Around the League: Friday's top highlights, performers and storylines

James McKern
and others
• 5 min read
#Saturday

Friday's schedule featured eight games, and the league's best teams and talent were on display.

If you missed any of the NBA action, don't sweat it because we've got you covered with all of the can't-miss highlights, top performers and biggest storylines!

Top storylines

Howard's return can't save Wizards

Dwight Howard made his debut in a Washington jersey on Friday, and while he looked like the Dwight of old in the early going, the Wizards' issues remained.

The big man had the hot hand and connected on his first five shots in his first outing of the 2018-19 season.


But after a promising start, the Wizards defence capitulated in the second quarter as the Thunder reeled off a 44-20 run.

Constant lapses on the defensive end led to wide open looks for the Thunder, who ran away with the comfortable 134-111 victory.

Scott Brooks has his hands full trying to figure out how to fix the defence, which currently ranks as the last in the league to the tune of 123.9 points per game.

Olympic Melo sighting in Brooklyn

The alarm bells were ringing in Brooklyn as the Rockets looked to be crashing to Earth once again.

Without James Harden, Houston needed someone to step up alongside Chris Paul and correct the early season mishaps.

After moving back to the bench, Carmelo Anthony rose to the occasion and torched Brooklyn's defence.


The incredibly efficient shooting display had Olympic Melo written it all over it. He finished with 28 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field and a staggering 6-for-9 from deep.

According to Elias, it marks the first time Carmelo finished with that high of a field-goal percentage and scoring that many points since since March 27, 2011, when he scored 34 points on 12-for-16 shooting against the Utah Jazz.

Record books get a workout

Two key players continued their stellar starts to the season as they wrote their names into the record books.

Joe Ingles led the way, becoming only the seventh player in Jazz history to record 500 made 3s.

Kyle Lowry, meanwhile, tied Damon Stoudamire's team-record with his seventh straight game of 10-plus assists, dishing out 12 as the Raptors took care of the Suns.


Best performances

Lou Williams — 28 points (7-13 FG, 5-5 3PT), three rebounds, three assists

Chris Paul — 32 points (13-27 FG), seven rebounds, 11 assists

Caris LeVert — 29 points (10-17 FG), four rebounds

Carmelo Anthony — 28 points (9-12 FG, 6-9 3PT), four rebounds

Russell Westbrook — 23 points (10-16 FG), 12 assists, four steals

Victor Oladipo — 25 points (9-19 FG), 14 rebounds, five assists

Mike Conley — 28 points (7-18 FG), five rebounds, five assists

Kevin Durant — 33 points (11-19 FG), 11 rebounds

Can't-miss highlights

Shai with the tasty behind-the-back move:


CP3 got him going every which way:


Doncic dishing out more nutmegs:


Wall throwing down the southpaw slam:


4-point play to tie it up? No problems for AB:


I-G-G-Y handing out delicious dimes:


Lowry goes five-hole:


Box scores

Los Angeles Clippers at Orlando Magic | Houston Rockets at Brooklyn Nets 

Oklahoma City Thunder at Washington Wizards | Indiana Pacers at Chicago Bulls 

New York Knicks at Dallas Mavericks | Memphis Grizzlies at Utah Jazz

Toronto Raptors at Phoenix Suns | Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors

Author(s)
James McKern