The NBA had no quiet corners on Monday night. All 30 teams were in action, and the league delivered a little bit of everything: overtime battles, clutch heroics, record-breaking performances, heated confrontations, and ejections. The drama kept shifting from one game to the next. Here are the biggest stories to emerge from November 2.
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Austin Reaves saved Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic had another explosive night against the Miami Heat, but Austin Reaves may have saved the Lakers superstar from an unnecessary early exit. The Slovenian guard was visibly frustrated with the officiating, and his teammate stepped in before the situation could get worse.
Doncic had already picked up a technical foul in the first half. During the second half, he explained his frustration to an official while Miami players were shooting free throws. “I clapped. That’s a technical?! If it was anybody else, you know it’s not a technical!” Doncic allegedly told the referee.
The tension resurfaced in the third quarter. After drilling a three-pointer to extend Los Angeles’ advantage to 16 points with 10:40 remaining, Doncic appeared to approach an official during the ensuing timeout. He wanted to show the referee blood around his mouth after taking contact during the game.
However, Reaves quickly moved into his teammate’s path, preventing him from getting closer to the official and potentially risking another technical. Jason Gallagher, an Emmy-winning director who also works on Mind the Game, highlighted the exchange on social media.
“Lmao this is amazing. Luka is bleeding from the mouth bc he got smacked, hits a 3 pointer, then walks over to the ref to show him the blood, but AR blocks his path bc he doesn’t want him to get a second tech.”
He praised Reaves for recognizing the danger before Doncic could get himself into further trouble. “Great teammate, Austin Reaves.”
Reaves also delivered on the scoreboard, contributing 27 points as the Lakers cruised to a 138-117 victory. Doncic finished with 42 points, 13 assists, and seven rebounds.
The Slovenian also continued a remarkable scoring run. He became the first Laker since Kobe Bryant in 2007 to score at least 20 points in the first half of five consecutive games. His overall scoring totals across that stretch have been 52, 41, 37, 45, and 42 points.
Despite the win, Kevin Durant was angry
Kevin Durant had little interest in discussing his scoring numbers after the Houston Rockets handled the Boston Celtics 109-93 on Monday. Despite finishing with only 12 points, the veteran forward shot an efficient 5-of-6 from the field. Still, his modest output became the focus of a postgame question, prompting a sharp response.
“We won the game? Why are you singling me out?” Durant asked back. “Jabari had 30 last game. He only had 14 tonight. You wanna talk about his variety?”
Reporter Varun Shankar quickly clarified that he did not intend the question as criticism. “I don’t mean it as a criticism,” Shankar explained. The two-time NBA champion was not convinced. “Yes, you do,” Durant replied.
Shankar then gave him another opportunity to address the subject, asking how he balances using the attention he attracts with making sure opponents cannot remove him from the game. That’s when Kevin Durant offered a more measured explanation.
“My presence alone is impactful to the game of basketball. I don’t have to shoot. I don’t have to dribble. Just me being out there, it’s gonna cause a reaction on defense. So my team is taking advantage of it.”
The Rockets certainly had other options on Monday. Alperen Sengun controlled the offense with 26 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists, while Houston’s supporting cast helped secure a comfortable victory.
Jayson Tatum smashed away stadium property
Jayson Tatum had little reason to be pleased after the Boston Celtics saw their five-game winning streak come to an end against the Houston Rockets. The 109-93 defeat was frustrating enough, but the six-time NBA All-Star’s reaction after the final buzzer offered another glimpse of his mood.
As the Celtics headed toward the locker room, Tatum knocked over a hand sanitizer stand near the sideline. Payton Pritchard and Luka Garza walked past without stopping. Baylor Scheierman, however, picked up the fallen stand and put it back in place. The loss came on the second night of a back-to-back, with Paul George sitting out for rest.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla adjusted his lineup by giving Scheierman his first start of the season. The 26-year-old made the most of the opportunity, finishing with 11 points and three three-pointers. But Boston’s shooting problems proved too costly.
Tatum, Derrick White, Pritchard, and Sam Hauser combined to make just nine of 41 shots, including two of 22 from beyond the arc. JT finished with 19 points, six rebounds, and nine assists, but shot 5-of-16 from the field. The Celtics now have to regroup after a night that ended their winning run.
Short-handed Thunder got a morale boost from their two-time NBA MVP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to do more than score on Monday night. With the Oklahoma City Thunder short-handed and searching for answers after consecutive losses, their star guard took charge on the floor and even offered instructions from the bench. Cameras caught him animatedly coaching his teammates during a tense fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Thunder entered the matchup against Cleveland without Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Thomas Sorber, and Nikola Topic. After opening the season with four straight wins, OKC had dropped its next two games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made sure the slide stopped there.
He erupted for a season-high 43 points and eight assists in a 117-112 victory. With the game tied at 112 in the final minute, he created space for a step-back three from 24 feet, putting Oklahoma City ahead with 32.6 seconds left. It was the decisive shot in a hard-fought finish. His leadership also reflects the trust he shares with head coach Mark Daigneault.
