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Luka’s Lakers: The Don is in another world right now

Celtics Roll: Jayson Tatum fuels a dominant performance by Boston

Mexico City Awaits: The Nuggets and Pacers face off in Arena CDMX this evening

Knickstape: Jordan Clarkson and Landry Shamet have the Knicks’ bench humming ahead of a matchup with the Cavs

The Best: Check out the top fantasy performers of the season so far

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Our seven-game Saturday slate is headlined by the Mexico City Game 2026, featuring the Nuggets and Pacers (5 ET, NBA TV), with the Knicks facing the Cavaliers in an Eastern Conference Finals rematch (8 ET, NBA TV) in the nightcap.

Elsewhere, the Warriors and Spurs look to keep the streak alive as they take on the Magic and Trail Blazers, respectively.

1. LUKA LEADS LAKERS, CONTINUES LEGENDARY RUN

He’s averaging 40.

Lakers 124, Trail Blazers 118: Luka Dončić (53 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) looked unstoppable as the Lakers broke away in the third quarter, then fought off multiple comeback attempts from a feisty Portland squad to earn the top seed in the West. | Recap

• He’s A Man: Luka is now averaging 40.1 ppg for the season. Only one other player has done that through nine games: Wilt Chamberlain in 1961 and 1962
• Laker Luminaries: He’s the fourth Laker with four consecutive 40+ point games, joining George Mikan, Elgin Baylor and Kobe Bryant
• Don, Meet Don: Dončić is the first player to put up 40+ in four straight games since Donovan Mitchell in 2023

Luka’s 53 is the second-most points scored by a player in the Emirates NBA Cup (De’Aaron Fox, 60, in 2024).

The numbers are translating to wins. The Lakers are 8-2 for the first time since 2019-20, when they won the title.

• Luka Leads: Los Angeles is 5-1 when Luka goes for 40+ this season
• Another Test: The Lakers play the Pistons (6 ET, League Pass) on Sunday, leading the No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense

Cavaliers 119, 76ers 95: Donovan Mitchell (23 pts, 8 ast, team-high +28) sparked Cleveland, while Thomas Bryant (13 pts) and Meleek Thomas (12 pts) helped create a 44-25 bench point advantage as the Cavs snapped the Sixers’ five-game winning streak. | Recap

Spurs 124, Kings 109: Victor Wembanyama (30 pts, 14 reb) followed up his 54-point career high with continued dominance as the Spurs shot 15-for-30 (50%) from 3-point range to take the win over Darius Acuff Jr. (22 pts, 8 ast) and the Kings. | Recap

• Castle Makes Moves: Check out the athleticism on this spinning dime from Stephon Castle (19 pts, 7 ast), who also threw down this alley-oop jam from Wemby
• Blazing: San Antonio won its seventh straight game. The Spurs had three longer streaks last season, so stay tuned

Thunder 128, Grizzlies 97: Ajay Mitchell (35 pts, team-high +33) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28 pts) combined to give the Thunder a big win to move into the top three in the Western Conference standings. | Recap

2. ROUNDUP: TATUM DOES IT ALL, MAVS HAVE MOREZ MANIA

Celtics 119, Hornets 80: Jayson Tatum (34 pts on 16 FGA, 8 reb,9 ast) went off as Boston dominated Charlotte on the road, leading by as many as 46 in a wire-to-wire win. | Recap

• Boston’s Best: JT’s totaled 223 points and 64 assists this season. No Celtic has ever reached those totals through the first eight games of a campaign
• Starting Strong: Tatum had 18 in the opening period as the Celtics dropped 40. He’s second in the Association in first-quarter scoring behind Luka Dončić

Hawks 139, Wizards 132: Six Hawks scored in double figures, including Dyson Daniels (13 pts, 9 reb, 12 ast, 2 stl), who stuffed the stat sheet to hold off Kyshawn George (33 pts) and the Wizards. | Recap

• Flying Home: Washington cut Atlanta’s lead to one with 3:10 remaining, but the Hawks closed on a 15-9 run to seize their third straight win

Raptors 121, Bucks 107: Alijah Martin (27 pts, 6 3PM) came into Friday averaging 3.3 ppg. But with the Raptors short-handed, he had the best game of his career, leading Toronto over Tyler Herro (23 pts, 10 ast) and the Bucks. | Recap

Mavericks 112, Jazz 100: Morez Johnson Jr. (13 pts, 17 reb in 24 min) dominated the glass, while P.J. Washington (26 pts) paced the Dallas attack in overcoming Darryn Peterson (career-high 21 pts) and the Jazz. | Recap

