Did anyone honestly believe James Harden would be averaging 26 ppg on 63 TS% in 2025-2026?

Before he became a clipper I legit thought he was washed like back in 2022. I thought he was washed at 31. But somehow at 36 he’s doing 26/5/9 on 63 TS%


I personally believe him to still be capable of dropping 60+ in a game

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[Highlight] Scottie Barnes receives an ovation and a takes a nap on the bench after his 23p/25r/10a performance
https://streamable.com/wwvivr

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Scottie Barnes checks out in overtime blowout. He becomes the first ever Raptor to have a 20 points/20 rebounds game in a win vs. the Warriors: 23/25/10 — 3 steals — 1 block — 7th career triple double - Career high in rebounds

On...

11/17 FG

0/1 3P

1/1 FT

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810296

Despite IQ being a double agent for 3 out of the 4 quarters and the Raptors being unable to make their open 3s, Scottie Barnes made what should been a blowout loss look somewhat respectable by the end, forcing overtime with a putback tip in and taking over in OT with some crucial rebounds & plays.

He now definitively sits 2nd on the Raptors all-time leaderboard for triple doubles, behind only Kyle Lowry.

He is also the first ever Raptor to have a 20/20+ triple double.


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NBA players to put up a 20 point, 25 rebound, 10 assist game in the last 40 years: - Nikola Jokic; - Scottie Barnes

StatMuse page

Barnes joins Jokic’s December 2022 game against the Hornets as the only player in the last four decades to accomplish this stat line. The last player to do it before Jokic was Maurice Lucas in 1980.

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[Highlight] Gary Payton II forgets how legs work and the Raptors force 3 turnovers to end the third quarter
https://streamable.com/85s6ck

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Charania The NBA is suspending New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado for two games and Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams for one game after their fight Saturday night, sources tell ESPN

The NBA is suspending New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado for two games and Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams for one game after their fight Saturday night, sources tell ESPN

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/66943a722792e



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[Highlight] LeBron James with the absolutely sick reverse dunk off a pass by Luka Doncic (with replays). Lakers and Kings commentaries
https://streamable.com/so0jgx

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[Highlight] Kawhi Leonard with the fadeaway jumper to give him 51 points, with 48.8 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter!
https://streamable.com/8w1xeh

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Kawhi Leonard after getting water splashed on his braids by teammates: “I’m sending all y’all an invoice! Y'all gotta get my hair braided again!”
https://streamable.com/l93e11

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[Highlight] Marcus Smart no-look lobs it to Lebron who throws it down!
https://streamable.com/jvm7n5

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Post Game Thread The Los Angeles Clippers (10-21) defeat the Detroit Pistons (24-8), 112-99 behind Kawhi Leonard’s 55p/11r/5s/3b as the Clippers win 4 straight games.

||
|:-:|
|(/DET) 99 - 112 (/LAC)|
|Box Scores: NBA - Yahoo|

||
|:-:|
| |
|GAME SUMMARY|
|Location: Intuit Dome|
|Officials: Curtis Blair, Che Flores, and Mousa Dagher|

|Team|Q1|Q2|Q3|Q4|Total|
|:---|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|
|Detroit Pistons|20|22|27|30|99|
|Los Angeles Clippers|33|27|32|20|112|

||
|:-:|
| |
|TEAM STATS|

|Team|PTS|FG|FG%|3P|3P%|FT|FT%|OREB|TREB|AST|PF|STL|TO|BLK|
|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|
|Detroit Pistons|99|34-81|42.0%|7-29|24.1%|24-28|85.7%|14|52|18|20|9|13|6|
|Los Angeles Clippers|112|35-75|46.7%|14-34|41.2%|28-29|96.6%|8|43|18|26|12|10|6|


