Starting 5, Oct. 31: Pacers top Celtics, two squads stay perfect

Happy Halloween!

After pulling off Slenderman last year, what will Victor Wembanyama do for an encore with the Spurs in Utah tonight?

Find out on League Pass at 9 ET.

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THE LINEUP 🏀

Oct. 31, 2024 | What’s inside today’s edition?

Rematch Delivers: An ECF rematch featuring a Boston rally, OT drama and some Indiana revenge

The Final Two: The Cavs (5-0) and Thunder (4-0) are the only unbeaten teams left

Roundup: An 11-game night produced 12 30+ point scoring performances

Halloween Hoops: Tonight’s four-game slate boasts 11 All-Stars on NBA TV & League Pass

Spooky Styles: NBA stars’ best tunnel walk costumes, from Jackie Moon to Jason Voorhees

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BUT FIRST … ⏰

A spooky good night of hoops…

A Halloween Four Pack: Treat yourself to a doubleheader on NBA TV – Bucks-Grizzlies (8 ET) and Suns-Clippers (10:30 ET) – and another on NBA League Pass with Rockets-Mavs (8:30 ET) and Spurs-Jazz (9 ET).

Mexico Bound: The Heat and Wizards are set to arrive in Mexico City tonight ahead of Saturday’s Mexico City Game (9:30 ET) and we’ll be on the ground to capture the arrivals on the NBA App.

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1. OT THRILLER: PACERS RESPOND IN ECF REMATCH

Pascal Siakam In last year’s East Finals between the Pacers and Celtics, Indiana held a 4th-quarter lead in three of the four games. Yet, Boston won all of them to take the series 4-0 on its way to a record 18th championship.

On Wednesday — 296 days since Indiana’s last win against Boston — the Pacers found themselves in control again, only to lose it. But this time, they returned the reigning champs’ punch with a haymaker of their own.

After trailing by 24 points in the 3rd quarter, the Celtics stormed back in the 4th and ended regulation on a 17-4 run to force overtime — capped by Jayson Tatum’s game-tying 3 with 13.1 seconds remaining.

But Pascal Siakam called game for Indiana in OT, splashing a go-ahead 3 with 6.1 seconds left to give the Pacers a 135-132 win, moving them to 2-3 while handing Boston its first loss. | Recap | OT Finish

• Siakam In The Clutch: The C’s went up 132-130 with 39 seconds left in OT — marking their first lead since the opening quarter — but Siakam (29 pts, 11 reb, 5 ast, 6 3s) responded with a game-tying jumper before nailing the game-winner
• Both buckets were assisted by Tyrese Haliburton (17 pts, 6 reb, 12 ast) as he and Siakam singlehandedly outscored the Celtics 9-8 in the extra frame, while Bennedict Mathurin finished with a team-high 30 points
• Siakam: “We fought, that’s what we got to do, we got to be that team that fights until the end.”
• JT Sparks C’s: Tatum dropped a game-high 37 points with five 3s, eight boards, four assists and four steals, while Jaylen Brown (25 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast) and Derrick White (23 pts, 5 3s) combined for 48

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2. CAVS, THUNDER ONLY UNBEATEN TEAMS LEFT; KAT DROPS 44 IN MIAMI

Cavaliers 134, Lakers 110: In his sixth game with the Lakers in Cleveland, LeBron James dropped a game-high 26 points (9-13 FG) along with six boards and three assists, but the Cavs improved to 5-0 thanks to big nights from Evan Mobley (25 pts, 5 reb), Donovan Mitchell (24 pts, 7 ast, 3 stl) and Jarrett Allen (20 pts, 17 reb) | Recap

• Cleveland Rocks: It’s the Cavs’ first 5-0 start since beginning 6-0 in 2016-17 — coming off their 2016 title run, with LeBron leading the way
• Bronny’s First Bucket: Playing in the arena where he grew up watching his father shine, Bronny James (2 pts, 2 ast) checked into the game to a standing ovation before knocking down a jumper for his first career NBA points
• LeBron on witnessing Bronny live out his dreams back where it all started: “It’s the greatest thing in the world.”

Thunder 105, Spurs 93: In a game billed as Chet vs. Wemby, it was Lu Dort (20 pts, 6 reb, 6 3s) who stole the show to lead OKC to its fourth straight win to open the season – joining Cleveland (5-0) as the only unbeaten teams remaining. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (18 pts, 5 ast) and Jalen Williams (12 pts, 8 ast, 4 stl) combined to add 30 in the win. | Recap

• Chet Outduels Wemby: In a clash of the top two finishers in last season’s Rookie of the Year race, it was the runner-up Chet Holmgren (19 pts, 5 reb, 2 blk) who won the individual matchup against the ROY Victor Wembanyama (6 pts, 8 reb, 3 blk) in their first meeting as sophomores

Knicks 116, Heat 107: Karl-Anthony Towns had his best game as a Knick (44 pts on 17-25 FG, 13 reb) and Jalen Brunson scored 18 of his 22 points in the 2nd half as New York rallied past Miami on the road. | Recap

• The Rally: Miami led by 13 with 8:20 left in the 3rd quarter before the Knicks outscored the Heat 59-37 the rest of the game. Tyler Herro led the Heat with 34 points and eight 3s in the loss

Warriors 104, Pelicans 89: The Warriors followed up an 18-point dub over the Pelicans on Tuesday with a 15-point win over them on Wednesday, sweeping the back-to-back set at Chase Center without Steph Curry, who is sidelined with an ankle sprain. | Recap