• Dallas Duo: Cooper Flagg (21 pts, 10 reb, 7 ast) and Kyrie Irving (14 pts) delivered two top-notch highlights
• A Young Phenom: Peterson is the only Jazz player to total 120+ points and 15+ 3PM in his first nine games in franchise history

Timberwolves 115, Pelicans 109: Ayo Dosunmu (26 pts) led the Wolves to a road win over Jeremiah Fears (24 pts) and the Pelicans, who keep having contests go down to the final moments this season. New Orleans is tied for second in clutch games played with six. | Recap

• Sleight Of Hand: LaMelo Ball (22 pts, 8 ast) found Rudy Gobert for this eye-popping dime

3. THE MEXICO CITY GAME 2026

The NBA returns to Mexico for the 35th time today (5 ET, NBA TV), as the League continues its annual excursion to the south with the Nuggets taking on the Pacers.

This is the fifth consecutive year — and the 15th time since 2014, along with one game in 1997 — that the NBA has hosted a regular-season game in Mexico.

The country has hosted the most NBA games outside of the United States and Canada.

Nikola Jokić, a three-time Kia MVP and 2023 NBA champion, will highlight the affair, as he comes off 32 pts, 10 reb and 11 ast on Wednesday night.

He’s averaging a near triple-double (23.4 pts, 9.7 reb, 9.3 ast) for the third consecutive season, which would tie the NBA record held by Russell Westbrook, but hasn’t been at his best, especially from 3-point range, where he’s shooting just 21.9%.

The Joker will look to get right against Pascal Siakam (21.3 pts, 7.1 reb, 3.8 ast), who has been efficient as always, and the Pacers.

The two big men boast 12 All-Star appearances between them, but the guards might decide the action.

Jamal Murray put up 35 and 39 points in two of his last three outings, while Andrew Nembhard has steadied the ship in the absence of Tyrese Haliburton, posting 20+ points in each of his last three games.

Both David Adelman and Rick Carlisle are noted for their offensive brilliance. Could we see some fireworks as the NBA tips off during a week of “Día de Muertos” celebrations?

NBA.com’s Brian Martin has more for you about the game and the Association’s history in Mexico.

• Moment By Moment: Follow along from Mexico City with the NBA.com live blog and enjoy all the day’s action, including highlights and game analysis

4. NBA TV: KNICKS’ BENCH FIRING AGAIN

The defending champion New York Knicks have found their form after an 0-3 start, reaching .500 by dropping 84 points in the first half of their win Wednesday over the Chicago Bulls, tying their franchise record in the play-by-play era.

Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson have been sparkplugs off the bench, providing depth and firepower for the Knicks’ experienced core, as they did in their title run.

The Knicks have outscored their opponents by 7.7 ppg with Clarkson on the floor — best on the team — partly because of drives like these.

Clarkson and Shamet have a +39.8 NetRTG when sharing the floor this season. They changed the pace here against the Bulls.

Shamet, a weapon from distance, is shooting 42.5% from 3-point range so far this season, knocking down 17 3PM.

Coach Mike Brown praised Clarkson’s ability to step up when called upon, even with inconsistent minutes, after New York beat the Nets Monday.

“You have a veteran that’s been there, done that, and he’s willing to accept the role that most guys wouldn’t accept,” Brown said. “If he’s willing to accept it, which is what he did last year, and still try to uplift everybody and connect everybody while he’s going through what he’s going through, that’s the ultimate team player.”

Clarkson and the Knicks will face his former team, the Cavaliers, in an Eastern Conference Finals rematch Saturday (8 ET, NBA TV).

5. THE FANTASY LANDSCAPE

NBA.com’s Steve Inman & Jed Katz have a look at the top players in fantasy basketball so far this season.

If you own one of these stars, consider yourself blessed.

Here, we give you a sneak-peek of the top three.

1. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Wembanyama put up the stat line of the season Wednesday night. 52 points, 24 rebounds and 8 blocks in a one-point win against the Mavericks. This was good for a whopping 110 High Score points. He is the first player with 50-plus points, 20-plus rebounds and 5-plus blocks since Bob McAdoo in 1973-74.

2. Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers

What more can we say about Luka Dončić? Wednesday night, he became the first player since Michael Jordan (1988-89) to reach 300-plus points through his first eight games of the season. He followed it up Friday with 53.

3. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

Jokić is coming off one of his best performances from Wednesday night: 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over the Raptors. It was a strong outing that was overshadowed by Wembanyama’s insane performance on the same night.