||
|:-:|
| |
|PLAYER STATS|

||||||||||||||||
|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:--|
(/DET) Detroit Pistons|MIN|PTS|FGM-A|3PM-A|FTM-A|ORB|DRB|REB|AST|STL|BLK|TO|PF|±|
|Ausar Thompson^SF|23:05|6|1-6|0-1|4-6|4|2|6|1|2|1|2|3|-4|
|Tobias Harris^PF|21:37|6|2-5|0-2|2-2|0|0|0|1|3|0|2|2|-15|
|Jalen Duren^C|30:50|18|8-12|0-0|2-2|5|9|14|2|0|1|1|0|-17|
|Duncan Robinson^SG|26:43|5|1-6|1-6|2-2|1|3|4|0|0|1|0|1|-15|
|Cade Cunningham^PG|31:30|27|9-18|3-7|6-7|0|5|5|9|0|0|3|4|-6|
|Jaden Ivey|28:08|11|2-10|2-5|5-6|1|2|3|3|1|0|0|0|4|
|Caris LeVert|12:48|4|1-3|0-2|2-2|0|1|1|0|1|0|1|2|-11|
|Isaiah Stewart|23:05|8|4-10|0-1|0-0|1|2|3|0|0|2|1|4|-5|
|Ronald Holland II|18:10|4|2-3|0-1|0-0|1|2|3|2|1|1|2|2|1|
|Javonte Green|13:01|7|3-4|1-2|0-0|0|3|3|0|0|0|0|0|-2|
|Daniss Jenkins|02:23|0|0-1|0-1|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|-1|
|Paul Reed|05:40|3|1-3|0-1|1-1|1|1|2|0|1|0|0|2|6|
|Chaz Lanier|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Marcus Sasser|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Isaac Jones|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Bobi Klintman|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Wendell Moore Jr.|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Tolu Smith|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
(/LAC) Los Angeles Clippers|MIN|PTS|FGM-A|3PM-A|FTM-A|ORB|DRB|REB|AST|STL|BLK|TO|PF|±|
|Kawhi Leonard^SF|38:37|55|17-26|5-10|16-17|1|10|11|2|5|3|3|2|20|
|Nicolas Batum^PF|30:46|12|4-8|4-8|0-0|2|2|4|1|1|0|0|1|25|
|Brook Lopez^C|35:07|7|3-7|1-4|0-0|2|5|7|2|2|1|2|3|13|
|Kris Dunn^SG|29:51|5|2-4|1-2|0-0|0|1|1|3|2|1|0|4|7|
|James Harden^PG|39:24|28|7-23|3-9|11-11|1|3|4|7|0|0|3|3|10|
|Derrick Jones Jr.|18:19|3|1-4|0-1|1-1|1|2|3|0|0|0|1|3|2|
|Yanic Konan Niederhäuser|12:17|2|1-1|0-0|0-0|1|1|2|0|1|0|1|4|0|
|Kobe Sanders|15:16|0|0-2|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|2|0|0|0|4|-3|
|Jordan Miller|17:22|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|3|3|1|1|1|0|2|-9|
|Kobe Brown|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Cam Christie|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|TyTy Washington Jr.|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Bradley Beal|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Bogdan Bogdanović|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|John Collins|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Chris Paul|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
|Ivica Zubac|00:00|0|0-0|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|


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Luka Doncic with a simple answer to a dumb long question by a reporter: "Yes"
https://streamable.com/dp8o02

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SERIOUS NEXT DAY THREAD Post-Game Discussion (December 28, 2025)

Here is a place to have in depth, x's and o's, discussions on yesterday's games. Post-game discussions are linked in the table, keep your memes and reactions there.