• Buddy & Dray Lead The Way: Buddy Hield (21 pts, 4 3s, including a buzzer-beater led six Warriors in double figures while Draymond Green stuffed the stat sheet (14 pts, 4 reb, 6 ast, 5 blk) with his most blocks in a game since 2021
• How Rare Is The Back-To-Back Sweep? It has only happened six times since the 2022-23 season

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3. WEDNESDAY ROUNDUP: UPSTART DUBS & RISING CLUBS

Nets 119, Grizzlies 106: Dennis Schröder (33 pts, 8 ast, 6 3s) became the first Nets player to record three straight games of 25+ points, 5+ assists and 5+ 3s while leading Brooklyn to a bounce-back W over Jaren Jackson Jr. (30 pts, 4 reb, 3 stl), Ja Morant (14 pts, 8 reb, 11 ast) and the Grizzlies following Tuesday’s loss to Denver. | Recap

• Dennis Doin’ Work: Schröder recorded 28 points and 14 dimes on Tuesday and 29 points and six dimes in Sunday’s win against the Bucks while sinking five triples in both outings

Bulls 102, Magic 99: After falling into a 20-point hole in the 2nd quarter, Nikola Vučević (18 pts, 14 reb), Coby White (21 pts) and Josh Giddey (20 pts, 11 reb, 5 ast) willed the Bulls back as Chicago outscored Orlando 74-51 the rest of the way to rally past Paolo Banchero (31 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast) and company to improve to 3-2. | Recap

Wizards 133, Hawks 120: Trae Young (35 pts, 15 ast) notched his sixth career game with 35+ points and 15+ assists, tying him with Luka Dončić for the fourth-most all-time, but the Wizards came away with their second straight win behind Bilal Coulibaly’s career-high 27 points. | Recap

Pistons 105, 76ers 95: Jaden Ivey (23 pts, 3 ast, 3 3s) and Cade Cunningham (22 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast) were operating, Tobias Harris (18 pts, 14 reb) turned in a double-double and Tim Hardaway Jr. (16 pts) sunk five 3s as the Pistons earned their first win of the year over Tyrese Maxey (32 pts, 7 ast) and the Sixers. | Recap

Hornets 138, Raptors 133: Tre Mann (27 pts), Cody Martin (25 pts) and LaMelo Ball (19 pts, 6 ast) led the way with four 3s apiece as the Hornets knocked down 20 triples to hold off RJ Barrett (31 pts, 8 ast), Gradey Dick (career-high 30 pts) and the Raptors for their second win of the season. | Recap

Blazers 106, Clippers 105: Portland got 25 points, six assists and three 3s from Anfernee Simons and double-doubles from Deandre Ayton (15 pts, 12 reb) and Deni Avdija (13 pts, 10 reb) to hold off Norm Powell (30 pts, 5 3s), James Harden (19 pts, 10 ast, 5 3s) and the Clippers in LA as the Clippers continue to seek their first win at their new home. | Recap

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4. HALLOWEEN HOOPS: A 4-HEADED MONSTER

NBA TV Doubleheader: Four teams featuring a total of 11 All-Stars will celebrate Halloween on NBA TV tonight.

Bucks at Grizzlies (8 ET, NBA TV)

• Bucks Try To End Streaks: After winning their season opener, the Bucks have dropped three in a row. To avoid a four-game slide and their first 1-4 start since 2010, they’ll need to do something they haven’t done in five tries since Jan. 19, 2022 – beat Memphis
• Grizzly Pack: Memphis (2-3) is one of four teams that does not feature a player averaging over 21 points per game. Instead, they have won with balance as eight players average 8+ ppg while appearing in at least three games

Suns at Clippers (10:30 ET, NBA TV)

• Suns Trio Clicking Early: Through four games, Kevin Durant (29.0 ppg), Devin Booker (23.0 ppg) and Bradley Beal (18.0 ppg in three games) have combined to average 70 points per game with all three stars shooting at least 41.9% from 3
• Third Time’s A Charm? The Clippers have opened up their new home – the Intuit Dome – with a pair of close losses: 116-113 to Phoenix in OT in the season opener and 106-105 to Portland on Wednesday. LA gets a rematch with Phoenix tonight looking for that first win

NBA League Pass Doubleheader: All three Texas teams are in action on League Pass tonight, including an intra-state showdown in Dallas.

Rockets at Mavs (8:30 ET, LP)

• We know Jalen Green can leap – he has two of the top 12 dunk scores of the season and a 30-minute highlight of his bounciest plays – but is he in the early stages of making ‘The Leap?’ Through four games, the fourth-year guard is averaging 28.8 ppg (tied 8th in NBA) for the 2-2 Rockets
• Kyrie Trending Up: Kyrie Irving has increased his scoring total in each of Dallas’ first four games – peaking with a 35-point gem (13-23 FG, 6-8 3P) on Tuesday. Can he keep that streak alive tonight as the Mavs look to go 4-1?

Spurs at Jazz (9 ET, LP)

Halloween Magic: Playing on Halloween was a treat for the Spurs last season as they pulled off a late rally to stun the Suns as Keldon Johnson gave the Spurs their only lead of the game with 1.2 seconds left. What will they have in store this year?

• Jazz Seeking First Win: After Detroit’s win on Wednesday, Utah is the final team looking for its first victory of the 2024-25 season. Lauri Markkanen, who left Tuesday’s loss to Sacramento with back spasms, is listed as day-to-day

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5. COURTSIDE COSTUMES & SPOOKY STYLES

The NBA is no stranger to fashion, and once a year, arena arrivals turn into costume parties.

In a league full of bold personalities, it’s no surprise that players go all out for the spookiest night of the season.

Before we look back at some of the most memorable Halloween fits of the past few years, test your memory on NBA Play Trivia to see if you know which stars wore what.