points in their 40sNear Triple-Double: Austin Reaves (season-high 35 pts, 9 reb, 10 ast) fell one board shy of a triple-double, while Anthony Davis posted his 17th 20/10 game of the season in the loss

2. MORE WEMBY HISTORY, BUCKS RALLY, C’S ROLL, GRIZZ HOLD OFF SUNS

Spurs 122, Clippers 86: Behind Victor Wembanyama’s 27 points, nine boards, five dimes and three blocks in under 26 minutes, the Spurs never trailed as they ended the year with a 36-point win over the Clippers. | Recap

Another First: Wemby closed out a historic December as he became the first player in league history to accumulate 300 points, 100 rebounds, 50 blocks, 50 assists and 40 3s in a single monthSpurs Coach Mitch Johnson On Wemby’s Recent Play: “I think he’s just adjusting to what we saw earlier in the year. He’s playing stronger, more physical, more fundamentally sound. And it’s crazy how spectacular his simple is.”Wemby Joins LeBron & Luka: With his 20th game with 25+ pts, 5+ reb and 5+ ast, Wemby has the third-most such games before turning 21 years old, trailing only James (65) and Dončić (50)Points For Everybody: Stephon Castle and Keldon Johnson combined for 32 points as all 15 Spurs scored in the game

Bucks 120, Pacers 112: Trailing by 19 midway through the 3rd quarter, the Bucks outscored the Pacers 56-29 to close the game and close 2024 with a win to climb to fifth in the East. | Recap

Tale Of Two Halves: After being held to a season-low four points in the 1st half, Giannis Antetokounmpo erupted for 26 in the 2nd half to lead the Milwaukee comebackTop Five: Giannis (30 pts, 12 reb, 5 ast) posted his 11th 30/10/5 game of the season and 139th of his career. The only players with more: Big O (159), Kareem (157), Elgin (154) and Wilt (148)Playoff Rematch: After Indy ended Milwaukee’s season in the first round of the 2024 Playoffs, the Bucks have won the first two of four meetings this season

Celtics 125, Raptors 71: Boston caught fire from 3 in the 3rd quarter – shooting 10-of-12 from beyond the arc – as they outscored Toronto 45-18 in the period and cruised to a 54-point win to close out the year. | Recap

Margin Of Victory: The 54-point win is the largest of the NBA season and the second-largest in Boston’s franchise history3s For Everybody: Five Celtics made at least three 3s – Payton Pritchard (5), Jrue Holiday (4), Sam Hauser (4), Jayson Tatum (4) and Derrick White (3) – as the C’s shot 51.2% as a team from deepBlock Party: White had a game-high four blocks, giving him 21 games with 3+ blocks since joining the Celtics in Feb. 2022 – the most by any guard in that time

Grizzlies 117, Suns 112: Jaren Jackson Jr. (38 pts, 12 reb) and Desmond Bane (31 pts, 7 ast) combined for 69 points and eight 3s to lead Memphis to a wire-to-wire win over Phoenix to close out 2024 with a win. | Recap

Bend But Don’t Break: The Suns pulled within two points five times in the 4th quarter – cutting the Grizzlies’ lead to one on a KD dunk with 6:36 to play – but Memphis never surrendered the lead

3. A MOTOWN REVIVAL CONTINUES IN 2025

It took only 32 games for the 2024-25 Pistons (14-18) to match the win total from a season ago.

Today, Detroit hosts Orlando (7 ET, League Pass) in the first of 50 games for the Pistons to build on that win total and pursue their first postseason berth since the 2018-19 season, which was also the last time Detroit won more than 23 games in a season.

If The Season Ended Today: The Pistons would be in the SoFi Play-In Tournament as the No. 10 seed in the East

Déjà Vu: The formula behind Detroit’s turnaround is similar to what we saw in Houston a season ago – the addition of a new coach and key veteran players to complement a young core built through the draft.

For the Pistons, J.B. Bickerstaff took over on the sidelines, while veterans Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. were added to the roster to join rising stars in Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and 2024 lottery pick Ron Holland II

Building With Youth: Even with the new vets, the Pistons still have the fourth-youngest roster in the league (average age of 24), setting them up for long-term success

Cade’s Breakout Season: Leading the young Pistons is 2021 top pick Cunningham, who is putting up career-best numbers across the board: 24.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 9.7 apg, 2.4 3pg on 36.2% shooting from deep.

