Starting 5, March 17: Magic end Cavs’ streak & what’s trending heading into final month of season

On a day when one win streak ended, Ant put a punctuation mark on the Wolves’ eighth straight W – best in the NBA.

With less than a month until the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament, start your week with what’s trending around the league.

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5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀
March 17, 2025

Streak Stopped: Orlando comes through in the clutch to stop the Cavs’ win streak at 16 games

Sunday Roundup: Thunder go big to beat Bucks, Lakers stop skid, Ant’s 41 gives Wolves 8 straight

Reads Of The Week: Catch up on some of last week’s best stories from around the NBA

What’s Trending In The West: A three-way tie for second, the league’s 3 longest win streaks & a race to the finish

What’s Trending In The East: Cavs, Celtics cooking, battles in the middle of the pack & for Play-In position

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BUT FIRST … ⏰
A big ESPN doubleheader awaits…

Tonight’s ESPN doubleheader features two games packed with Playoff implications, tipping with the rival Knicks & Heat clashing at MSG at 7:30 ET, followed by the red-hot Warriors hosting West No. 3 Nuggets at 10.

Pacers-Timberwolves (8 ET) highlights an eight-game League Pass night.

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1. MAGIC COME BACK TO STOP CAVS’ STREAK AT 16

The Orlando Magic have made a season out of grinding.

• On the defensive end, en route to the NBA’s fourth-best Defensive Rating
• Through injury after injury, including season-ending blows to Jalen Suggs & Mo Wagner
• To the 8th seed in the East, where, if they play anything like they did on Sunday, they’ll be a tough out

Magic 108, Cavs 103: Pushed forward by Paolo Banchero’s third straight 20/10 game (24 pts, 11 reb) the Magic overcame a 13-point halftime deficit and rattled off an 11-3 run in the final 2 minutes to stop East-leading Cleveland’s win streak at 16. | Recap | Watch Final 2:08

• First To Do It: Orlando became the first team this year to beat Cleveland when the Cavs took a lead going into the 4th (48-1)
• Closing Time: The Magic turned the tables on the best clutch team in the NBA – and one of the best in history – by shooting 4-for-8 from 3 in the 4th (to Cleveland’s 4-for-13) and outrebounding the Cavs, 12-10
• Team Effort: Orlando also got 22 points from Franz Wagner & a double-double from Wendell Carter Jr.

The Cavs, who got Donovan Mitchell (team-high 23 pts) back after missing two games, looked like they were pulling away after a picture-perfect sequence put them up 13 to end the first half.

• The Sequence: Donovan Mitchell flew down the court, then hit Trade Deadline acquisition De’Andre Hunter for a buzzer-beating three
• Hunter’s Early Impact: The Cavs’ wing ranks fifth in the NBA in NetRtg (16.5) since joining Cleveland on Feb. 7 (min. 10 GP & 20 MPG)
• Ahead Of Him? Teammates Sam Merrill and Ty Jerome, Houston’s Tari Eason and Minnesota’s Donte DiVincenzo

But the Magic wouldn’t go away.

Orlando spent the whole third chipping away at the lead, then did what (literally) nobody else has this season: beat Cleveland after trailing to open the fourth.

• Nine Lead Changes: The Cavs went up by as many as seven on this HUGE Spida slam early in the fourth, but Orlando took the lead on an Anthony Black three with 6:46 left
• From then on, the lead changed hands eight times, until a Banchero 16-footer – as part of the closing 11-3 run – put the Magic up for good
• Clutch vs. Clutch: While Cleveland has the best clutch record in the league, Orlando is tied for the best DefRtg in the clutch
• Moving Up: The win bumped the Magic to 0.5 games behind Atlanta for the 7th seed, after the Hawks fell to Brooklyn

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2. ROUNDUP: THUNDER GO BIG BEHIND SCORCHING SGA, ANT HITS 41, LAKERS STOP SKID

The Thunder have found every which way to win this year.

But points in the paint? Rebounding? They’ve been nearly middle of the pack, at 10th and 13th, respectively – until they needed to win both battles on Sunday.