Please keep your discussion of a particular game in the respective comment thread. All direct replies to this post will be removed.


|Away|Home|Score|GT|PGT|
|:--|:--|:-:|:-:|:-:|
|(/GSW) Golden State Warriors |(/TOR) Toronto Raptors | 127 - 141 | No GT Found | Link |
|(/PHI) Philadelphia 76ers |(/OKC) Oklahoma City Thunder | 104 - 129 | No GT Found | Link |
|(/MEM) Memphis Grizzlies |(/WAS) Washington Wizards | 112 - 116 | Link | Link |
|(/BOS) Boston Celtics |(/POR) Portland Trail Blazers | 108 - 114 | Link | Link |
|(/DET) Detroit Pistons |(/LAC) Los Angeles Clippers | 99 - 112 | No GT Found | Link |
|(/SAC) Sacramento Kings |(/LAL) Los Angeles Lakers | 101 - 125 | Link | Link |




--------------------------------------------------
Looking for another place to talk ball besides the subreddit? We have a thriving and active community over at discord.gg/rNBA and we'd love to have you check it out.

With almost 13,000 members, we are one of the largest NBA chat servers. It's not only basketball. There are 2K sims that are run by community members and much more.

Like football, soccer, F1, baseball, and other sports? You're bound to find like-minded people to talk about that as well.

Come stop by and say hi.

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Luka Doncic drops his phone and a reporter says “turnover”
https://streamable.com/gkjhta

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[Highlight] Dennis Schroder with some words for Luka: “I’m gonna beat the sh*t out of you”
https://streamable.com/ghxlt4

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MacMahon The Mavericks would like to work out a deal to send Anthony Davis to Atlanta, but Trae Young’s not going to be part of that. They want to move forward with Kyrie Irving as their point guard.

“With Trae, I don’t know. I don’t know where the destination would be. Minnesota would like to upgrade at point guard, but I don’t know if there’s a deal that makes sense for the Wolves. The problem is the salary. Just making the salary match is going to be tough and — I can just tell you. The Mavericks would like to work out a deal to send Anthony Davis to Atlanta, but Trae Young is not going to be part of that. They want to move forward with Kyrie Irving as their point guard and you’re not going to play those two guys together.”

Ten minutes into The Hoop Collective

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Jane Before he attempts another comeback, (Ben) Simmons said he is training in Los Angeles with the goal of becoming “bulletproof” to avoid further setbacks. He also said his shot finally feels good and that he can now take a simple hook shot...


These days, Ben Simmons wakes up with a newfound appreciation for simply being able to stand up straight.

It has been years since the 29-year-old former No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick and three-time All-Star has played at a level commensurate with his early accolades, and there’s no shortage of explanations for the downward trend in Simmons’ career. Is his poor outside shooting the root of all the problems? Did he somehow lose his confidence? Could it all be fixed by shooting with his right hand?

Those theories are all debatable, but according to Simmons persistent back injuries halted his development. In an interview with The Athletic, Simmons described his ailing back as “one of those things where you’re dealing with it every day, sitting down, going to sleep, flying on planes.”

“People don’t understand that,” he said.

Over his nine years in the league, Simmons has missed 273 games. Over the last four seasons, he’s been available to play in just one-third of his teams’ games. In 2024-25, he played 51 total games for the Brooklyn Nets and LA Clippers, averaging 5 points and 22 minutes per game. Throughout the year, Simmons said he often felt only “20 or 30 percent” healthy. At times, he said he could barely stand up straight on the mornings before games.

Tired of playing hurt, Simmons said he decided against signing with another NBA team in the offseason, opting instead for an extended rehab effort meant to restore his health in time to return to the league either later this season or before the 2026-27 campaign.

“I’m about to be 30 years old, and I need to make the best decision for Ben Simmons,” he said. “It’s not fun going out there, not being able to move, not be able to jump, or, you know, take hits. There’s no fun in that. Sometimes you got to make a decision with how you feel and what’s best for yourself. And that’s what I’ve done, and it’s not for everybody to really understand, because they’re not in my shoes.”

Before he attempts another comeback, Simmons said he is training in Los Angeles with the goal of becoming “bulletproof” to avoid further setbacks. He also said his shot finally feels good and that he can now take a simple hook shot without any discomfort.


Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6923182/2025/12/29/ben-simmons-nba-return-fishing-team/



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Daily Discussion Thread + Game Thread Index

# Game Threads Index (December 29, 2025):

|Tip-off|GDT|Away|Score|Home|PGT|
|:--|:--:|:--|:-:|:--|:--:|
|07:00 pm ET||Milwaukee Bucks|PRE-GAME|Charlotte Hornets||
|07:00 pm ET||Phoenix Suns|PRE-GAME|Washington Wizards||
|07:30 pm ET||Golden State Warriors|PRE-GAME|Brooklyn Nets||
|07:30 pm ET||Denver Nuggets|PRE-GAME|Miami Heat||
|07:30 pm ET||Orlando Magic|PRE-GAME|Toronto Raptors||
|08:00 pm ET||Minnesota Timberwolves|PRE-GAME|Chicago Bulls||
|08:00 pm ET||Indiana Pacers|PRE-GAME|Houston Rockets||
|08:00 pm ET||New York Knicks|PRE-GAME|New Orleans Pelicans||
|08:00 pm ET||Atlanta Hawks|PRE-GAME|Oklahoma City Thunder||
|08:00 pm ET||Cleveland Cavaliers|PRE-GAME|San Antonio Spurs||
|10:30 pm ET||Dallas Mavericks|PRE-GAME|Portland Trail Blazers||

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NBA All-Star First Fan Voting Results

Imgur Link

#Western Conference

| Rank | Player | Team | Votes |
| ---- | ----------------------- | ---- | --------- |
| 1 | Luka Dončić | LAL | 1,249,518 |
| 2 | Nikola Jokić | DEN | 1,128,962 |
| 3 | Stephen Curry | GSW | 1,031,455 |
| 4 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | OKC | 878,621 |
| 5 | Victor Wembanyama | SAS | 769,362 |
| 6 | Anthony Edwards | MIN | 650,085 |
| 7 | Deni Avdija | POR | 606,299 |
| 8 | Kevin Durant | HOU | 548,754 |
| 9 | LeBron James | LAL | 536,555 |
| 10 | Austin Reaves | LAL | 405,379 |
| 11 | Alperen Şengün | HOU | 308,346 |
| 12 | James Harden | LAC | 215,301 |
| 13 | Anthony Davis | DAL | 144,178 |
| 14 | Jamal Murray | DEN | 130,656 |
| 15 | Devin Booker | PHX | 121,123 |
| 16 | Lauri Markkanen | UTA | 112,209 |
| 17 | Jimmy Butler III | GSW | 111,411 |
| 18 | Stephon Castle | SAS | 93,133 |
| 19 | Chet Holmgren | OKC | 92,210 |
| 20 | Kawhi Leonard | LAC | 85,325 |


#Eastern Conference

| Rank | Player | Team | Votes |
| ---- | --------------------- | ---- | --------- |
| 1 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | MIL | 1,192,296 |
| 2 | Tyrese Maxey | PHI | 1,072,449 |
| 3 | Jalen Brunson | NYK | 1,040,601 |
| 4 | Cade Cunningham | DET | 1,000,171 |
| 5 | Donovan Mitchell | CLE | 851,155 |
| 6 | Jaylen Brown | BOS | 808,276 |
| 7 | Karl-Anthony Towns | NYK | 510,577 |
| 8 | Jalen Johnson | ATL | 302,367 |
| 9 | Pascal Siakam | IND | 155,910 |
| 10 | Michael Porter Jr. | BKN | 150,370 |
| 11 | LaMelo Ball | CHA | 135,236 |
| 12 | Brandon Ingram | TOR | 130,618 |
| 13 | OG Anunoby | NYK | 123,349 |
| 14 | Josh Giddey | CHI | 115,000 |
| 15 | Mikal Bridges | NYK | 113,939 |
| 16 | Josh Hart | NYK | 106,037 |
| 17 | Joel Embiid | PHI | 102,017 |
| 18 | Norman Powell | MIA | 100,390 |
| 19 | Paolo Banchero | ORL | 99,565 |
| 20 | Franz Wagner | ORL | 98,834 |