Here’s the list of players averaging 24/6/9 so far this season: Cunningham and three-time Kia MVP Nikola Jokić

Winning Close Games: Another commonality between Cunningham’s Pistons and Jokić’s Nuggets is winning in the clutch. Both teams are 6-3 in games decided by three points or less – tied for the most such wins and games played in the league.

Ivey’s 4-Point Play: The most recent nailbiter came in Sacramento on Dec. 26, when Ivey delivered a late Christmas present to Pistons fans with a remarkable 4-point play in the closing seconds to seal a one-point comeback win

The Pistons made a statement in 2024 that Detroit basketball is back. The key question entering 2025 is how high can they climb?

4. HAWKS, NUGGETS LOOK TO KEEP STREAKS ALIVE IN 2025

The Hawks and Nuggets both ended 2024 on a high note and enter tonight’s matchup in the Mile High City (9 ET, League Pass) looking to begin 2025 the same way.

Atlanta (18-15, 6th in East) has won four straight, averaging a league-high 128.5 points per game with three 20+ ppg scores – Trae Young (25.3), De’Andre Hunter (23.0) and Jalen Johnson (22.5) – during the streakDenver (18-13, 5th in West) has won two straight and seven of its last 10 games, averaging the second-most points (126.5) and shooting a league-best 53.2% over the past 10 games

Six more games round out 2025’s first night of hoops on League Pass.

Bulls at Wizards (7 ET): Chicago looks for its third straight win overall and head-to-head with Washington, which just got Kyle Kuzma back after missing a month with a rib injuryPelicans at Heat (7:30 ET): Miami has won seven of the last eight matchups with New Orleans, which is looking to end a 10-game slide and earn their second road win of the seasonJazz at Knicks (7:30 ET): New York seeks its ninth straight win, which would match its longest streak since 2013, while Utah tries to end a four-game skidNets at Raptors (7:30 ET): For the second time in his career, D’Angelo Russell has been traded from the Lakers to the Nets – where he played from 2017-19 – and is expected to make his second debut with the team tonightMavs at Rockets (8 ET): After missing Monday’s loss to the Kings, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson are off Dallas’ injury report and expected to play in Houston, which is looking to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the seasonSixers at Kings (10 ET): After snapping a six-game slide with a win over the shorthanded Mavs on Monday, can the Kings make it two straight when they host Philly, which will be without Joel Embiid?

5. 2024 LEADERS & CELEBRATING THE PAST 25 YEARS OF HOOPS

As 2024 ends and 2025 begins, the game does not stop.

But before players start racking up points, boards, assists, steals, blocks and 3s, let’s take a look back at the players that led the way in 2024.

Five Key Takeaways

Four Category Players: Reigning MVP Nikola Jokić finished in the top six in points, rebounds, assists and steals, while reigning scoring champ Luka Dončić was top three in points, assists, steals and 3sThe Block Party: Victor Wembanyama finished with 108 more blocks than any other player in 2024 – and did so while only playing in regular season games as the Spurs did not reach the postseasonYear Two: In his second full calendar year with the Knicks, Jalen Brunson led all players in scoring in 2024, while becoming a New York icon in the processMore Curry 3s: Steph Curry became the all-time leader in 3-pointers made on Dec. 14, 2021 and has added nearly 900 more 3s since to distance himself from the field, including 327 in 2024Two Kings: Domantas Sabonis (rebounds) and De’Aaron Fox (steals) are the only teammates to each lead a category in 2024

The end of the year is not only a time to reminisce about the past 365 days, it also marked the 25th year since the calendar turned to 2000.

To celebrate, we dove into the archives to find the 100 best plays and 20 best dunks since 2000 — along with 10 of Steve Aschburner’s most memorable games of the past 25 years.

Top 100 Plays: Which play takes the No. 1 spot? There’s plenty to choose from – LeBron’s Game 7 chasedown block, Ray Allen’s series saving corner 3, Kobe’s 81-point masterpiece, T-Mac’s 13 points in 35 seconds or Kawhi’s four-bouncerTop 20 Dunks: From the best of Lob City to a trio of LeBron slams and multiple appearances by Ant Edwards, enjoy the full countdown: 20-11 | 10-6 | 5-110 Memorable Games: Steve Aschburner’s list of must-see games features eight Playoff classics, an All-Star thriller and the second-highest scoring game ever