“It’s not always pretty and cute,” SGA described their relationship candidly. “Sometimes I’m mad at him, and sometimes he tells me to shut up. Sometimes he’s right. Sometimes I’m right, well, I like to think.”
For a team missing several key players, that connection matters. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made sure to carry the scoring load while also helping keep the Thunder organized.
NBA’s edition of Monday Night Raw
Giannis Antetokounmpo found himself at the center of a controversial sequence during the Heat-Lakers matchup, with Los Angeles holding a narrow lead. Driving toward the basket, Jake LaRavia slid underneath him as he attempted a finger roll. Officials initially called an offensive foul on the Greek Freak, but Miami challenged.
After reviewing the play, they overturned the call, ruling LaRavia had committed a blocking foul. Lakers’ Walker Kessler was also called for goaltending, giving Giannis an and-one. The sequence did not end there.
Reporter Eric Nehm noted that Giannis later sent a pass intended for Klay Thompson sailing out of bounds. As he headed to the bench, the tw0-time NBA MVP grabbed at his right wrist. Nehm suggested Antetokounmpo may have landed heavily on it when LaRavia slid underneath him. The wrist grab raised concern, but there was no immediate confirmation of an injury. The review added another flashpoint to an already physical night.
Isaiah Stewart was not ready to let the night end quietly. The Memphis Grizzlies had just suffered their first defeat of the season, falling 135-134 to the New Orleans Pelicans in overtime. As players gathered near midcourt after the final buzzer Monday, tensions spilled over.
Stewart exchanged words with members of the Pelicans, and the Memphis staff had to hold him back. The video showed him directing an expletive toward an opposing player. Another angle appeared to show Pelicans forwards Derik Queen and Trendon Watford involved in the exchange.
Draymond Green and Dillon Brooks added another chapter to their tense history during the Warriors-Suns matchup. The trouble began when Golden State veteran, after being knocked to the floor near the basket, grabbed Phoenix star Khaman Maluach and threw him down.
Officials assessed Green a technical for the throwdown. Brooks rushed over to confront him, and the two began shoving. Draymond Green put a hand on Brooks’ neck before teammates and officials separated them. Both received technicals for the confrontation. Because it was the Warriors’ star’s second technical of the sequence, he was ejected with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.
The Pacers played with 11 players missing!
The Pacers quite literally ran out of players against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. The team had just six players available that night, while 11 were sidelined.
- Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring)
- Pascal Siakam (rest)
- Johnny Furphy (knee)
- T.J. McConnell (hamstring)
- Larry Nance Jr. (illness)
- Andrew Nembhard (cervical)
- Aaron Nesmith (hamstring)
- Ben Sheppard (knee)
- Obi Toppin (lumbar sprain)
- Ivica Zubac (ankle)
- Kelly Oubre Jr. (bruised knee)
Instead, the team’s lineup was: Jay Huff, Quenton Jackson, Jarace Walker, Braden Smith, and Jalen Slawson. Kobe Brown was the Pacers’ only reserve. It goes without saying that head coach Rick Carlisle was proud of his team despite the 108-104 loss to Atlanta.
“These guys all played too many minutes,” he mentioned after the game. “But they played their hearts out. The guys left everything out there, and our fans got their money’s worth, even though we weren’t able to win the game.”
However, the contrast was also striking on the payroll. As reported by ESPN, the players who sat out accounted for roughly $193 million in combined salary. Those who actually took the floor? Well, just about $15 million!
Unfortunately, the team also repeated some unwanted history. The last time the Pacers had only six players was November 20, 2004.
Plus, this shortage of players happened decades ago, too. As per ESPN Research, a similar thing happened in the 1948 season. Back then, the Lakers used only five players in a game because the rest were sidelined.
LeBron James’ odd wine moment
Why not taste a little wine in the middle of the game? That’s likely what LeBron James thought!
After James and Tyrese Maxey failed to connect on a transition pass during the third quarter of the Philadelphia 76ers’ game against the Chicago Bulls, James went tumbling out of bounds and into a fan named Troy Clemons. But instead of simply getting back to the game, he reached for Clemons’ drink and took a quick taste.
So, when the media asked the fan his thoughts about the incident, Clemons said: “LeBron crashed into me; he grabbed me, he said, ‘My bad.’ My drink spilled everywhere, he took my drink from me, and he basically just took a sip of it and gave it back and ran back on the field [court].
“I’m just glad for him to be here. I’m not worried about the wine getting on me, but you know I appreciate everything the Sixers are doing, and I’m here to have a good time, man, appreciate it.”
But it doesn’t end here. James shared his side of the story, too.
“I spilled some of his wine. I crashed into him, spilled some of his wine,” James told the media. “So I wanted to see if it was worth it on my arm and how good it was. It was all right.”
That brings us to the end of some interesting aspects of Monday night.