The AllStar is proud to present The Daily Swish, a digest of what’s shaking and baking in your favorite basketball league. This is the place to help you start your day (or end it) with notable newsy nuggets from around the association.
Carmelo Anthony is now ninth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with a performance against Memphis that took some of the attention away from the Grizzlies’ own Ja Morant. Anthony’s Los Angeles Lakers got their first win, while Golden State got its third.
Making Headlines
Melo scored 28 points against Memphis, 13 more than he needed to surpass Moses Malone on the all-time scorers’ list. The 19-year veteran needs 1,174 more to take Shaquille O’Neal spot at No. 8. He could make that mark this season if he continues to average the 17.7 points he’s rung up in his three appearances with the Lakers this season.
“I’m still here doing it,” Anthony said after the match, per ESPN. “And what a better night to reach ninth than with a win, the way that we needed a win tonight.”
Anthony helped the Lakers to its first win of the season, beating Memphis by a mere three points. His performance took the limelight away from a 40-point outing by Morant, who missed a free throw to tie the game with 2.5 seconds left.
Meanwhile, Golden State’s Stephen Curry hit his own milestone by becoming the first player in Warriors franchise history to reach 5,000 assists. The Dubs beat Sacramento by eight points and are now 3-0 this season.
Last Night
The first week of the NBA season has now ended. Four teams are still winless: Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers.
| Game result (home team in bold) | Top performers |
| Hornets 111 def Nets 95 | Miles Bridges (CHA) 32 pts, 9 reb Kevin Durant (BKN) 38 pts, 5 reb |
| Magic 110 def Knicks 104 | Cole Anthony (ORL) 29 pts, 16 reb Julius Randle (NY) 30 pts, 16 reb |
| Celtics 107 def Rockets 97 | Jayson Tatum (BOS) 31 pts, 9 reb Jalen Green (HOU) 30 pts, 3 ast |
| Philadelphia 115 def Thunder 103 | Joel Embiid (PHI) 22 pts, 9 reb Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) 29 pts, 8 ast |
| Warriors 119 def Kings 107 | Stephen Curry (GS) 27 pts, 10 ast Richaun Holmes (SAC) 16 pts, 11 reb |
| Lakers 121 def Grizzlies 118 | Ja Morant (MEM) 40 pts, 10 ast Carmelo Anthony (LAL) 28 pts, 3 reb |
What’s On Tonight
You can get live scores, game trackers, latest results and betting odds directly from our app. Download it here.
| Game (home team in bold) | Time (US EST) |
| Celtics at Hornets | 7 pm |
| Bucks at Pacers | 7 pm |
| Pistons at Hawks | 7:30 pm |
| Wizards at Nets | 7:30 pm |
| Magic at Heat | 7:30 pm |
| Bulls at Raptors | 7:30 pm |
| Pelicans at Timberwolves | 8 pm |
| Cavaliers at Nuggets | 9 pm |
| Trailblazers at Clippers | 10:30 pm |
#What’sTrending
Melo’s milestone and Ja’s scoring predictably won them lots of love on Twitter – and from the Daily Swish. We give them some recognition below. For now, we focus on the other trending topic: The NBA’s top 75 list (or top 76, rather) which was always destined to provoke debate. And let’s add a whiff of vaccine controversy:
Otto Porter finds himself in the conversation too.
The King showed out for his boy Drake on Twitter – and got rewarded with more than 100,000 likes.
Best of r/NBA
In Reddit land, the day’s most upvoted post focused on the protesters who had gathered outside the Brooklyn Nets home venue in support of Kyrie Irving.
There was also some disgruntlement with a commentator’s dismissive comments over what could have been a rather painful outcome for Thunder rookie Josh Giddey (0:45 in the video).
Performance of the Night
Melo still getting it done in Season 19. ‘Nuff said.
Play of the Day
Ja Morant… Ja Morant… Ja Morant. Magic Johnson was pretty effusive in his own assessment on his Twitter account: “Without a doubt, he is one of the best point guards in the NBA!!”
