Starting 5 Daily Newsletter
Starting 5: Joker rallies Denver, 41 for Luka, Kawhi calls game, Wemby starts Saturday
4 straight Jokić triple-doubles, Lakers’ late run, Clips claw & climb, KD’s winning statline, Spurs start the day on Prime.
NBA.com | March 28, 2026 | 2:01 PM
The triple-bounce buzzer beater from Mr. Triple-Double. Joker’s doing unprecedented things — even for him — to help Denver keep pace out West.
🏀 5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION
March 28, 2026
- Friday’s Best Finishes: Joker & Jamal rally Nuggets, Luka’s Lakers pull away late, Kawhi calls game
- Wins Out West: Shai & OKC get back in win column, KD & Houston handle Grizz, Warriors gain on Blazers
- Top 5 In The East: Peak Pritchard for C’s, Cavs combine for 149, Raptors return to 5th
- Today On Prime: Wemby’s Spurs play Milwaukee matinée, eyeing 8th straight W
- ABC Saturday: Without All-Star guards, Pistons and Wolves continue to test depth, head-to-head
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Six Saturday games staggered over 8 hours… Today’s slate starts with a bang, as the Spurs visit the Bucks on Prime (3 ET | Tap To Watch) before the Pistons and Wolves meet on ABC (5:30 ET | Tap To Watch).
1. FRIDAY FINISHERS: NUGGETS RALLY, LAKERS LIFT OFF, CLIPS CLAW BACK
Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images
Four straight triple-doubles. Five straight wins. That’s just what it takes to hold on to 4th place in a wild West race.
Nuggets 135, Jazz 129:
Nikola Jokić (33 pts, 15 reb, 12 ast) collected his fourth straight triple-double, and Jamal Murray (31 pts, 14 ast, 5 3s) caught fire again, as Denver rallied late past seven Jazz double-digit scorers for a fifth consecutive win. | Recap
Climb The Mountain: Utah’s 43-point 3rd quarter kept the Jazz in front throughout the 2nd half, by as many as 14, until Denver’s 19-6 burst tied the game with 2:20 left, on Cam Johnson’s (12 pts, 4 3s) corner triple
“Big, big shots, game-changing shots… especially Cam in the corner,” Jokić said of the rally. “We found the energy… It was amazing.”
Joker had one of those shots himself: A suspenseful 3rd-quarter buzzer-beater from the logo
Colorado Closer: Denver extended that run to a 28-9 closeout, capped by Murray’s dagger triple with 17.9 remaining. Murray is averaging 31.6 ppg, 7.4 apg and 4.6 3pg in the win streak
TD Efficiency: Joker’s monster triple-double came on 81.3 FG% (13-16) shooting, placing him with Wilt and Dave Cowens as the only players in NBA history with 30+/15+/10+ statlines and 80+ FG%
Never Been Done: Jokic is averaging 25.3 ppg, 16.8 rpg and 15.5 apg during his 4-game triple-double streak, the highest averages in a 4-game span in NBA history
Denver keeps pace as the No. 4 seed, adding to its edge over Minnesota for a full-game gap back to 5th. 1.5 games ahead in 3rd, L.A. got the spark it needed to pull away from Brooklyn late.
Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
Lakers 116, Nets 99:
Luka Dončić (8 reb, 5 3s, 3 stl) dropped 41 points and Austin Reaves (8 reb, 5 ast) scored 15 of his 26 in the 4th quarter, which L.A. won 31-15 to separate from Josh Minott (18 pts) and Brooklyn for its 13th win in March (13-2). | Recap
Stacking Like Kobe: This was Luka’s 2nd consecutive 40-ball and fourth in his last six games. His 12 straight 30+ point games mark the longest such Lakers streak since Kobe (16 straight) in 2005-06
“Just trying to get downhill, trying to touch the paint and make plays, and see what the defense (gives) me,” Dončić said of his recent approach
Family Connection: LeBron James’ (14 pts, 6 reb, 8 ast) 2nd-quarter dish to Bronny for 3 was the NBA’s first-ever father-son assist
“Just being in the moment of us being on the floor once again… Definitely a cool moment, for us and also for our family,” LeBron said of the assist.
Clawing back since the opening frame, the Clippers turned to Kawhi in the clutch to continue their climb.
Clippers 114, Pacers 113:
Kawhi Leonard (28 pts, 8 reb, 3 stl) drained the game-winning jumper with 0.4 remaining, giving LA its first lead since the opening 2:55 and completing a season-best 24-point comeback after Indy’s 42-point 1st quarter. | Recap
“I just decided ‘I gotta put the ball up,’” said Leonard, who shot 52.6 FG% and logged 11 of his 28 points in the 4th. “Just having a mindset that the ball [is] gonna go in every time that I shoot it.”
Klaw Time: Kawhi earned his 12th career game-winner with less than 10 seconds remaining — most in the NBA since he entered the league in 2011-12
Fifty 20s: Kawhi eclipsed the 20-point mark for the 50th consecutive game, the longest streak for a player age 30 or older in NBA history
Scoring Stars: Darius Garland’s (5 ast, 6 3s) 30-ball led LA, while Bennedict Mathurin (17 pts, 7 reb) was big off the bench. Aaron Nesmith (26 pts) paced Indy
The win ensures 8th-place LA stays ahead of 9th-place Portland, with a 1.5-game advantage.
2. WEST WINNERS: OKC RECOVERS, ROCKETS ROLL, DUBS GAIN ON BLAZERS
A 2nd-half storm brought the Thunder out in full force Friday.
Thunder 131, Bulls 113:
Down 5 at the break after Chicago’s 67-point 1st half, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander keyed a 22-0 run over the 3rd and 4th quarters, with 14 of his 25 points in the 3rd, as OKC took control for its 13th win in 14 games. | Recap
Tipping Point: Cason Wallace scored 11 of his 21 points in the 2nd half, where the Thunder turned the tables on Collin Sexton (22 pts) and the Bulls, 69-46
OKC bounces back from its Wednesday loss at Boston, its first since Feb. 25, to add to the 2.5-game gap separating 2nd-place San Antonio
Houston’s offense aligned around another noteworthy KD performance.
Rockets 119, Grizzlies 109:
Kevin Durant (25 pts, 6 reb, 10 ast) fueled Houston’s offense, with big support from Jabari Smith Jr. (21 pts, 16 reb) and four other double-digit scorers to overcome a career-high 31 pts from Olivier-Maxence Prosper. | Recap
KD’s Company: Durant becomes the first Rockets player age 37 or over to record 25+/5+/10+ in a game, and just the sixth in NBA history, joining LeBron, Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash
6th-place Houston moves within a game of Minnesota for the 5th seed.
Soobum Im+Eakin Howard/NBAE via Getty Images
The gap between the West