Thunder 121, Bucks 105: Facing Giannis Antetokounmpo – arguably the game’s most dominant post player this year – the Thunder got 31 pts from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and 40 combined from Isaiah Hartenstein (career-high 24) and Chet Holmgren (16) to win for the 10th time in 11 games. | Recap

• History For SGA: Gilgeous-Alexander’s 62nd straight 20+ PT game tied Kobe Bryant & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the sixth-longest in NBA history
• Going Big: While Giannis put up a triple-double, OKC dominated on the boards (50-34) and in the lane (60-36 PITP), and held Milwaukee to its second-lowest FG% of the year (39.8%)

Defense Travels: The win gave OKC the most road wins in a single season in franchise history (27), as the Thunder – one of just two teams in the league to rank Top 5 in OffRtg & DefRtg – took a 13-game lead in the West.

• Tough Test, Passed: This 11-game stretch has also featured wins over the second-place Rockets, the third-place Nuggets, fourth-place Grizzlies and two of the East’s best: Boston & Detroit
• SGA Leading The Way: The NBA’s scoring leader is averaging 37.6 PPG in March, and ranks 2nd in DefRtg and 5th in OffRtg this season (min. 30 mpg), the only player top-5 in both categories

Lakers 107, Suns 96: The Lakers needed a win. They got Luka Dončić at his best.

After being sidelined Friday night, the Lakers star dominated from the start, putting up 33 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to give L.A. its first win in five games. | Recap

• Austin Reaves stayed hot, chipping in 28 points, while Jaxson Hayes matched his season-high with 19 points
• I Love LA: The win makes seven in a row for the Lake Show at home

Wolves 128, Jazz 102: Anthony Edwards topped 40 points for the seventh time this year, dropping 41 on 16-of-27 shooting – including one monster dunk – to send the Wolves to their eighth straight win. | Recap

• Edwards passed Andrew Wiggins for third place on the Wolves’ all-time scoring list, in 74 fewer games, while Chris Finch became the second (and fastest) coach to reach 200 wins with Minnesota, joining Flip Saunders

Clippers 123, Hornets 88: James Harden put up 31 pts with 10 reb, Kawhi Leonard dropped 23 and the Clippers won for the sixth time in seven games – with a showdown against the Cavs awaiting them Tuesday night. | Recap

76ers 130, Mavericks 125: Quentin Grimes stayed hot in Philly, dropping 28 against his former team to lead the 76ers to the win in a battle of shorthanded teams. How good has Grimes been? Over the past week, he’s 7th in the NBA in scoring at 30.7 PPG. | Recap

Nets 122, Hawks 114: Looking to bounce back from a Friday-night loss to the Clippers, Atlanta went up by as many as 10 in the 3rd Q, but Cam Johnson’s 28 points – 13 in the final 16:44 minutes – powered the Brooklyn comeback. | Recap

Blazers 105, Raptors 102: Trailing or tied since the first minute of the game, Portland rallied from 16 down on the strength of 12 fourth-quarter points from Anfernee Simons to take down Toronto. | Recap

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3. READS OF THE WEEK: ROCKETS RISING, CURRY & DUBS SURGING, GIANNIS OWNING THE MIDRANGE

As we head into the final month of the regular season, what were some of the Starting 5 team’s favorite reads from around the NBA world last week?

• “We’ve grown tremendously.” – Steven Adams: Sports Illustrated on how the Rockets’ run to a title contender isn’t a fluke
• A year after breaking his jaw, USA Today on what has Darius Garland smiling again
• “Business as usual.” – NBC Boston reacts to Payton Pritchard making history by hitting the most threes in a season by a bench player
• “They are playoff shots in my opinion.” – Giannis: In the middle of one of the best seasons of his career, ESPN writes about The Greek Freak focusing on the midrange

• ‘Curry was busy reimagining the possibilities for NBA shooting.’ ESPN on how Steph’s 4K threes is merely a stepping stone
• ‘He hardly looked like someone who was destined to change the game.’ The Athletic on how improbable Steph’s journey to 4K was
• ‘Butler has a history of providing an instant boost.’ ESPN shines a light on how Jimmy has boosted his teams over & over again in his first month

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4. WHAT’S TRENDING: EVERY DAY COUNTS AS WEST GETS WILDER

Twenty. Nine. Days.

That’s how long we have until the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament tips off on April 15, with the Playoffs starting April 19.

And out West, well, there’s just a lot going on.

• A 3-way tie for second place, between the Rockets, Nuggets and Grizzlies
• The three longest win streaks in the NBA, with the Wolves at eight, Warriors at seven and Rockets at six
• Four games separate the fifth-place Lakers (Playoff position) and eighth-place Clippers (Play-In)
• Why That’s Important: The 7th and 8th seeds meet in the first round of the Play-In Tournament. The winner automatically moves on, while the loser gets another shot vs. the winner of the win-or-go-home 9/10 game

Up 13 games, first-place OKC has some space.