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[Ja Morant] after sharing words with a heckling Wizards fan: “They be on my dick more than my bitch”
https://streamable.com/x1o9zl

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Official /r/nba Power Rankings #5 (12.29.2025)

24/30 rankers reporting this week. /R/NBA's Power Rankings are published every two weeks which is a bit different from most rankings. Other than that we rank the teams the same way as our competition. If write ups are left blank the team rep decided not to submit. We encourage any user to fill in the blanks in the comment section. Please follow /u/powerrankingsnba to see this more on your feed!

\# | Team | Δ | Record | Comment |
--: | :-- | :-- | :-: | :-- |
1 | (/OKC) Thunder | -- | 27-5 | Happy holidays everyone! The Thunder are showing cracks in the armor!!!! Continuing from my blurb from Power Rankings #4, the Thunder added losses to Minnesota and back-to-back losses to San Antonio in their last 5 games (going 3-3 in this cycle). I think there is some discourse that the Thunder have been solved. And I think that is certainly the case because the flaws that the Spurs are able to exploit are the same flaws that both Indiana and Denver were able to exploit last season: 1. elite ball handling + limited turnovers (Fox/Castle/Harper, Jokic/Murray, Haliburton/whatever wizardry Carlisle had going) 2. elite defensive strategy (Wembanyama, Denver zone that we couldn't crack, Pascal+Turner w/ elite perimeter defense) and 3. poor 3 point shooting from Thunder players (literally anyone on OKC in every loss played like ass loool). The result of those 3 things forces OKC to become a half court offense who isn't able to take advanta of its strengths as an opportunistic defense. Shai is a very good half court player, but when defenses are able to key in on him, and him alone - he will wear down eventually (though probably still get you a solid-ish 30). These losses to the Spurs (and Indy+Denver) are good reminders that this Thunder squad still has another level to go which can only be obtained if/when JDub is able to take the leap as a consistent secondary creator (though the emergence of Ajay Mitchell has helped here quite a bit). All in all, it doesn't feel good that the Thunder were humbled the way that they were, however I don't think anything that has happened is surprising or has shown any new problems that haven't been problems since last year. If anything, I'm glad that these problems reared their head as obviously, and embarassingly as they did early in the season so that this can become an intense point of emphasis as the team looks for areas of improvement going into the future. |
2 | (/SAS) Spurs | +4 | 23-8 | Well, I felt a lot better about ranking the Spurs at #1 before that faceplant at home against the Jazz. I mulled pretty hard back and forth between the Spurs, Thunder, Knicks, Pistons and Nuggets before landing here (a little homerism never hurt nobody anyway, and all five teams have compelling reasons to not be ranked #1 at the moment so c'est la vie). In any event, Spurs fans have to be buzzin after the last two weeks that the Spurs have had. The Spurs are now the only team in the NBA to be ranked in the top-5 of ORtg and DRtg (though they rank "only" fifth in both), and the three headed PG monster of Fox, Castle and Harper have been a revelation in the basketball world. Taking a page from OKC and Indiana in last year's playoffs, it turns out having too many players comfortable with handling the ball and initiating the offense isn't a bad thing after all. There will come a time where we probably won't want to be paying max contracts to three players who have similar skillsets (not to mention the max we'll be paying to the 7'5" Alien in the middle), but we won't have to cross that bridge for another four years. Speaking of our 7'5" Alien, Wemby is BACK y'all. It's been really gratifying to see him ease himself back into the offense that enabled the Spurs to go 9-3 during his calf strain, and the offense doesn't seem to have faltered much, even with his reintroduction. Though his minutes restriction has been frustrating to follow, he