Meanwhile, the battle for second has anything but.

• Rockets Soaring: Houston is back up to 2nd for the first time since early February, riding their 6-game win streak and a 7-3 record over their last 10
• Alperen Sengun’s found another level in that time, with the third-highest NetRtg in the league over a team’s last 10 games – behind just DiVincenzo and De’Andre Hunter (min 8 GP & 20 MPG)
• Joker’s Wild: Powering the Nuggets? Three-time MVP and current Kia MVP Ladder leader Nikola Jokić, who may be playing the best ball of his career: he’s on pace to be the first player ever to finish Top 3 in PTS, REB & AST
• Tonight vs. Golden State: The Joker’s one triple-double away from 30 this year – a feat just Wilt, Oscar Robertson & his teammate Russell Westbrook have achieved
• Ja Elevating: At 4th in the league in scoring since March started, Morant’s catching fire for the Grizzlies, who lead the league in PPG

Look Out Below: The sixth-place Warriors and seventh-place Wolves are charging hard.

• Golden State has the third-best record in the league since acquiring Jimmy Butler III (14-3), jumping from 11th in the West to sixth
• Steph Curry has found his groove, ranking third in the league in scoring since Feb. 7 and becoming the first player ever with 4,000 threes last week
• The Wolves have shot the lights out during their eight-game run, with a 62.8% True Shooting Percentage and the league’s best NetRtg in that time
• Julius Randle’s return has provided a major spark, with the Wolves winners of the past 13 games Randle has played in
• Just Behind: In that same eight-game stretch, the Clippers (1.5 games behind Minnesota) rank just behind the Wolves in NetRtg

Play-In Position: The Kings hold the ninth seed right now, with the Mavericks holding onto the final spot – and the Suns knocking on the door 1.5 games back.

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5. WHAT’S TRENDING: CAVS & CELTICS COOKING, FIGHT FOR 4-6 INTENSIFYING OUT EAST

Before Sunday, the Cavs’ last loss came to Boston on Feb. 4, pulling the Celtics within 4.5 games of first.

A 16-1 stretch by the Cavs later, the fact that Boston now sits 7.5 games behind should tell you how good the Celtics have also been lately.

• Champs Are Here: The C’s have the fourth-best record in the NBA in that same time period, at 13-4
• Last 2 Weeks: The Celtics have picked up even more speed of late, going 7–1, including wins over the Nuggets and Lakers. The lone blemish? A loss to OKC on Wednesday
• New Level For Tatum: Fourth on the Kia MVP Ladder, Jayson Tatum’s one of four players to average 27+ PPG & 7+ APG since All-Star (Luka, Ja, Brunson) and three to average 27+ PPG & 9+ RPG (LeBron, Luka)

Trending Bucks & Pistons In Position: Since that Cavs-Celtics game on Feb. 4, two other East teams have put up 12+ wins: Detroit & Milwaukee, who are locked in a battle with the Pacers for the 4th through 6th seeds in the East.

• The Bucks lead the pack, 4.5 games behind third-place New York (which went 2-1 this week, despite missing leading scorer Jalen Brunson) and half a game up on Indy
• Milwaukee won the season series over Indiana with a win on Saturday, despite Tyrese Haliburton’s heroics on Thursday – if you haven’t seen it, it’s a Shot of the Year candidate
• After blazing-hot runs, the Pacers and Pistons have both cooled a bit, going 5-5 over their past 10, though Indiana nearly erased a 21-point deficit to Milwaukee Saturday
• The Pistons are in position for their Playoff appearance since 2018-19, led by rising superstar and Most Improved Player Cade Cunningham – one of just two players in the NBA to put up 25+ PPG & 9+ APG
• The Other? Nikola Jokić

The Magic helped their cause Sunday in the East’s other traffic jam: a battle between Atlanta, Orlando and Miami for the 7th through 9th spots.

• NBA assist leader Trae Young (11.5 APG) has picked up the pace even more in that stretch, averaging 25.4 PPG & 11.9 APG — the only player with those minimums
• NBA steals leader Dyson Daniels, ‘The Great Barrier Thief,’ picked up his 191st steal on Sunday – most since Ricky Rubio in 2013-14 – and has a chance to surpass Scottie Pippen (232 in 1994-95) for the most in the last 30 years
• Can the Magic gain steam after Sunday’s signature win? Can Miami find a way to stem the tide on a 7-game skid?